Atlantic 10 Conference

Atlantic 10 Conference
(A-10)
Established 1976
Association NCAA
Division Division I non-football
Members 16 (14 full; 2 associate)
Sports fielded 21 (men's: 9; women's: 12)
Region Eastern United States
Midwestern United States
Former names Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (1976–77)
Eastern Athletic Association (1977–82)
Eastern 8 (unofficial, 1976–82)
Headquarters Newport News, Virginia
Commissioner Bernadette McGlade
Website atlantic10.com
Locations

The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a college athletic conference which operates mostly on the United States' eastern seaboard. It also has two member schools in Ohio: Dayton and Xavier, located in Dayton and Cincinnati, respectively. Another member, Saint Louis is located in St. Louis, Missouri. Although some of its members are state-funded, more than half of its membership is made up of private, Catholic institutions. Despite the name, there are 16 partial or full-time members: 14 basketball and other sports, and two affiliate members that participate in women's field hockey only.

Contents

History

The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (ECBL), and began conference play in 1976. At that time, basketball was its only sport. After its first season, it added sports other than basketball and changed its name to the Eastern Athletic Association. However, despite its official names, it was popularly known as the Eastern 8, as it then had eight members (Villanova, Duquesne, Penn State, West Virginia, George Washington, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers).

After changes in membership that saw charter members Pittsburgh and Villanova leave and new members St. Bonaventure (1979), Rhode Island (1980), Saint Joseph's (1982) and Temple (1982) enter, establishing the league with 10 members, the conference adopted the current Atlantic 10 name in 1982.

Further membership changes saw the league expand to its 14 current members. From 1997 through 2006, the league also operated a football conference; during that period, more than 20 schools were participating in A-10 competition in at least one sport. This would end when the A-10 football programs all departed to join a new football conference sponsored by the Colonial Athletic Association.

The league office headquarters has been located in Newport News, Virginia since the Fall of 2009.[1] Prior to that, the headquarters was in Philadelphia, within a few miles of three member schools (Temple, Saint Joseph's, and La Salle).

Members

Full members

The following is a list of the full members of the conference and the year they joined:

Institution Location Founded Type Enrollment Joined Nickname
UNC Charlotte Charlotte, NC 1946 Public 25,144 2005 49ers
University of Dayton Dayton, OH 1850 Private 10,920 1995 Flyers
Duquesne University Pittsburgh, PA 1878 Private 10,106 1976† Dukes
Fordham University New York, NY 1841 Private 14,666 1995 Rams
George Washington University Washington, DC 1821 Private 25,116 1976 Colonials
La Salle University Philadelphia, PA 1863 Private 6,176 1995 Explorers
University of Massachusetts Amherst, MA 1863 Public 26,359 1976 Minutemen
University of Rhode Island Kingston, RI 1892 Public 15,904 1980 Rams
University of Richmond Richmond, VA 1830 Private 4,249 2001 Spiders
St. Bonaventure University St. Bonaventure, NY 1858 Private 2,406 1979 Bonnies
Saint Joseph's University Philadelphia, PA 1851 Private 7,900 1982 Hawks
Saint Louis University St. Louis, MO 1818 Private 16,500 2005 Billikens
Temple University Philadelphia, PA 1884 Public 35,490 1982 Owls
Xavier University Cincinnati, OH 1831 Private 6,584 1995 Musketeers

† Duquesne left the A-10 for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference during the 1992-93 academic year.

Associate members

Institution Location Conference Type Enrollment Joined Nickname Sport
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania Lock Haven, Pennsylvania PSAC Public 5,500 2010 Bald Eagles Field Hockey

Former members

Institution Type Years Conference Moved To
University of Connecticut Football member 1947-1999† Big East
University of Delaware Football member 1986-2006† CAA
Hofstra University Football member 2001–2006 CAA (dropped football after 2009 season)
James Madison University Football member 1993-2006† CAA
University of Maine Football member 1947-2006† America East, CAA (football)
University of New Hampshire Football member 1947-2006† America East, CAA (football)
Northeastern University Football member 1993-2006† CAA (dropped football after 2009 season)
Pennsylvania State University Full member (excluding football) 1976–1979, 1982–1991 Big Ten
University of Pittsburgh Full member (excluding football) 1976–1982 Big East
Rutgers University Full member (excluding football) 1976–1995 Big East
Towson University Football member 2004–2006 CAA
Villanova University Full member (excluding football) 1976–1980 Big East
Football only 1988–2006† CAA
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Full member (excluding football and wrestling) 1995–2000 ACC
West Virginia University Full member (excluding football) 1976–1995 Big East
The College of William & Mary Football member 1993-2006† CAA

† Includes time in Yankee Conference, which merged with the Atlantic 10 for football in 1997.

Men's basketball champions

Women's basketball champions

Season Regular Season Champion(s) Tournament Champion Tournament Location
1983 Penn State Penn State Louis Brown Athletic Center, Piscataway, New Jersey
1984 Rutgers Penn State Rec Hall, University Park, Pennsylvania
1985 Penn State/Saint Joseph's Penn State Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1986 Rutgers Penn State WVU Coliseum, Morgantown, West Virginia
1987 Rutgers Rutgers First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Louis Brown Athletic Center
1988 Rutgers Rutgers First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Louis Brown Athletic Center
1989 Rutgers/Saint Joseph's West Virginia First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Louis Brown Athletic Center
1990 Rutgers/Saint Joseph's Penn State First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Rec Hall
1991 Penn State Penn State First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
1992 West Virginia George Washington Louis Brown Athletic Center
1993 Rutgers Rutgers Charles E. Smith Athletic Center, Washington, D.C.
1994 George Washington/Rutgers Rutgers Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
1995 George Washington George Washington Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
1996 East - Rhode Island, West - George Washington George Washington Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Virginia
1997 East - Saint Joseph's, West - George Washington Saint Joseph's First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Charles E. Smith Athletic Center
1998 East - Massachusetts, West - George Washington Virginia Tech First two rounds: Campus sites; Semifinals and finals: Mullins Center, Amherst, Massachusetts
1999 East - Saint Joseph's, West - Virginia Tech Saint Joseph's The Apollo of Temple, Philadelphia
2000 East - Saint Joseph's, West - George Washington Xavier Liacouras Center, Philadelphia
2001 Xavier Xavier Liacouras Center
2002 East - Temple, West - George Washington Temple Liacouras Center
2003 East - Saint Joseph's, West - George Washington George Washington First three rounds: Ryan Center, Kingston, Rhode Island; Finals: Charles E. Smith Athletic Center
2004 East - Temple, West - George Washington Temple Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
2005 East - Temple, West - George Washington Temple Charles E. Smith Athletic Center
2006 Charlotte/George Washington Temple Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
2007 George Washington Xavier Cintas Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
2008 George Washington/Temple Xavier Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse
2009 Xavier Charlotte Dale F. Halton Arena, Charlotte, North Carolina
2010 Xavier Xavier The Show Place Arena, Upper Marlboro, Maryland
2011 Xavier Xavier Tsongas Center, Lowell, Massachusetts
2012 Hagan Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Sports sponsored

There are 21 NCAA sports in the conference

Atlantic 10 rivalries

There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10.[under discussion] Rivalries that carry over from the Big 5 which includes Saint Joseph's, Temple, and La Salle include those games between La Salle and Saint Joseph's and especially Temple and Saint Joseph's, a rivalry that has intensified in recent years. Like the Big 5, Dayton and Xavier are near one another and have an intense rivalry that began in 1920. URI and UMass also maintain a long-standing rivalry. St. Bonaventure and Duquesne also maintain a rivalry that predates their affiliation with the conference. A fledgling rivalry that has spawned has been one between Temple and Xavier, two of the most consistent schools in the A-10. UMass and Temple also had a rivalry while John Chaney was coaching Temple but it has died down a bit since. Due to both teams sharing the Ram mascot, the Fordham - URI rivalry has increased in recent years as the competitions are heralded as "The Battle of the Rams."

A-10 football

Origin

The A-10 began sponsoring football in 1997 when it absorbed the Yankee Conference, a Division I-AA (now known as Division I FCS) football-only conference. The move was triggered by a change in NCAA rules that reduced the influence of single-sport conferences over NCAA legislation. The following schools were in the Yankee Conference at the time of its demise:

Boston University dropped football after the first season of A-10 football. After the 1999 season, UConn started a transition from Division I-AA to Division I-A football (now Division I FBS) that was completed in 2002. In 2004, UConn, already a member of the Big East for other sports, became a football member of that conference. The other schools all remained in the A-10 football conference until its demise after the 2006 season.

Men's football champions

Season Regular Season Champion
1997 Villanova
1998 Richmond
1999 James Madison, Massachusetts
2000 Delaware, Richmond
2001 Hofstra, Maine, Villanova, William & Mary
2002 Maine, Northeastern
2003 Delaware, Massachusetts
2004 Delaware, James Madison, William & Mary
2005 New Hampshire, Richmond
2006 Massachusetts

Demise/"Rename"

The 2005 move of Northeastern University, a football-only member of the A-10, to the Colonial Athletic Association for basketball and Olympic sports began a chain of events that would lead to the demise of the A-10 football conference, at least under the A-10 banner.

At that time, the CAA did not sponsor football, but five of its members in the 2004-05 academic year (Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Towson, and William & Mary) were football members of the A-10. The addition of Northeastern gave the CAA six schools with football programs, which under NCAA rules allows a conference to sponsor football. Northeastern agreed to join any future CAA football conference, which meant that the A-10 football conference would drop to six members once CAA football began operation.

With six football members in place, the CAA decided to start a football conference in 2007. The league then invited Richmond, a member of the CAA from 1983 to 2001, to rejoin for football only, because of UR's long-standing in-state rivalries with William & Mary and James Madison. UR accepted the invitation, taking the A-10 football conference below the NCAA minimum of six. Shortly after this, the A-10 football conference opted to disband, with all of its members becoming charter members of the CAA football conference. For all intents and purposes, including the conference's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs, the A-10 football conference became the CAA football conference.

A-10 schools in I-A/FBS

A-10 charter members Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, and West Virginia played I-A football as independents while members of the A-10 in other sports. Pittsburgh became a charter member of the Big East in 1982; Temple joined the A-10 that year. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991, and three A-10 members joined the Big East as football-only members: Rutgers, West Virginia, and Temple. All but Temple would join the Big East in all sports in 1995, but Virginia Tech joined the A-10 as a result of the merger that created Conference USA; they were already Big East football members, and would join that conference as full members in 2000. Temple remained a football-only member of the Big East until 2004; they would join the MAC for football in 2007. Temple is currently the only A-10 member playing FBS football; Massachusetts will join them in the MAC for football in 2012.

Conference facilities

School Basketball arena Capacity Soccer stadium Capacity Baseball stadium Capacity Football stadium (conference) Capacity
Charlotte Dale F. Halton Arena 9,105 Transamerica Field 4,000 Hayes Stadium 3,000 McColl-Richardson Field (FCS Independent) 15,300
Dayton University of Dayton Arena 13,435 Baujan Field 2,000 Time Warner Cable Stadium 500 Welcome Stadium (Pioneer) 11,000
Duquesne A. J. Palumbo Center 4,406 Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field 2,200 Duquesne Baseball Field Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field (NEC) 4,500
Fordham Rose Hill Gymnasium 3,470 Coffey Field 7,000 Houlihan Park 1,000 Coffey Field (Patriot) 7,000
George Washington Smith Center 5,000 Mount Vernon Athletic Fields Barcroft Park 1,000
La Salle Tom Gola Arena 4,000 McCarthy Stadium 7,500 Hank DeVincent Field 1,000
Massachusetts Mullins Center 9,493 Rudd Field Earl Lorden Field Gillette Stadium (MAC) 68,756
Rhode Island Ryan Center 7,657 URI Soccer Complex 1,547 Bill Beck Field Meade Stadium (CAA) 6,580
Richmond Robins Center 9,071 Robins Stadium 8,700 Malcolm U. Pitt Field 600 Robins Stadium (CAA) 8,700
St. Bonaventure Reilly Center 5,780 McGraw-Jennings Field Fred Handler Park
Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena 4,200 Finnesey Field Campbell's Field 6,425
Saint Louis Chaifetz Arena 10,600 Robert R. Hermann Stadium 6,050 The Billiken Sports Center 1,000
Temple Liacouras Center 10,206 Ambler Soccer Field Skip Wilson Field 1,000 Lincoln Financial Field (MAC) 66,000
Xavier Cintas Center 10,250 Xavier University Soccer Complex Hayden Field

References

External links