| 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.
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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).
The following is a list of the full members of the conference and the year they joined:
† Duquesne left the A-10 for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference during the 1992-93 academic year.
| 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 |
| 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.
| 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 |
There are 21 NCAA sports in the conference
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."
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.
| 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 |
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 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.
| 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 |
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