Atlantic 10 Conference

Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10)
Established	1976
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I non-football
Members	14 (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	www.atlantic10.com
Locations

The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern Seaboard, as well as some in the Midwest – Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Ohio, and Missouri as well as in the District of Columbia. Although some of its members are state-funded, half of its membership is made up of private, Catholic institutions. Despite the name, there are 14 full-time members, and two affiliate members that participate in women's field hockey only.

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 Villanova and Pittsburgh leave (in 1980 and 1982, respectively) 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 maximum of 16 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 ended when the A-10 football programs all departed to join a new football conference sponsored by the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). In 2012, Butler joined the conference after leaving the Horizon League and VCU joined after leaving the CAA.

Conference realignment in 2013 saw the departure of Temple to the American Athletic Conference, Butler and Xavier to the reconfigured Big East, and Charlotte to Conference USA. George Mason joined from the CAA, and Davidson from the Southern Conference announced they would join in 2014.

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 member schools Saint Joseph's and La Salle.

The conference currently has media deals with ESPN, CBS Sports Network, and NBCSN.

Member schools

Current 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	Colors
Davidson College	Davidson, NC	1837	Private – Presbyterian (PCUSA)	1,756	2014	Wildcats
Dayton !University of Dayton	Dayton, OH	1850	Private – Catholic (Marianists)	10,920	1995	Flyers
Duquesne University	Pittsburgh, PA	1878	Private – Catholic (Spiritans)	10,106	1976, 1993†	Dukes
Fordham University	Bronx, NY	1841	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	14,667	1995	Rams
George Mason University	Fairfax, VA	1957	Public	33,917	2013	Patriots
George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	1821	Private – Non-sectarian	25,116	1976	Colonials
La Salle University	Philadelphia, PA	1863	Private – Catholic (De La Salle Brothers)	6,176	1995	Explorers
Massachusetts !University of Massachusetts^	Amherst, MA	1863	Public (University of Massachusetts)	26,359	1976	Minutemen and Minutewomen
University of Rhode Island	Kingston, RI	1892	Public	16,243	1980	Rams
Richmond !University of Richmond^	Richmond, VA	1830	Private – Non-sectarian	4,249	2001	Spiders
Saint Bonaventure !St. Bonaventure University	St. Bonaventure, NY	1858	Private – Catholic (Franciscan)	2,406	1979	Bonnies
Saint Joseph's University	Philadelphia, PA	1851	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	7,900	1982	Hawks
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, MO	1818	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	16,500	2005	Billikens
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, VA	1838	Public	32,303	2012	Rams

Notes

† – Duquesne left the A-10 for the Midwestern Collegiate Conference (now known as the Horizon League) only for the 1992–93 season, but returned in the 1993–94 season.

^ – Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Richmond also played football within the A-10 from 1997 to 2006 after the Yankee Conference was absorbed (however, Richmond's primary conference until 2001 was the CAA).

Associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Nickname	Primary Conference	A-10 Sport
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania	1870	Public (PASSHE)	5,500	2010	Bald Eagles	PSAC (D-II)	field hockey
Saint Francis University	Loretto, Pennsylvania	1847	Private - Catholic (Franciscan)	2,449	2013	Red Flash	NEC	field hockey

Former members

Former full members

None of these institutions played football in the A-10 during their tenure as full members.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	New Conference	Current Conference
Butler University	Indianapolis, Indiana	1855	Private	4,667	2012	2013	Bulldogs	Big East (current)
Charlotte !University of North Carolina at Charlotte	Charlotte, North Carolina	1946	Public	26,232	2005	2013	49ers	C-USA
Pennsylvania State University	University Park, Pennsylvania	1855	Public	45,351	1976; 1982	1979; 1991	Nittany Lions	Big Ten
Pittsburgh !University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1787	Public	28,766	1976	1982	Panthers	Big East (original)	ACC
Rutgers University	New Brunswick, New Jersey	1766	Public	58,788	1976	1995	Scarlet Knights	Big East/The American[2]	Big Ten
Temple University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1884	Public	38,648	1982	2013	Owls	The American
Villanova University	Villanova, Pennsylvania	1842	Private	10,482	1976	1980	Wildcats	Big East (original)	Big East (current)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University	Blacksburg, Virginia	1872	Public	31,087	1995	2000	Hokies	Big East (original)	ACC
West Virginia University	Morgantown, West Virginia	1867	Public	29,707	1976	1995	Mountaineers	Big East (original)	Big 12
Xavier University	Cincinnati, Ohio	1831	Private	6,650	1995	2013	Musketeers	Big East (current)

Former associate members

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Primary Conference	A-10 Sport
West Chester University of Pennsylvania	West Chester, Pennsylvania	1880	Public (PASSHE)	13,271 (full-time) 2,576 (part-time)	1996-97	2010-11	Golden Rams	PSAC	field hockey

Former football-only members

After expansion in the Colonial Athletic Association brought that conference to 6 football-playing schools, it was agreed that the CAA would take over management of the Atlantic 10's football conference starting in 2007. All the schools on this list (except Boston U. and Connecticut) were in the A-10 football conference when it became the CAA football conference, but Hofstra and Northeastern discontinued their football programs after the 2009–10 season. Membership dates include time in the Yankee Conference (which was an all-sports conference from 1947 to 1975 and a football-only conference after that) which merged into the A-10 in 1997.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Primary Conference
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	1839	Private	29,978	1973	19971	Terriers	Independent (1975–79) America East (1979–2013) Patriot League (2013–present)
Connecticut !University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	Public	25,583	1947	19992	Huskies	Independent (1975–79) Big East (1979–2013) The American (2013–present)
Delaware !University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	Private/Public	19,391	1986	2006	Fightin' Blue Hens	East Coast (1986–91) America East (1991–2001) CAA (2001–present)
Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	1935	Private	12,400	2001	20063	Pride	CAA
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908	Public	19,927	1993	2006	Dukes	CAA
Maine !University of Maine	Orono, Maine	1865	Public	10,901	1947	2006	Black Bears	Independent (1975–79) America East (1979–present)
New Hampshire !University of New Hampshire	Durham, New Hampshire	1866	Public	11,942	1947	2006	Wildcats	Independent (1975–79) America East (1979–present)
Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	1898	Private	12,913	1993	20064	Huskies	America East (1993–2005) CAA (2005–present)
Towson University	Towson, Maryland	1866	Public	21,950	2004	2006	Tigers	CAA
Villanova University5	Villanova, Pennsylvania	1842	Private	10,482	1988	2006	Wildcats	Big East (1979–2013) Big East (2013–present)
William and Mary !The College of William & Mary	Williamsburg, Virginia	1693	Public	8,258	1993	2006	Tribe	CAA

Notes

1. Boston University dropped football after the 1997–98 season.
2. Connecticut moved to FBS after the 1999–2000 season, which eventually joined the Big East for that sport in the 2004–05 season.
3. Hofstra dropped football after the 2009–10 season.
4. Northeastern dropped football after the 2009–10 season.
5. Villanova was originally a charter and full member of the A-10 during the 1976–77 through the 1979–80 seasons in all sports except football.

Membership timeline

Full members Full members (non-football) Associate members (football only) Assoc. member (list sports)
Notes
^* - Virginia Tech did not participate in wrestling.

Atlantic 10 rivalries

There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10,^{[under discussion]} with rivalries that carry over from the Big 5 which includes Saint Joseph's, La Salle, and Temple (now in the American Athletic Conference). URI and UMass also have a long-standing rivalry. St. Bonaventure and Duquesne also maintain a rivalry that predates their affiliation with the conference. UMass and Temple also had a basketball rivalry while John Chaney was coaching Temple but it has died down a bit since, and even more so now that Temple has left the conference. 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 long-standing crosstown rivalry between Richmond and VCU, now known as the Capital City Classic, became a conference rivalry with VCU's arrival in the A10.

Sports

In the 2014–15 academic year, the Atlantic 10 Conference will sponsor championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[3] In addition to the 14 full members, two Pennsylvania schools, Lock Haven and Saint Francis, are affiliate members in field hockey.

A-10 Conference teams

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	13	-
Basketball	14	14
Cross Country	14	14
Field Hockey	-	9
Golf	12	-
Lacrosse	-	9
Rowing	-	9
Soccer	13	14
Softball	-	10
Swimming & Diving	8	11
Tennis	11	14
Track and Field (Indoor)	10	13
Track and Field (Outdoor)	11	13
Volleyball	-	11

Men's sponsored sports by school

School	Baseball	Basketball	Cross Country	Golf	Soccer	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Total A-10 Sports
Davidson	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Dayton	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	6
Duquesne	N	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	N	Y	5
Fordham	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
George Mason	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
George Washington	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
La Salle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Massachusetts	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	7
Rhode Island	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	7
Richmond	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	N	N	5
St. Bonaventure	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	YN**	8
St. Joseph's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
St. Louis	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
Virginia Commonwealth	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	13	14	14	11	13	8	11	10	11.5**	105

^** = St. Bonaventure University sponsors an outdoor distance track program but does not participate in short distance or field events.^[4]

Men's varsity sports not sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference which are played by A-10 schools:

School	Football	Ice hockey	Lacrosse	Rowing‡	Sailing#	Squash†	Volleyball	Water polo	Wrestling
Davidson	Pioneer	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	SoCon
Dayton	Pioneer	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Duquesne	Northeast	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fordham	Patriot	No	No	No	No	CSA	No	CWPA N	No
George Mason	No	No	No	No	No	No	EIVA	No	EWL
George Washington	No	No	No	IRA & SIRA	MAISA	CSA	No	CWPA SE	No
La Salle	No	No	No	IRA	No	No	No	CWPA SW	No
Massachusetts	FBS Independent	Hockey East	CAA	No	No	No	No	No	No
Rhode Island	CAA	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Richmond	CAA	No	SoCon	No	No	No	No	No	No
St. Joseph's	No	No	Northeast	IRA	No	No	No	No	No

^‡ = Men's rowing is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Rowing Association, not by the NCAA.

^# = Intercollegiate sailing is sanctioned by the Intercollegiate Sailing Association, not by the NCAA.

^† = Squash is sanctioned by the College Squash Association (CSA), not by the NCAA.

Women's sponsored sports by school

School	Basketball	Cross Country	Field Hockey	Lacrosse	Rowing	Soccer	Softball	Swimming & Diving	Tennis	Track & Field (Indoor)	Track & Field (Outdoor)	Volleyball	Total A-10 Sports
Davidson	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Dayton	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Duquesne	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Fordham	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
George Mason	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
George Washington	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	11
La Salle	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	12
Massachusetts	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	11
Rhode Island	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Richmond	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	10
St. Bonaventure	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	YN**	N	8
St. Joseph's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	10
St. Louis	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
Virginia Commonwealth	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	14	14	7+2†	10	9	14	10	11	14	13	13.5**	10	139+2

^† = Affiliate members Lock Haven and Saint Francis (PA).

^** = St. Bonaventure University sponsors an outdoor distance track program but does not participate in short distance or field events.

Women's varsity sports not sponsored by the Atlantic 10 Conference which are played by A-10 schools:

School	Bowling	Golf	Gymnastics	Sailing[wn 1]	Squash[wn 2]	Water polo
Dayton	No	MAAC	No	No	No	No
George Washington	No	No	EAGL	MAISA	CSA	CWPA SE
La Salle	No	MAAC	No	No	No	MAAC
Richmond	No	Patriot League	No	No	No	No
Duquesne	Northeast	No	No	No	No	No

Notes

Current tournament champions

The Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports.^[5]

Season	Sport	Men's champion	Women's champion
Fall 2015	Cross Country	Saint Joseph's	Richmond
	Field Hockey		Massachusetts
	Soccer	Dayton	Duquesne
	Volleyball		Dayton
Winter 2015-16	Basketball	Saint Joseph's	George Washington
	Swimming & Diving	UMass	Richmond
	Track & Field (Indoor)	Rhode Island	Massachusetts
Spring 2016	Golf	VCU
	Tennis	George Washington	VCU
	Women's Lacrosse		UMass
	Baseball	Rhode Island[6]
	Softball		Fordham
	Rowing		Rhode Island
	Track & Field (Outdoor)	George Mason	VCU

Football (1997–2006)

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 teams 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 the management change after the 2006 season.

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.

A-10 schools in DI-A/FBS

A-10 charter members Penn State, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, West Virginia, and Villanova played I-A football as independents while members of the A-10 in other sports. Villanova became a member of the Big East in 1980 with Pittsburgh following in 1982. Temple joined the A-10 that year. Penn State joined the Big Ten in 1991 (effectively in 1993), and three A-10 members joined the Big East as football-only members: Rutgers, West Virginia, and Temple (only Rutgers and West Virginia would later join the Big East as full members in 1995).

Virginia Tech joined the A-10 in 1995 as a result of the merger that created Conference USA. They would then join the Big East as full members in 2000, following the football program which was already a member of the league. Temple remained a football-only member of the Big East until 2004; they would join the MAC for football in 2007 until 2012, and re-joined the Big East in football for the 2012 season. Temple planned to move the rest of its sports into the Big East in 2013, but the conference realigned into the football-sponsoring American Athletic Conference and a new non-football Big East. Temple joined The American. Massachusetts joined them in FBS football with membership in the MAC beginning in the 2012 season and as an FBS independent beginning in 2016. Charlotte, which started a football program in 2013, left for Conference USA.

A-10 schools in DI-A/FBS
Schools Currently in the A-10	Schools formerly in the A-10
Massachusetts	Penn State
	Pittsburgh
	Rutgers
	West Virginia
	Temple
	Virginia Tech
	Charlotte

Facilities

School	Basketball arena	Capacity	Baseball stadium	Capacity	Soccer stadium	Capacity
Davidson	John M. Belk Arena	5,223	T. Henry Wilson, Jr. Field	700	1992 Team Field at Alumni Stadium	6,000
Dayton	University of Dayton Arena	13,435	Woerner Field	500	Baujan Field	2,000
Duquesne	A. J. Palumbo Center PPG Paints Arena1	4,406 19,100	Non-baseball school		Rooney Field	2,200
Fordham	Rose Hill Gymnasium	3,470	Houlihan Park	1,000	Coffey Field	7,000
George Mason	EagleBank Arena	10,000	Spuhler Field	900	George Mason Stadium	5,000
George Washington	Smith Center	4,338	Barcroft Park	1,000	Mount Vernon Athletic Fields	N/A
La Salle	Tom Gola Arena	3,400	Hank DeVincent Field	1,000	McCarthy Stadium	7,500
Massachusetts	Mullins Center	9,493	Earl Lorden Field	N/A	Rudd Field	2,000
Rhode Island	Ryan Center	7,657	Bill Beck Field	1,000	URI Soccer Complex	1,547
Richmond	Robins Center	7,201	Malcolm U. Pitt Field	600	E. Claiborne Robins Stadium	8,700
St. Bonaventure	Reilly Center	5,480	Fred Handler Park	N/A	McGraw-Jennings Field	N/A
St. Joseph's	Hagan Arena	4,200	Smithson Field	400	Sweeney Field	3,000
Saint Louis	Chaifetz Arena	10,600	Billiken Sports Center	500	Hermann Stadium	6,050
Virginia Commonwealth	Stuart C. Siegel Center	7,617	The Diamond	9,560	Sports Backers Stadium	3,250

¹ - Duquesne occasionally uses PPG Paints Arena for larger home games, including three during the 2012–2013 season. For these games, the upper bowl is blocked off by curtains, so the number of 19,100 is inaccurate.

References

External links

• Official website