Atlantic 10 Conference
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| Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) |
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| Established: 1976 | |
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| NCAA | Division I |
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| Members | 15 (14 full; 1 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 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Commissioner | Bernadette McGlade |
| Website | http://www.atlantic10.org/ |
| Locations | |
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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 15 partial or full-time members: 14 basketball and other sports, and one affiliate member participates in women's field hockey only.
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[edit] 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 Assocation. 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.
[edit] Members
[edit] Full Members
The following is a list of the full members of the conference and the year they joined:
[edit] Associate Members
| Institution | Location | Conference | Affiliation | Enrollment | Joined | Nickname | Sport |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Chester University of Pennsylvania | West Chester, Pennsylvania | PSAC | Public | 12,800 | 1996 | Golden Rams | Field Hockey |
[edit] Past members
| Institution | Affiliation | Years | Current Conference(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of Connecticut | Football member | 1947-1999† | Big East |
| University of Delaware | Football member | 1986-2006† | CAA |
| Hofstra University | Football member | 2001-2006 | CAA |
| 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 |
| Pennsylvania State University | Full member | 1976-1979, 1982-1991 | Big Ten |
| University of Pittsburgh | Full member | 1976-1982 | Big East |
| Rutgers University | Full member | 1976-1995 | Big East |
| Towson University | Football member | 2004-2006 | CAA |
| Villanova University | Full member | 1976-1980 | Big East, CAA (football) |
| Football only | 1988-2006† | ||
| Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University | Full member | 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.
[edit] Men's Basketball Champions
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[edit] 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 |
[edit] Sports sponsored
There are 21 NCAA sports in the conference
- baseball
- men's basketball
- women's basketball
- men's cross country
- women's cross country
- field hockey
- men's golf
- women’s lacrosse
- men's indoor track & field
- women's indoor track & field
- men's outdoor track & field
- women's outdoor track & field
- women's rowing
- men's soccer
- women's soccer
- softball
- men's swimming & diving
- women's swimming & diving
- men's tennis
- women's tennis
- women's volleyball
[edit] Atlantic 10 Rivalries
There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10. 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 which has led to a rivalry between these two schools. Another fledgling rivalry that has spawned has been one between Saint Joseph's 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.
[edit] A-10 football
[edit] 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
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- James Madison
- Maine
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Northeastern
- Rhode Island
- Richmond
- Villanova
- William & Mary
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.
[edit] Demise
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, which left the CAA in 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 — in effect, this meant that the A-10 football conference was under new management.
[edit] Conference facilities
| School | Basketball arena | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Charlotte | Dale F. Halton Arena | 9,105 |
| Dayton | University of Dayton Arena | 13,409 |
| Duquesne | A. J. Palumbo Center | 6,200 |
| Fordham | Rose Hill Gymnasium | 3,470 |
| George Washington | Smith Center | 5,000 |
| La Salle | Tom Gola Arena | 4,000 |
| Massachusetts | Mullins Center | 9,493 |
| Rhode Island | Ryan Center | 7,657 |
| Richmond | Robins Center | 9,171 |
| St. Bonaventure | Reilly Center | 6,000 |
| Saint Joseph's | Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse | 4,200† |
| Saint Louis | Chaifetz Arena | 10,600 |
| Temple | Liacouras Center | 10,206 |
| Xavier | Cintas Center | 10,250 |
†Saint Joseph's facility is currently being renovated and will hold at least 4,200 people when finished. Their men's team will play its home games at the Palestra on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania during the 2008-2009 season, while the women's team will split its home games between the Palestra and facilities at Philadelphia University.
[edit] External links
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