Atlantic 10 Conference

Atlantic 10 Conference
A-10
Established	1976
Association	NCAA
Division	Division I
Subdivision	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. The current commissioner is Bernadette McGlade, who began her tenure in 2008.

History[]

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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 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 it 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, NBCSN, Stadium, and digital broadcasts with ESPN+.

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	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Colors
Davidson College	Davidson, North Carolina	1837	2014	Private – Presbyterian (PCUSA)	1,843	Wildcats
University of Dayton	Dayton, Ohio	1850	1995	Private – Catholic (Marianists)	11,241	Flyers
Duquesne University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1878	1976, 1993†	Private – Catholic (Spiritans)	9,274	Dukes
Fordham University	New York, New York	1841	1995	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	16,515	Rams
George Mason University	Fairfax, Virginia	1957	2013	Public	35,047	Patriots
George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	1821	1976	Private – Non-sectarian	28,172	Colonials
La Salle University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1863	1995	Private – Catholic (De La Salle Brothers)	5,191	Explorers
University of Massachusetts	Amherst, Massachusetts	1863	1976	Public (University of Massachusetts)	30,593	Minutemen and Minutewomen
University of Rhode Island	Kingston, Rhode Island	1892	1980	Public	16,883	Rams
University of Richmond^	Richmond, Virginia	1840	2001	Private – Non-sectarian	4,002	Spiders
St. Bonaventure University	St. Bonaventure, New York	1858	1979	Private – Catholic (Franciscan)	2,381	Bonnies
Saint Joseph's University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1851	1982	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	7,589	Hawks
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	1818	2005	Private – Catholic (Jesuit)	11,823	Billikens
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	1838	2012	Public	31,076	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	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary Conference	A-10 Sport
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania	1870	2010	Public (PASSHE)	3,425	Bald Eagles	PSAC (D-II)	field hockey
Saint Francis University	Loretto, Pennsylvania	1847	2013	Private - Catholic (Franciscan)	2,449	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)
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
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 (D-II)	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)
University of Connecticut	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	Public	25,583	1947	19992	Huskies	Independent (1975–79) Big East (1979–2013) The American (2013–2020) Big East (2020–present)
University of Delaware	Newark, Delaware	1743	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
University of Maine	Orono, Maine	1865	Public	10,901	1947	2006	Black Bears	Independent (1975–79) America East (1979–present)
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)
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. UConn moved to FBS after the 1999–2000 season, and 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. Rivals St. Louis and Dayton play each year in basketball for the Arch-Baron Cup. George Washington and George Mason compete annually in the Revolutionary Rivalry across all sports.

Sports[]

In the 2017–18 academic year, the Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors 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	-	10
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[a]	Y[a]	Y	9
La Salle	Y[b]	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y[b]	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[c]	8
Saint Joseph's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Saint Louis	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	8
VCU	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	8
Totals	13	14	14	11	13	8	11	10	11.5[c]	105

Notes

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

School	Football	Ice hockey	Lacrosse	Rowing[a]	Sailing[b]	Squash[c]	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	IRA	MAISA	CSA	No	CWPA N	No
George Mason	No	No	No	No	No	No	EIVA	No	MAC
George Washington	No	No	No	IRA & SIRA[d]	MAISA[d]	CSA[d]	No	CWPA SE	No
La Salle	No	No	No	IRA	No	No	No	CWPA SW[e]	No
Massachusetts	FBS Independent	Hockey East	CAA	No	No	No	No	No	No
Rhode Island	CAA	ESCHL	No	No	NEISA	No	No	No	No
Richmond	CAA	No	SoCon	No	No	No	No	No	No
St. Bonaventure	No	No	MAAC	No	No	No	No	No	No
Saint Joseph's	No	No	Northeast	IRA	No	No	No	No	No

Notes

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[a]	Y	Y[a]	Y	Y	Y[a]	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	9
St. Bonaventure	Y	Y	N	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	YN[b]	N	8
Saint Joseph's	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	Y	Y	N	10
Saint Louis	Y	Y	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y	10
VCU	Y	Y	Y	Y	N	Y	N	N	Y	Y	Y	Y	9
Totals	14	14	7+2[c]	10	9	14	10	11	14	13	13.5[b]	10	139+2

Notes

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

School	Bowling	Golf	Gymnastics	Sailing[a]	Squash[b]	Water polo
Dayton	No	MAAC	No	No	No	No
Fordham	No	No	No	MAISA	No	No
George Washington	No	No	EAGL	MAISA	CSA	CWPA SE[c]
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.^[7]

Regular-season champions are indicated with "(RS)" and tournament champions with "(T)".

Season	Sport	Men's champion	Women's champion
Fall 2018	Cross Country	Dayton	Richmond
	Field Hockey		Saint Joseph's (RS & T)
	Soccer	VCU (RS) Rhode Island (T)	Saint Louis (RS & T)
	Volleyball		VCU (RS) Dayton (T)
Winter 2018–19	Basketball	VCU (RS) Saint Louis (T)	Fordham, VCU (RS) Fordham (T)
	Swimming & Diving	George Washington	Duquesne
	Track & Field (Indoor)	George Mason	VCU
Spring 2019	Golf	VCU
	Tennis	VCU	VCU
	Women's Lacrosse		UMass (RS) Richmond (T)
	Baseball	VCU (RS) Fordham (T)
	Softball		Fordham (RS) Fordham, George Washington (T)[a]
	Rowing		Rhode Island
	Track & Field (Outdoor)	George Mason	George Mason

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		6,000
Dayton	University of Dayton Arena	13,435	Woerner Field	500	Baujan Field	2,000
Duquesne	UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse	3,500	Non-baseball school		Rooney Field	2,200
Fordham	Rose Hill Gymnasium	3,200	Houlihan Park	500	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	Presidents Field	500
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

References[]

External links[]

• Official website