Atlantic Ten Conference
The
Atlantic 10 Conference (A10) is a college athletic conference which operates mostly in the eastern United States; 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.
The Atlantic 10 participates in the
NCAA's
Division I-AA for football and
Division I for all other sports. After the 2006 football season, A-10 will disband its football division due to the member schools joining the
Colonial Athletic Association.
 |
Atlantic 10 Conference Football |
Despite the name, there are 24 partial or full-time members; 12 schools play football, 14 basketball and other sports, and one affiliate member participates in women's
field hockey only. Only three schools—UMass, Rhode Island, and Richmond—are members in both football and basketball. This odd conference construction is because the A-10 Football Conference was created in 1997 by a takeover of the football-only
Yankee Conference, due to
NCAA rules changes that significantly diminished the legislative input of single-sport conferences. The members of the Yankee Conference narrowly chose the A-10's merger proposal over that of the
Colonial Athletic Association; this decision was later revisited by the football-playing members of the A-10,
as explained below.
Full Members
The following is a list of the full members of the conference and the year they joined:
| Institution | Location | Founded | Affiliation | Enrollment | Year Joined | | UNC Charlotte | Charlotte, North Carolina | 1946 | Public | 20,772 | 2005 |
| University of Dayton | Dayton, Ohio | 1850 | Private/Catholic | 9,175 | 1995 |
| Duquesne University | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | 1878 | Private/Catholic | 9,985 | 1976 |
| Fordham University | Bronx, New York | 1841 | Private/Catholic | 17,501 | 1995 |
| George Washington University | Washington, D.C. | 1821 | Private/Non-sectarian | 19,581 | 1976 |
| La Salle University | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1863 | Private/Catholic | 6,221 | 1995 |
| University of Massachusetts | Amherst, Massachusetts | 1863 | Public | 22,585 | 1976 |
| University of Rhode Island | Kingston, Rhode Island | 1888 | Public | 14,180 | 1980 |
| University of Richmond | Richmond, Virginia | 1830 | Private/Non-sectarian | 4,276 | 2001 |
| St. Bonaventure University | Olean, New York | 1856 | Private/Catholic | 2,700 | 1979 |
| Saint Joseph's University | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1851 | Private/Catholic | 6,450 | 1982 |
| Saint Louis University | St. Louis, Missouri | 1818 | Private/Catholic | 11,089 | 2005 |
| Temple University | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | 1884 | Public | 32,107 | 1982 |
| Xavier University | Cincinnati, Ohio | 1831 | Private/Catholic | 6,500 | 1995 |
Associate Members
The following is a list of the associate members and the sport to which they belong to the conference. Prior to 1997, football members belonged to the
Yankee Conference.
*
University of Delaware (1983) [football-only member]
*
Hofstra University (2002) [football-only member]
*
James Madison University (1983) [football-only member]
*
University of Maine (1947) [football-only member]
*
University of New Hampshire (1947) [football-only member]
*
Northeastern University, Boston (1993) [football-only member]
*
Towson University (2004) [football-only member]
*
Villanova University (1985) [football-only member]
*
West Chester University of Pennsylvania (1996) [member only in
field hockey]
*
College of William and Mary (1993) [football-only member]
Broken down by who plays what, that's:
Football*
Delaware (1983)
*
Hofstra (2002)
*
James Madison (1983)
*
Maine (1947)
*
Massachusetts (1947)
*
New Hampshire (1947)
*
Northeastern (1993)
*
Rhode Island (1947)
*
Richmond (1984)
*
Towson (2004)
*
Villanova (1985)
*
William & Mary (1993)
Basketball and Olympic sports*
Charlotte (2005)
*
Dayton (1995)
*
Duquesne*
Fordham (1995)
*
George Washington (1976)
*
La Salle (1995)
*
Massachusetts (1976)
*
Rhode Island (1980)
*
Richmond (2001)
*
St. Bonaventure (1979)
*
Saint Joseph's (PA) (1982)
*
Saint Louis (2005)
*
Temple (1982)
*
Xavier (1995)
Women's field hockey only*
West Chester (1996)
| Season | Regular Season Champion | Tournament Champion | |
|---|
| 1977 | Rutgers/West Virginia/Penn State | Duquesne |
| 1978 | Rutgers/Villanova | Villanova |
| 1979 | Villanova | Rutgers |
| 1980 | Villanova/Duquesne/Rutgers | Villanova |
| 1981 | Rhode Island/Duquesne | Pittsburgh |
| 1982 | West Virginia | Pittsburgh |
| 1983 | Rutgers/St. Bonaventure/West Virginia | West Virginia |
| 1984 | Temple | West Virginia |
| 1985 | West Virginia | Temple |
| 1986 | St. Joseph's | St. Joseph's |
| 1987 | Temple | Temple |
| 1988 | Temple | Temple |
| 1989 | West Virginia | Rutgers |
| 1990 | Temple | Temple |
| 1991 | Rutgers | Penn State |
| 1992 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| 1993 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| 1994 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| 1995 | Massachusetts | Massachusetts |
| 1996 | Massachusetts/West Virginia/George Washington | Massachusetts |
| 1997 | St. Joseph's/Xavier | St. Joseph's |
| 1998 | Temple/Xavier | Xavier |
| 1999 | Temple/George Washington | Rhode Island |
| 2000 | Temple/Dayton | Temple |
| 2001 | St. Joseph's | Temple |
| 2002 | Xavier/Temple/St. Joseph's | Xavier |
| 2003 | Xavier/St. Joseph's | Dayton |
| 2004 | St. Joseph's/Dayton | Xavier |
| 2005 | St. Joseph's/George Washington | George Washington |
| 2006 | George Washington | Xavier |
*
Atlantic Ten Conference Men's Basketball Tournament Locations| 1984 | Rutgers |
| 1985 | Penn State/St. Joseph's |
| 1986 | Rutgers |
| 1987 | Rutgers |
| 1988 | Rutgers |
| 1989 | Rutgers/St. Joseph's |
| 1990 | Rutgers/St. Joseph's |
| 1991 | Penn State |
| 1992 | West Virginia |
| 1993 | Rutgers |
| 1994 | George Washington/Rutgers |
| 1995 | George Washington |
| 1996 | George Washington |
| 1997 | St. Joseph's |
| 1998 | George Washington |
| 1999 | St. Joseph's |
| 2000 | George Washington/St. Joseph's |
| 2001 | Xavier |
| 2002 | George Washington |
| 2003 | George Washington |
| 2004 | George Washington/Temple |
| 2005 | Temple |
| 2006 | Charlotte/George Washington |
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
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 upcoming demise of the A-10 football conference.
Although the CAA does not currently sponsor football, 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. Not wishing to be left in a shell of a conference, Maine also applied for football-only membership in the CAA effective in 2007, and was accepted. Eventually, the A-10 football conference opted to disband. All of its members will compete in the CAA football conference starting in 2007.
| School | Football stadium | Capacity | Basketball arena!Capacity |
|---|
| Charlotte | Non-Football School | N/A | Dale F. Halton Arena | 9,105 |
| Dayton | Welcome Stadium | 11,000 | University of Dayton Arena | 13,409 |
| Duquesne | Arthur J. Rooney Athletic Field | 4,500 | A.J. Palumbo Center | 6,200 |
| Fordham | Coffey Field | 7,000 | Rose Hill Gym | 3,470 |
| George Washington | Non-football School | N/A | Smith Center | 5,000 |
| La Salle | McCarthy Stadium | 7,500 | Tom Gola Arena | 4,000 |
| Massachusetts | Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium | 17,000 | Mullins Center | 9,349 |
| Rhode Island | Meade Stadium | 6,580 | Ryan Center | 7,657 |
| Richmond | University of Richmond Stadium | 22,000 | Robins Center | 9,171 |
| St. Bonaventure | Non-Football School | N/A | Reilly Center | 6,000 |
| Saint Joseph's | Non-Football School | N/A | Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse | 3,200 |
| Saint Louis | Non-Football School | N/A | Savvis Center | 21,000 |
| Temple | Lincoln Financial Field | 66,000 | Liacouras Center | 10,224 |
| Xavier | Non-Football School | N/A | Cintas Center | 10,250 |
*
Atlantic 10 Conference*
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