Atlantic 10 Primer
INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Butler officially became a member of the
Atlantic 10 Conference at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, July 1. While
the move to a new conference has been widely discussed and debated,
one common thread among Butler fans has been a desire to know more
about the Bulldogs’ new league.
On March 2, 1975, the idea of what is now the Atlantic 10
Conference was conceived. The Eastern Collegiate Basketball
League (ECBL) began conference play in 1976 as a basketball-only
league with eight members - Villanova, Duquesne, Penn State, West
Virginia, George Washington, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh and
Rutgers. Initially, the league was popularly known as the
Eastern 8.
The first changes came about with Pittsburgh and Villanova leaving
and St. Bonaventure (1979), Rhode Island (1980), Saint
Joseph’s (1982) and Temple (1982) joining. The changes
created a 10-member league and the name was changed to Atlantic 10
in 1982.
Further membership changes increased the league to 14 teams.
From 1997 through 2006, the league also operated a football
conference, and during that period more than 20 schools were
participating in A-10 competition in at least one sport. The
football league ended when the A-10 football programs departed to
join the Colonial Athletic Association.
Charter members George Washington, Massachusetts and Duquesne (the
Dukes briefly left the A-10 in 1992-93) remain, along with St.
Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph’s and Temple.
Dayton, Fordham, La Salle and Xavier joined in 1995, Richmond came
on board in 2001 and Charlotte and Saint Louis became members in
2005.
New members Butler and VCU will increase the league membership to
16 for 2012-13. Temple and Charlotte are leaving after
2012-13, bringing the league back to 14 members.
Did You Know?: Butler and Xavier were charter members of
the Midwestern City Conference, which later became the Horizon
League. Dayton, St. Louis, Duquesne and La Salle later joined
the MCC, which was founded in 1979. St. Louis left the MCC in
1991, Dayton departed in 1993, Duquesne left in 1994, and Xavier
and La Salle moved out in 1995.
Today, the Atlantic 10 Conference spans nine states with a total
population of nearly 75 million people. The league sponsors
championships in 21 sports: 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 and field, women’s indoor
track and field, men’s outdoor track and field, women’s
outdoor track and field, women’s rowing, men’s soccer,
women’s soccer, softball, men’s swimming and diving,
women’s swimming and diving, men’s tennis,
women’s tennis and women’s volleyball.
The league office has been located in Newport News, Virginia, since
the fall of 2009. Prior to that, the headquarters was in
Philadelphia. Current commissioner Bernadette V. McGlade was
named to her post on June 2, 2008.
Atlantic 10 Members
Butler University, Indianapolis, Ind. (Private)
UNC Charlotte, Charlotte, N.C. (Public)
University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio (Private)
Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Pa. (Private)
Fordham University, Bronx, N.Y. (Private)
George Washington University, Washington, D.C. (Private)
La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Private)
University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Mass. (Public)
University of Rhode Island, Kingston, R.I. (Public)
University of Richmond, Richmond, Va. (Private)
St. Bonaventure University, St. Bonaventure, N.Y. (Private)
Saint Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Private)
Saint Louis University, St. Louis, Mo. (Private)
Temple University, Philadelphia, Pa. (Public)
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Va. (Public)
Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio (Private)
