Atlantic 10 Conference

The Atlantic 10 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division I. The A-10's member schools are located mostly on the East Coast and Midwest of the United States: Illinois, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
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 in the conference; three affiliate members participate in women's field hockey and men's lacrosse.
The conference's commissioner since 2008 is Bernadette McGlade. In fall 2023 the A-10 moved its headquarters from Newport News, Virginia, to Washington, D.C.

History

Early history

The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League 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.
After changes in membership that saw charter members Villanova and Pittsburgh leave and new members St. Bonaventure, Rhode Island, Saint Joseph's, and Temple enter, establishing the league with 10 members, the conference adopted the current Atlantic 10 name in 1982.

Expansion, contraction, and football

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. In 2012, Butler joined the conference after leaving the Horizon League and VCU joined after leaving the CAA.

Conference realignments and expanding media presence

Conference realignment in 2013 saw the departure of Temple to the American Athletic Conference, Butler and Xavier to the 2010–2013 [Big East Conference realignment|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 headquarters is located in Washington, DC. In the Fall of 2023 they relocated the HQ from Newport News, Virginia where it had been located since fall 2009. 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, NBC Sports, and digital broadcasts with ESPN+.
On November 16, 2021, Loyola University Chicago announced that its athletic program - the Loyola Ramblers - would leave the Missouri Valley Conference and join the A-10 effective July 1, 2022. On May 23, 2022, the addition of men's lacrosse was announced for the 2023 season. The four full members that sponsor the sport were joined by new affiliate members Panthers men's lacrosse|High Point] and Statesmen men's lacrosse|Hobart].
On December 14, 2023, the conference announced a five-year media deal with its current affiliates, ESPN, CBS, and NBC. The deal would expand basketball coverage and revenue for the schools. The first year of the new contract is the 2024–2025 season and runs through the 2028–29 season.
In late February 2024, it was announced that the 2024–25 season for UMass sports will be the last season as members of the Atlantic 10. The Minutemen will rejoin the Mid-American Conference as a full member beginning in 2025.

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	Endowment	Nickname	Colors
Davidson College	Davidson, North Carolina	1837	2014	Private – Presbyterian	1,843	$1,300	Wildcats
	Dayton, Ohio	1850	1995	Private – Catholic	11,241	$770	Flyers
Duquesne University	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	1878	1976; 1993	Private – Catholic	9,274	$472.1	Dukes
Fordham University	Bronx, New York	1841	1995	Private – Catholic	16,515	$972	Rams
George Mason University	Fairfax, Virginia	1957	2013	Public	35,047	$222.2	Patriots
George Washington University	Washington, D.C.	1821	1976	Private – Non-sectarian	28,172	$2,400	Revolutionaries
La Salle University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1863	1995	Private – Catholic	5,191	$80	Explorers
Loyola University Chicago	Chicago, Illinois	1870	2022	Private – Catholic	16,437	$1,072	Ramblers
	Kingston, Rhode Island	1892	1980	Public	16,883	$203	Rams
	Richmond, Virginia	1840	2001	Private – Non-sectarian	4,002	$3,100	Spiders
		1858	1979	Private – Catholic	2,381	$92.3	Bonnies
Saint Joseph's University	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	1851	1982	Private – Catholic	7,589	$378.8	Hawks
Saint Louis University	St. Louis, Missouri	1818	2005	Private – Catholic	12,883	$1,700	Billikens
Virginia Commonwealth University	Richmond, Virginia	1838	2012	Public	31,076	$2,720	Rams

;Notes:

Associate members

The "joined" column indicates the calendar year in which each school became an A-10 associate, which for spring sports such as lacrosse is the year before the first season of competition.

Institution	Location	Founded	Joined	Type	Enrollment	Nickname	Primary conference	A-10 sport
	Newark, Delaware	1743	2025	Public	23,774	Blue Hens	CUSA	Fightin' Blue Hens men's lacrosse\|Men's lacrosse]
High Point University	High Point, North Carolina	1924	2022	Private	4,545	Panthers	Big South	Men's lacrosse
Hobart College	Geneva, New York	1822	2022	Private – Nonsectarian	2,105	Statesmen	Liberty	Men's lacrosse
Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania	Lock Haven, Pennsylvania	1870	2010	Public	3,425	Bald Eagles	PSAC	Field hockey
	Amherst, Massachusetts	1863	2025	Public	30,593	Minutemen	MAC	Men's lacrosse

;Notes:

Former members

Former full members

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

Former associate members

;Notes

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 the 2007–08 school year as the legally separate entity of CAA Football. All the schools on this list were in the A-10 football conference when it became CAA Football, but Hofstra and Northeastern discontinued their football programs after the 2009–10 school year. Membership dates include time in the Yankee Conference which merged into the A-10 in the 1997–98 school year.

Institution	Location	Founded	Type	Enrollment	Joined	Left	Nickname	Primary conference
Boston University	Boston, Massachusetts	1839	Private	29,978	1973–74	1997–98	Terriers	Independent America East Patriot League
	Storrs, Connecticut	1881	Public	25,583	1947–48	1999–2000	Huskies	Independent Big East American Big East
	Newark, Delaware	1743	Public	19,391	1986–87	2006–07	Fightin' Blue Hens	East Coast America East CAA CUSA
Hofstra University	Hempstead, New York	1935	Private	12,400	2001–02	2006–07	Pride	CAA
James Madison University	Harrisonburg, Virginia	1908	Public	19,927	1993–94	2006–07	Dukes	CAA SBC
	Orono, Maine	1865	Public	10,901	1947–48	2006–07	Black Bears	Independent America East
	Durham, New Hampshire	1866	Public	11,942	1947–48	2006–07	Wildcats	Independent America East
Northeastern University	Boston, Massachusetts	1898	Private	12,913	1993–94	2006–07	Huskies	America East CAA
Towson University	Towson, Maryland	1866	Public	21,950	2004–05	2006–07	Tigers	CAA
Villanova University	Villanova, Pennsylvania	1842	Private	10,482	1988–89	2006–07	Wildcats	Big East Big East
	Williamsburg, Virginia	1693	Public	8,258	1993–94	2006–07	Tribe	CAA

;Notes:

Membership timeline

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id:line value:black
id:bg value:white
id:Full value:rgb # Use this color to denote a team that is a member in all sports
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bar:1 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1980 text:Villanova
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bar:1 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2013
bar:1 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
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bar:2 color:OtherC1 from:1982 till:2013 text:Big East
bar:2 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:end text:ACC
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bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1979 till:1982
bar:3 color:FullxF from:1982 till:1991 text:
bar:3 color:OtherC1 from:1991 till:1993
bar:3 color:OtherC2 from:1993 till:end text:Big Ten
bar:4 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1995 text:Rutgers
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2013 text:Big East
bar:4 shift: color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2014 text:AAC
bar:4 color:OtherC1 from:2014 till:end text:Big Ten
bar:5 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1995 text:West [Virginia University|West Virginia]
bar:5 color:OtherC1 from:1995 till:2012 text:Big East
bar:5 color:OtherC2 from:2012 till:end text:Big 12
bar:6 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text:Massachusetts Amherst|Massachusetts (UMass)]
bar:6 color:Full from:1997 till:2007
bar:6 color:FullxF from:2007 till:2025
bar:6 color:OtherC1 from:2025 till:end text:MAC
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1976 till:1992 text:Duquesne
bar:7 color:OtherC1 from:1992 till:1993 text:MCC
bar:7 color:FullxF from:1993 till:end
bar:8 color:FullxF from:1976 till:end text:George Washington
bar:9 color:FullxF from:1979 till:end text:St. Bonaventure
bar:10 color:FullxF from:1980 till:1997 text:Rhode Island
bar:10 color:Full from:1997 till:2007
bar:10 color:FullxF from:2007 till:end
bar:11 color:FullxF from:1982 till:2013 text:Temple
bar:11 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:AAC
bar:12 color:FullxF from:1982 till:end text:Saint Joseph's (Pa.)
bar:13 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2000 text:Virginia Tech *
bar:13 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2000 till:2004 text:Big East
bar:13 color:OtherC2 from:2004 till:end text:ACC
bar:14 color:FullxF from:1995 till:2013 text:Xavier
bar:14 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
bar:15 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text:Dayton
bar:16 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text:Fordham
bar:17 color:FullxF from:1995 till:end text:La Salle
bar:18 color:AssocF from:1997 till:1998 text:Boston University
bar:19 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2000 text:UConn
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2000 till:2002
bar:19 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2002 till:2013 text:Big East
bar:19 color:OtherC2 from:2013 till:2020 text:AAC
bar:19 color:OtherC1 from:2020 till:end text:D-I FBS Independent
bar:20 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:Delaware
bar:20 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2025 text:CAA Football
bar:20 color:OtherC2 from:2025 till:end text:C-USA
bar:21 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:James Madison
bar:21 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2023 text:CAA Football
bar:21 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:Sun Belt
bar:22 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:Maine
bar:22 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text:CAA Football
bar:23 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:New Hampshire
bar:23 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text:CAA Football
bar:24 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:Northeastern
bar:24 color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:2010 text:CAA Football
bar:25 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2007 text:William & Mary
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bar:26 color:AssocF from:1997 till:2001 text:Richmond
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bar:28 color:AssocF from:2004 till:2007 text:Towson
bar:28 shift: color:OtherC1 from:2007 till:end text:CAA Football
bar:29 color:FullXF from:2005 till:2013 text:University of [North Carolina at Charlotte|Charlotte]
bar:29 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:2023 text:C-USA
bar:29 color:OtherC2 from:2023 till:end text:American
bar:30 color:FullXF from:2005 till:end text:Saint Louis
bar:32 shift: color:FullxF from:2012 till:2013 text:Butler
bar:32 color:OtherC1 from:2013 till:end text:Big East
bar:33 color:FullxF from:2012 till:end text:VCU
bar:34 color:FullxF from:2013 till:end text:George Mason
bar:36 color:FullxF from:2014 till:end text:Davidson
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Notes

^* - Virginia Tech did not participate in wrestling.

Atlantic 10 rivalries

There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10, with rivalries that carry over from the Big 5 which includes Saint Joseph's, La Salle, and Temple. 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. 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 2021–22 academic year, the Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors championship competition in ten men's and thirteen women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with lacrosse becoming the 10th sponsored men's sport in 2022–23 and women's golf becoming the 13th sponsored women's sport in 2024–25. In addition to the 15 full members, Lock Haven and Saint Francis is an affiliate member in field hockey. High Point and Hobart became men's lacrosse affiliates in July 2022. Delaware will join as a men's lacrosse affiliate on July 1, 2025 and UMass will compete as a men's lacrosse affiliate when the majority of its sports join the Mid-American Conference on July 1, 2025.

Sport	Men's	Women's
Baseball	12	–
Basketball	15	15
Cross country	15	15
Field hockey	–	8
Golf	11	6
Lacrosse	7	10
Rowing	–	9
Soccer	14	15
Softball	–	10
Swimming & Diving	8	11
Tennis	10	13
Track and Field (Indoor)	10	14
Track and Field (Outdoor)	13	15
Volleyball	–	10

Men's sponsored sports by school

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

School	Football	Ice hockey	Rowing	Sailing	Squash	Volleyball	Water polo	Wrestling
Davidson	Pioneer	No	No	No	No	No	No	SoCon
Dayton	Pioneer	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Duquesne	Northeast	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Fordham	Patriot	No	No	IRA	MAISA	No	CWPA N	No
George Mason	No	No	No	No	No	EIVA	No	MAC
George Washington	No	No	No	No	No	No	CWPA SE	No
La Salle	No	No	IRA	No	No	No	No	No
Loyola Chicago	No	No	No	No	No	MIVA	No	No
Rhode Island	CAA Football	No	No	NEISA	No	No	No	No
Richmond	Patriot	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
St. Bonaventure	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Saint Joseph's	No	No	IRA	No	No	No	No	No

;Notes

Women's sponsored sports by school

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

School	Acrobatics & tumbling	Bowling	Gymnastics	Rugby	Sailing	Squash	Triathlon	Water polo
Duquesne	Independent	Northeast	No	No	No	No	Independent	No
Fordham	No	No	No	No	MAISA	No	No	No
George Washington	No	No	EAGL	No	MAISA	CSA	No	No
La Salle		No	No		No	No		MAAC

;Notes

Current tournament champions

The Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors championship competition in 10 men's and 12 women's NCAA sanctioned sport.
Regular-season champions are indicated with "" and tournament champions with "".

Season	Sport	Men's champion	Women's champion
Fall 2023	Cross country	Loyola	Loyola
Fall 2023	Field hockey		Saint Joseph's
Fall 2023	Soccer	VCU Dayton	Saint Louis
Fall 2023	Volleyball		Dayton
Winter 2023–24	Basketball	2023–24 [Loyola Ramblers men's basketball team\|Loyola] & 2023–24 [Richmond Spiders men's basketball team\|Richmond] 2023–24 [Duquesne Dukes men's basketball team\|Duquesne]	2023–24 [Richmond Spiders women's basketball team\|Richmond]
Winter 2023–24	Swimming & Diving	George Washington	George Washington
Winter 2023–24	Track & field	Rhode Island	VCU
Spring 2024	Golf	VCU
Spring 2024	Tennis	VCU	UMass
Spring 2024	Lacrosse	Saint Joseph's	UMass Richmond
Spring 2024	Baseball	2024 [Saint Louis Billikens baseball team\|Saint Louis] Rams baseball team\|VCU]
Spring 2024	Softball		Dayton
Spring 2024	Rowing		George Washington
Spring 2024	Track & field	Rhode Island	VCU

Football (1997–2006)

Origin

The A-10 began sponsoring football in 1997 when it absorbed the Yankee Conference, a Division I-AA 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:

Terriers football">Boston University Terriers">Terriers football
Huskies football|Connecticut Huskies football]
Blue Hens football">Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens">Blue Hens football
Dukes football">Duquesne Dukes">Dukes football
Black Bears football">Maine Black Bears">Black Bears football
UMass Minutemen football
Wildcats football">Villanova Wildcats">Wildcats football
Northeastern Huskies football
Rhode Island Rams football
Spiders football">Richmond Spiders">Spiders football
Villanova Wildcats football
William & Mary Tribe football

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 that was completed in 2002 [NCAA Division I-A football season|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.

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 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. This league continues to operate under the administration of the multi-sports CAA, now known as the Coastal Athletic Association, as the legally separate entity of CAA Football.

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, and three A-10 members joined the Big East as football-only members: Rutgers, West Virginia, and Temple.
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 and eventually joined The American in 2023.