RAMS BECOME OFFICIAL MEMBER OF ATLANTIC-10, ARE ALL-IN FOR THE A-10
RICHMOND, Va. -- VCU officially became a member of the Atlantic 10
Conference at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, July 1. Here's a little
history lesson for Ram Nation on their new home.
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.
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)
