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. It participates in the NCAA's Division I-AA for football and Division I for all other sports.

Despite the name, there are 22 partial or full-time members; 12 schools play football, 12 basketball and other sports, and one affiliate member for 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 may soon be revisited by the football_playing members of the A_10, as explained below.

Members (and year joined, where known; football_only dates pre_1997 refer to Yankee Conference)

• University of Dayton (1995) [non-football member]
• University of Delaware (1983) [football-only member]
• Duquesne University [non-football member]
• Fordham University (1995) [non-football member]
• George Washington University (1976) [non-football member]
• Hofstra University (2001) [football-only member]
• James Madison University (1983) [football-only member]
• La Salle University (1995) [non-football member]
• University of Maine (1947) [football-only member]
• University of Massachusetts (1947 for football; joined basketball conference in 1976)
• University of New Hampshire (1947) [football-only member]
• Northeastern University (1993) [football-only member]
• University of Rhode Island (1947 football; 1980 basketball)
• University of Richmond (1984 football; 2001 basketball)
• St. Bonaventure University (1979) [no football program]
• Saint Joseph's University (PA) (1982) [no football program]
• Temple University (1982) [non-football member]
• Towson University (2004) [football-only member]
• Villanova University (1985) [football-only member]
• West Chester University (1996) [member only in field hockey]
• College of William and Mary (1993) [football-only member]
• Xavier University (1995) [no football program]

Broken down by who plays what, that's:

Football

• Delaware (1983)
• Hofstra (2001)
• 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

• 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)
• Temple (1982)
• Xavier (1995)

Women's field hockey only

• West Chester (1996)

Future developments

In 2005, Saint Louis University and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte will join the Atlantic Ten from Conference USA. Neither school has a football program.

In 2006, Northeastern University will join the Colonial Athletic Association for basketball and Olympic sports. Although the CAA does not currently sponsor football, Northeastern's move to that conference will greatly affect the Atlantic Ten in football. Currently, five CAA members (Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Towson, and William & Mary) are football members of the A_10. The addition of Northeastern will give the CAA the six football programs it would need to begin sponsoring football. Should these schools leave, the A_10 would drop to six football members; if the CAA invites Richmond (which left it in 2001) to rejoin for football only, given UR's long_standing in_state rivalries with William & Mary and James Madison, this would take the A_10 football conference below the NCAA minimum six.

External link

• Atlantic 10 Conference (http://www.atlantic10.org/)