Atlantic 10 Conference facts for kids

The Atlantic 10 Conference (A10) is a NCAA conference that plays in NCAA Division I. The conference is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia and features universities and colleges from the Eastern and Midwestern United States.

History

The A10 was founded by eight Eastern schools in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League, and began play in 1976. It first played only men's basketball, but added other sports in 1977 and became the Eastern Athletic Association. Despite its official names, the conference was more often called the Eastern 8. By 1982, the conference had 10 schools, and it became the Atlantic 10.

Although the conference has had "10" in its name since 1982, it has not had 10 members since Penn State left for the second and final time in 1991. Since then, the A10 has had anywhere from 8 to 16 full members (schools that play most of their sports in the conference). From 1997 to 2006, the A10 ran a football league, but it dropped the sport when the Colonial Athletic Association began a football league.

Members

Fourteen schools are full members. Most of the members are private schools; seven are run by the Catholic Church.

Associate members

Two schools are "associate members" that play only one sport in the A10.

Former members

Ten schools were once full members of the A10, but are no longer in the conference.

See also

In Spanish: Atlantic 10 Conference para niños