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The Atlantic 10 Conference (A-10) is a collegiate athletic conference whose schools compete in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I. The A-10's member schools are located in states mostly on the United States Eastern Seaboard, as well as some in the Midwest: Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri as well as in the District of Columbia. Although some of its members are state-funded, half of its membership is made up of private, Catholic institutions. Despite the name, there are 15 full-time members, and four affiliate members that participate in women's field hockey and men's lacrosse. The current commissioner is Bernadette McGlade, who began her tenure in 2008.

The Atlantic 10 Conference was founded in 1975 as the Eastern Collegiate Basketball League (ECBL) 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 (Villanova, Duquesne, Penn State, West Virginia, George Washington, Massachusetts, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers).

After changes in membership that saw charter members Villanova and Pittsburgh leave (in 1980 and 1982, respectively) and new members St. Bonaventure (1979), Rhode Island (1980), Saint Joseph's (1982), and Temple (1982) enter, establishing the league with 10 members, the conference adopted the current Atlantic 10 name in 1982.

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

Conference realignment in 2013 saw the departure of Temple to the American Athletic Conference, Butler and Xavier to the 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 have been located in Newport News, Virginia since fall 2009.[1] 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 depart the Missouri Valley Conference and join the A-10 effective July 1, 2022.[2]

The latest change to the A-10 was announced on May 23, 2022 with the addition of men's lacrosse for the 2023 season (2022–23 school year). The four full members that sponsor the sport (Richmond, St. Bonaventure, Saint Joseph's, UMass) were joined by affiliate members High Point and Hobart.[3]

The following is a list of the full members of the conference and the year they joined:

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.

None of these institutions played football in the A-10 during their tenure as full 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. All the schools on this list (except Boston U. and Connecticut) were in the A-10 football conference when it became CAA Football (technically separate from the all-sports CAA), but Hofstra and Northeastern discontinued their football programs after the 2009–10 school year. Membership dates include time in the Yankee Conference (which was an all-sports conference from the 1947–48 to 1975–76 seasons, and a football-only conference after that) which merged into the A-10 in the 1997–98 school year.

Full members Full members (non-football) Associate members (football only) Assoc. member (list sports) Notes * - Virginia Tech did not participate in wrestling.

There are a number of intense rivalries within the Atlantic 10,[under discussion] with rivalries that carry over from the Big 5 which includes Saint Joseph's, La Salle, and Temple (now in the American Athletic Conference). 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. Due to both teams sharing the Ram mascot, the Fordham - URI rivalry has increased in recent years as the competitions are heralded as "The Battle of the Rams." 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.

In the 2021–22 academic year, the Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with lacrosse becoming the 10th sponsored men's sport in 2022–23.[5] In addition to the 15 full members, two Pennsylvania schools, Lock Haven and Saint Francis, are affiliate members in field hockey. High Point and Hobart became men's lacrosse affiliates in July 2022.

The Atlantic 10 Conference sponsors championship competition in nine men's and twelve women's NCAA sanctioned sports, with a tenth men's sport to be added in July 2022.[8]

Regular-season champions are indicated with "(RS)" and tournament champions with "(T)".

The A-10 began sponsoring football in 1997 when it absorbed the Yankee Conference, a Division I-AA (now known as Division I FCS) 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:

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 (now Division I FBS) that was completed in 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.

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 (Delaware, Hofstra, James Madison, Towson, and William & Mary) 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.

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 (effectively in 1993), and three A-10 members joined the Big East as football-only members: Rutgers, West Virginia, and Temple (only Rutgers and West Virginia would later join the Big East as full members in 1995).

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.

Future member in gray.

Main photo: the arch of Cabo San Lucas at the tip of Baja California (Alamy)

Average temperature 20CAt the foot of the Baja California peninsula in northwestern Mexico, these two towns — glam Cabo San Lucas and more authentic San Jose del Cabo — head up an area of white-sand beaches, fine hotels and an arid, cacti-dotted interior. As one of the cooler months, February is a good bet for physical activities — from guided hikes through Sierra de la Laguna to jet-skiing or kitesurfing — and peak season for boat trips (from La Paz) to see or snorkel with whale sharks and spot baby humpback whales. Yellowtail is the main target for sport-fishers at this time, while riding on the beach is also popular. Best of all, you’ll dodge the inevitable price hikes and large crowds when North American students flood in for March and April’s raucous spring break parties.

Average temperature 28CZanzibar sizzles in February, which is ideal for any visitors planning to spend most of their time horizontal — be it swimming in the bath-warm Indian Ocean, bronzing on a powdery white shore or getting massaged at a beach resort. Snorkelling is another option: Chumbe Island’s protected reef is seemingly home to fish of every shape and colour. Some verticality is required during dolphin-watching boat tours, but you can always float in the pool afterwards. For the more energetic, it’s near-essential to stroll around the capital’s narrow-laned, Unesco-listed Stone Town quarter, past Persian bathhouses, Swahili restaurants, coral-stone houses and Freddie Mercury’s birthplace. February brings the Sauti za Busara music festival: four rhythmic days of African jazz and local taarab shows in Stone Town’s Old Fort.

Average temperature 24CIn March, Cambodia swelters. That’s fine if you’re staying at one of its growing collection of island-based beach retreats — from rustic, affordable eco-lodges on Koh Rong or to the more opulent likes of Song Saa — but less ideal for sightseeing at the southeast Asian country’s headline act. Touring the former Khmer capital of Angkor and its incredible ninth to 15th-century temples can be hot work, especially if you’re climbing Ta Keo’s steps or scrambling over huge roots at tree-hugged Ta Prohm in high humidity. Early to mid February offers a far milder heat, including for those early risers watching sunrise over Angkor Wat — the fairest and largest temple of them all. Additionally, there will be higher water levels on the Tonle Sap River to aid cruises from capital Phnom Penh, or perhaps even Vietnam.

Average temperature 24CFebruary is peak season in the Caribbean and promises perfect, dry weather for snorkelling, swimming or simply sunbathing on fudge-hued shores — and sufficiently cool days for exploring historic plantations and waterfall hikes inland. All of that is possible in Jamaica, whose popular tamarind fruit is in season and whose visitors are deliciously ruffled by gentle daytime winds known as the “doctor breeze”. The island then throws in two cherries on top. Falling on February 6, Bob Marley’s birthday is marked by everything from concerts to fashion parades, chiefly in Kingston and Negril. Similarly energetic, country-wide carnival celebrations conclude after Easter with a riot of rum-soaked street parties and marching bands. Dancing is pretty much mandatory.

Average temperature 23CAs summer ends on Easter Island — or Rapa Nui, as the locals call it — flights stay regular as temperatures revert from sweltering to tolerable. The big draw on this Chilean territory, more than 2,000 miles west and a six-hour flight from mainland South America, are its hundreds of monumental, monolithic moai statues. Supposedly carrying the spirits of ancestors, many of these huge-headed stone figures were placed on platforms around the island’s perimeter — a mind-boggling feat given their weight. Spot some as you hike a bright-green Pacific coastal path; other things to do are surfing, diving to see submerged moai and, in February, attending the two-week Tapati festival. A blend of dancing and singing competitions alongside horse racing, triathlons and other traditional sporting events, it’s an excellent way to sample the local Polynesian culture.

Average temperature 21CThough it flies under the average tourist’s radar, there’s lots to like about a holiday to Senegal — from a cool contemporary art scene and Saint-Louis’s sun-baked colonial architecture to golden beaches and spicy eats. The west African country’s surfing scene is especially good, for beginners or veterans alike, and February — with no rain, much sun and very bearable heat — is the optimum time to ride the waves. Stay at a solar-powered lodge such as N’Gor Island Surf Camp near the capital, Dakar, and you could also journey southeast for a safari in the Niokolo-Koba National Park. Open from mid-December to April 30 and hugging the Gambia River, its forests are home to hippos, crocodiles, lions, leopards, warthogs and elephants. If that’s too far to go, opt for a birdwatching boat journey along the mangrove-snagged Casamance Delta instead.

Average temperature 27CFar more than just a stopover, Singapore might even have too much to do. Hawker centres around the city provide contenders for the world’s best street food (Liao Fan’s Hawker Chan at 335 Smith Street has previously won a Michelin star), while some of Asia’s premier cocktails are consumed in bars here. That includes the Raffles hotel’s Long Bar, home of the Singapore Sling. Singapore’s vertical gardens and futuristic developments impress, as do nature reserves housing saltwater crocodiles and macaque monkeys. In February, amid warm and mostly dry weather, there’s usually an added attraction: the arrival of lunar new year. Tending to fall in this month, it involves colourful parades and many a costumed, pugilistic lion dance in Chinatown. Book your stay well in advance if your visit falls around then.

Average temperature 21CAll of Australia enjoys sunshine during February — with even Melbourne and its notoriously temperamental climate liable to bask. With very little rainfall likely, the city’s buzzing, café-lined laneways are at their most vibrant; so too the many rooftop bars, such as laid-back Good Heavens, and gorgeous parks. Barbecues are ten a penny, as are cricket games; just try not to mention the Ashes. It’s a fine time to catch a concert at the free St Kilda Festival, or to rummage around independent clothes and homeware stores in the hip suburb of Richmond. Most of all, though, try to do as the locals do — namely, decamp an hour’s drive south to the eucalyptus-scented Mornington Peninsula, where calm, sandy beaches and informal but high-quality vineyard restaurants await.

Average temperature 20CA more authentic alternative to Dubai, the UAE’s capital city of Abu Dhabi is home to numerous treasures. Top trump, arguably, is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque; not only one of the world’s largest Islamic places of worship, but beautiful thanks to dazzlingly white domes and minarets. Similarly eye-catching are the island-set Louvre Abu Dhabi, whose aim is to bridge the gap between eastern and western art, and indoor theme park Ferrari World, devoted to Italy’s most famous fast car. A couple of hours’ drive east is Al Ain, a Unesco-protected garden city whose largest oasis contains 147,000 date palms; nearby are ancient, distinctive beehive tombs reckoned to be about 5,000 years old. They’re far more fun to visit in February than summer, when the mercury can rise above 40C.

Average temperature 26CKruger National Park in South Africa is arguably Africa’s most reliable national park when it comes to sightings of the big five and other popular beasts. So while February’s dense vegetation makes things harder, your odds remain excellent. That greenery yields an upside too, as the park never looks more lush and photogenic. This is also the season when many baby animals arrive on the scene and when birding is at its best thanks to the arrival of migratory species. Try, if you can afford it, to stay on an adjacent private reserve such as Sabi Sand or Timbavati: the guiding quality will be better, there will be fewer other visitors and you’ll be permitted to go off-road (unlike in the main park) in search of those elusive animals — a crucial advantage.

Average temperature 18CKeen on escaping somewhere sunny over February half-term, but less so on a long flight? Getting to Lanzarote takes just over four hours from London and you can expect seven daily hours of the yellow stuff on average. There are theme parks and family-friendly beach resorts aplenty, especially on the south coast. But try also to explore this Canary Island’s bumpy geography. Walking some of the Cueva de Los Verdes’s four-mile lava tube (a cave created by lava flows 3,000 years ago) should delight youngsters, as will deep craters amid Timanfaya National Park and its hundreds of volcanoes. Should parents need a hedonistic break, it’s usually easy to hire a babysitter and journey to one of the main malvasia vineyards for a tour and tasting session.

Average temperature 27CPalawan’s longstanding tagline as the Philippines’ last frontier made sense two decades ago, but thanks to social media, the whole world now knows about how beautiful it is. Luckily Palawan’s archipelago contains more than 1,700 isles to accompany its namesake main one, and still has the potential for escapism. Visitors might go diving on eco-spirited Pangalusian, meet monkeys on Coron, tour pearl farms on Large Bulucan or settle into luxury life on private Pamalican, where Aman operates a resort. With lagoons, street parades, rice terraces and wreck dives, the El Nido area of Palawan still has the most rounded offering, however.

Average temperature 25CAlongside steaks and dulce de leche, Argentina’s most famous gastronomic item is malbec. The bold, plummy red grape is harvested across this vast South American country, but its hub is the western province of Mendoza thanks to oh-so-fertile Andean foothills below mighty Mount Aconcagua. Drive or cycle its gorgeous Provincial Route 89, aka “the Wine Road”, and then Route 40, and stop at terraced vineyards and bodegas for tastings or delicious meals. In February, everyone will be excited ahead of March’s harvest, making it a thrilling time to visit.

Average temperature 24.5CFacing the deep blue of the Indian Ocean, Durban has all the glitz and glam of a coastal metropolis while still retaining its wild side. High rises and luxury hotels line its coast, but it’s not unusual to spot dolphins swimming alongside sea kayakers or vervet monkeys hanging from the trees. There’s a strong Indian influence here, thanks to the generations who came through work and trade, which is most obvious when you walk through the busy Victoria Street Market or order a bunny chow (bread filled with curry). The city also makes a fantastic jumping-off point for safaris in KwaZulu-Natal province; private game reserves dominate here, and Thanda is particularly excellent on the conservation front.

Additional reporting by Qin Xie.

"Within two weeks, my fiancee cheated on and left me, I almost died from food poisoning, and Donald Trump was elected president," he responded, casually accusing Dove Cameron of cheating on him during their relationship (via E! News)

The national flag of the USSR was established on 18 April 1924, described in the Constitution of the USSR as a red or scarlet rectangular cloth with a 1:2 width to length ratio, with a gold sickle and hammer in the top corner next to the flagpole and a red five-pointed star framed with a golden border

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