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2010–13 Atlantic 10 Conference realignment


The 2010–13 Atlantic 10 Conference realignment refers to the Atlantic 10 Conference dealing with several proposed and actual conference expansion and reduction plans among various NCAA conferences and institutions from 2010 to 2013. Moves that involved the Atlantic 10 Conference were part of a much larger NCAA conference realignment.

The Atlantic 10 (A10) had suffered a major blow with the loss of traditional conference power Temple to the Big East in March 2012. Unlike the realignment moves in FBS (which were largely driven by football) the A10 (which does not sponsor football) made moves with basketball in mind, as the A10 is one of the strongest basketball conferences among those that do not play FBS football.

When it became clear that Temple was on its way out, the A10 entered into talks with Butler University of the Horizon League and George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) of the CAA.

The first of these schools to make a move was Butler. On May 1, Andy Katz of ESPN.com reported that Butler would formally apply to the A10 the following day, and would join the conference for the 2013–14 season. The move was officially announced on May 2. Butler had been the Horizon League's most dominant men's basketball program in recent years; although the Bulldogs did not make the 2012 NCAA tournament, they reached the championship game in both 2010 and 2011. In addition, Butler's Indianapolis location gave the A10 a geographic bridge between Saint Louis and Ohio members Dayton and Xavier.


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