ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 14, 1996 TAG: 9611140042
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VILLANOVA, PA.
SOURCE: Associated Press
THE ATLANTIC 10 Conference will absorb the Yankee Conference in a football-only merger.
In a move that benefits both conferences, the football-only Yankee Conference will be absorbed by the Atlantic 10 Conference, effective next season.
The new league, which will remain in Division I-AA, will be known as the Atlantic 10 Football Conference, Atlantic 10 Commissioner Linda Bruno announced Wednesday.
The merger came about because of the NCAA's recent restructuring, in which member schools no longer will be represented individually, but through conference affiliations.
The Atlantic 10, whose 12 members compete in 21 sports but who are best-known for basketball, was seeking a major-sport identity in the fall.
``It adds a lot of prestige,'' Bruno said. ``As good as you are in the other fall sports football is the fall sport.''
Because its only sport was football, the Yankee Conference would not have been allowed to participate in NCAA deliberations under the new restructuring.
So, conference executive director Chuck Boone, also the athletic director at the University of Richmond, said the conference sought out a partner.
``We discussed the possibility [of a merger] with two other conferences,'' Boone said. ``They made presentations. But the decision came back to the Atlantic 10 because of the success of the Atlantic 10 and the leadership of Linda.''
Boone refused to identify the other conferences.
All of the affiliated schools have committed to the new conference through the year 2000, Bruno said. The only way they could leave would be if they were to step up or down a level in competition. The conference as a whole has no plans to step up to Division I-A, she said.
One of the new members, Connecticut, has announced plans to move up to the I-A Big East Conference by 1999. Bruno said the A-10 had not had ``a discussion'' with UConn about that move.
The merger means the end of the Yankee Conference, which was celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.
Bruno said the new conference isn't sure if it will retain the current setup of the Yankee Conference, which is divided into a New England Division and a Mid-Atlantic Division.
Besides Connecticut, members of the new Atlantic 10 Football Conference are: Boston University, Delaware, James Madison, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Northeastern, Rhode Island, Richmond, Villanova and William and Mary.
Other than Rhode Island and Massachusetts - the only schools that are already full-fledged members in the Atlantic 10 - none of the football schools will participate in any of the conference's other sports.
The members of the non-football Atlantic 10 are: Dayton, Duquesne, Fordham, George Washington, La Salle, St. Bonaventure, St. Joseph's, Temple, Virginia Tech and Xavier.
LENGTH: Medium: 63 linesby CNB