Editing Atlantic 10 Conference (section)

===Early history===
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 Wildcats|Villanova]] and [[Pittsburgh Panthers|Pittsburgh]] leave (in 1980 and 1982, respectively) and new members [[St. Bonaventure Bonnies|St. Bonaventure]] (1979), [[Rhode Island Rams|Rhode Island]] (1980), [[Saint Joseph's Hawks|Saint Joseph's]] (1982), and [[Temple Owls|Temple]] (1982) enter, establishing the league with 10 members, the conference adopted the current Atlantic 10 name in 1982.