The 2012 Atlantic 10 men's basketball tournament was played initially at campus sites for the opening round on March 6, 2012 and subsequently at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey from March 9 through March 11, 2012. It was the sixth consecutive year that the tournament was hosted in Boardwalk Hall, matching the longest streak at one site since the tournament was held at the Spectrum in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1997âÂÂ2002. However, it was the tournament's final year in the run at Boardwalk Hall, as the event moved to Brooklyn's new Barclays Center in 2013. The 2012 tournament was also the last to use campus sites for the opening round, as all tournament games will be played in Brooklyn under the new deal.
The tournament champion received an automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA tournament. Seeding for the tournament is determined by the conference standings at the end of the regular season. The last two teams in the standings do not qualify for the tournament. Opening round games are played at the home of the higher (lower number) seed.
The championship game was nationally televised on CBS.
2012 marks the first year when Rhode Island did not qualify for the tournament, since the league adopted the current format in 2006. Fordham did not qualify for the fourth consecutive year.