Format
The tournament was a single-elimination tournament. Seeding was determined by the regular season standings in each division. With the conference divided into East and West divisions, the top two teams in each division received a first-round bye.
St. Bonaventure was forced to forfeit its six conference wins after forward Jamil Terrell was declared academically ineligible. The Atlantic 10 also barred the Bonnies from participating in the conference tournament. The Bonnies would have been the fourth seed from the East Division. However, with their banishment from the tournament, West Division #3 seed Richmond automatically got a first round bye.
The first round was played at the home arena of the higher seed. The remaining games were played at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
Read more about this topic: 2003 Atlantic 10 Men's Basketball Tournament