For the 31st consecutive season, the tournament was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, from March 12–16, 2013.

Following a period of turnover in the conference membership, the Big East name, its logos, and its tournament history were assumed by schools of the original Big East that do not sponsor FBS football.

The reconfigured Big East continues to hold its tournament at Madison Square Garden.

The FBS schools formerly in the Big East play under a new name, the American Athletic Conference; its first conference tournament was played in Memphis, Tennessee and that event has since alternated between Hartford, Connecticut and Orlando, Florida.

All teams except for Connecticut (due to Academic Progress Rate violations) qualified for the tournament; seeds 11–14 played a first-round game, while teams five through ten received byes to the second round.