2002 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament

The 2002 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament was held February 28–March 2 at the Curb Event Center at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. This was the first Atlantic Sun tournament after the conference changed its name from the Trans America Athletic Conference.

2002 Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	2001–02
Teams	8
Site	Curb Event Center Nashville, TN
Champions	Florida Atlantic (1st title)
Winning coach	Sidney Green (1st title)
MVP	Thomas Terrell (Georgia State)
Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournaments

2001–02 Atlantic Sun men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Georgia State	14	–	6		.700			20	–	11		.645
Troy State	14	–	6		.700			18	–	10		.643
Florida Atlantic †	13	–	7		.650			19	–	12		.613
Jacksonville	12	–	8		.600			18	–	12		.600
UCF	12	–	8		.600			17	–	12		.586
Samford	12	–	8		.600			15	–	14		.517
Jacksonville State	8	–	12		.400			13	–	16		.448
Belmont	8	–	12		.400			11	–	17		.393
Stetson	7	–	13		.350			10	–	16		.385
Campbell	6	–	14		.300			8	–	19		.296
Mercer	4	–	16		.200			6	–	23		.207
† 2002 Atlantic Sun Tournament winner As of March 4, 2003 Rankings from AP Poll

Florida Atlantic defeated defending champions Georgia State in the championship game, 76–75, to win their first Atlantic Sun men's basketball tournament.

The Owls, therefore, received the Atlantic Sun's automatic bid to the 2002 NCAA tournament, their first appearance in the Division I tournament.

Format

The Atlantic Sun added Belmont as their eleventh member prior to the season. However, the tournament reverted to its old format whereby only the top eight teams from the conference tournament were eligible for the tournament. These eight teams were seeded based on regular season conference records.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Thursday, February 28					Semifinals Friday, March 1					Championship Saturday, March 2
	1	Georgia State	82
	8	Belmont	79
						1	Georgia State	82
						5	UCF	64
	5	UCF	84
	4	Samford	74
											1	Georgia State	75
											3	Florida Atlantic	76
	3	Florida Atlantic	59
	6	Jacksonville	50
						3	Florida Atlantic	55
						7	Jacksonville State	47
	7	Jacksonville State	69
	2	Troy State	62