1982 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament

1982 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournament
Classification	Division I
Season	1981–82
Teams	6
Site	Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center Birmingham, Alabama
Champions	UAB (1st title)
Winning coach	Gene Bartow (1st title)
MVP	Oliver Robinson (UAB)
Sun Belt Conference men's basketball tournaments

1981–82 Sun Belt Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 17 UAB †	9	–	1		.900			25	–	6		.806
VCU	7	–	3		.700			17	–	11		.607
Jacksonville	5	–	5		.500			14	–	13		.519
South Florida	4	–	6		.400			17	–	11		.607
UNC Charlotte	3	–	7		.300			15	–	12		.556
South Alabama	2	–	8		.200			12	–	16		.429
† 1982 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll

The 1982 Sun Belt Conference Men's Basketball Tournament was held February 26–28 at the Birmingham–Jefferson Civic Center in Birmingham, Alabama.^[1]

In a rematch of the previous two finals (both won by the Rams), UAB topped VCU in the championship game, 94–83, to win their first Sun Belt Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Blazers, in turn, received an automatic bid for the 1982 NCAA Tournament, where they advanced to the Elite Eight (UAB defeated Indiana in the Second Round and Virginia in the Sweet Sixteen before ultimately losing to Louisville).

Format

With the departure of Georgia State before the season, the Sun Belt's membership decreased once again to six teams. In turn, the two top-seeded teams were given byes to the semifinal rounds while the remaining four teams entered the competition in the first round. All teams were seeded based on regular season conference records.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals Friday, February 26					Semifinals Saturday, February 27					Championship Sunday, February 28
						1	UAB	66
						4	South Florida	56
	5	UNC Charlotte	59
	4	South Florida	66
											1	UAB	94
											2	VCU	83
	3	Jacksonville	75
	6	South Alabama	77
						6	South Alabama	66
						2	VCU	68

References

1. "1981–82 Sun Belt Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2016. Retrieved April 12, 2016.