# 2002 Sun Belt Conference football season

The 2002 Sun Belt Conference football season was the 2nd college football season for the Sun Belt Conference. During the 2002 season, seven schools competed in Sun Belt football: Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana–Lafayette, Louisiana–Monroe, Middle Tennessee, New Mexico State and North Texas.
The conference title was won by North Texas, in its second year as both a Sun Belt member, making them the first team to go back-to-back in Sun Belt Conference history.

## Coaches

Note: Stats shown are before the beginning of the season
| Team | Head coach | Years at school | Overall record | Record at school | Sun Belt record |
| Arkansas State | Steve Roberts | 0 | 47–35–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Idaho | Tom Cable | 1 | 6–16 | 6–16 | 1–5 |
| Louisiana–Lafayette | Rickey Bustle | 0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Louisiana–Monroe | Bobby Keasler | 3 | 86–59–2 | 8–25 | 2–4 |
| Middle Tennessee | Andy McCollum | 3 | 17–16 | 17–16 | 5–1 |
| New Mexico State | Tony Samuel | 5 | 19–37 | 19–37 | 4–2 |
| North Texas | Darrell Dickey | 4 | 13–32 | 13–32 | 5–1 |

## Bowl games

In 2002, the SBC placed one team in bowl games through their tie-ins: North Texas. New Mexico State was also bowl-eligible but did not receive a bowl invitation.
Note: All times are local
| Bowl | Date | SBC team (Record) | Opponent (Record) | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| New Orleans Bowl | December 17 | North Texas (7-5) | Cincinnati (7-6) | Louisiana Superdome • New Orleans, LA | ESPN2 | W 24–19 | 19,024 |

## Awards and honors
### Players of the Year

2002 Sun Belt Player of the Year awards
| Award | Player | School |
| Player of the Year | Brandon Kennedy | North Texas |
| Offensive Player of the Year | Danny Smith | Arkansas State |
| Defensive Player of the Year | Brandon Kennedy | North Texas |
| Freshman of the Year | Paul Dombrowski | New Mexico State |
| Newcomer of the Year | Jonathan Burke | Arkansas State |
| Coach of the Year | Darrell Dickey | North Texas |

### All-Conference teams

| Position | Player | Team |
| First-team Offense |||
| QB | Brian Lindgren | Idaho |
| RB | Danny Smith* | Arkansas State |
| RB | Kevin Galbreath* | North Texas |
| WR | Fred Stamps | UL Lafayette |
| WR | Mack Vincent | UL Monroe |
| TE | Jeff Muenchow* | North Texas |
| OL | Shalimar Jackson* | New Mexico State |
| OL | Garry Johnson | Arkansas State |
| OL | Brandon Westbrook | Middle Tennessee |
| OL | J. R. Randle | North Texas |
| OL | Nick Zuñiga | North Texas |
| First-team Defense |||
| DL | Brandon Kennedy* | North Texas |
| DL | Jon Bradley | Arkansas State |
| DL | Corey Williams | Arkansas State |
| DL | Darrell Daniels | North Texas |
| LB | Jordan Kramer | Idaho |
| LB | Taylor Casey | North Texas |
| LB | Cody Spencer | North Texas |
| DB | Charles Tillman* | UL Lafayette |
| DB | Siddeeq Shabazz* | New Mexico State |
| DB | Craig Jones | North Texas |
| DB | Don McGee | North Texas |
| First-team Special Teams |||
| K | Dario Aguiniga* | New Mexico State |
| P | Robert Billings | Middle Tennessee |
| RS | James Hickenbotham | Arkansas State |
| All-purpose | ReShard Lee | Middle Tennessee |
| Position | Player | Team |
| Second-team Offense |||
| QB | Paul Dombrowski | New Mexico State |
| RB | Dwone Hicks | Middle Tennessee |
| RB | Bryant Jacobs | UL Monroe |
| WR | Josh Jelmberg | Idaho |
| WR | Tyrone Calico | Middle Tennessee |
| TE | Josh Joerg | UL Lafayette |
| OL | John Crossley | Arkansas State |
| OL | Jonathon Raush | UL Lafayette |
| OL | Glen Elarbee | Middle Tennessee |
| OL | B. J. Van Briesen | New Mexico State |
| OL | Matt Turney | North Texas |
| Second-team Defense |||
| DL | Walter Sampson | UL Lafayette |
| DL | John Thompson | UL Monroe |
| DL | Adrian Awasom | North Texas |
| DL | Chris McIver | North Texas |
| LB | Les Echols | Arkansas State |
| LB | Carlos Hughes | UL Monroe |
| LB | Rich Glover | New Mexico State |
| DB | Chuck Allen | Arkansas State |
| DB | Jonathan Burke | Arkansas State |
| DB | Chris Harris | UL Monroe |
| DB | Jonas Buckles | North Texas |
| Second-team Special Teams |||
| K | Brian Kelly | Middle Tennessee |
| P | Brad Kadlubar | North Texas |
| RS | Cedric Thompson | Idaho |
| All-purpose | JaMal Branch | North Texas |
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