NCAA East Regional Analysis and Predictions

AN OVERVIEW OF THE TOP OF THE BRACKET

WHO IS SEEDED TOO HIGH?

#1 Baylor: The Bears are a good team and they deserve to be highly seeded, but they didn’t win a game in the conference tournament and still got a #1 seed. Just goes to show us they were a No.1 no matter what happened in Kansas City. And that is ludicrous and a good argument for throwing those worthless tournaments out the window.

WHO IS SEEDED TOO LOW?

#8 North Carolina: Can you imagine a 24-win Carolina team being an 8 seed? No, me either. This team isn’t great but they should have been a 6 probably.

Indiana: Hell they aren’t even seeded. They have to win a game just to get to No.12. This is a 20-win team that beat Michigan and top seeded Illinois before falling to the eventual winner, Iowa, in the Big Ten tournament. They shouldn’t be in a play-in game.

FAVORITES TO REACH THE SWEET SIXTEEN

#1 Baylor: The Bears should win their first round game against Norfolk State, but they better be ready for a 2nd round matchup against North Carolina or Marquette. Both of those teams are fully capable of beating the Bears if they are off their game.

#4 UCLA: The Bruins are a tough out any year in the NCAA tournament and are 25-7 coming into this tournament. They will have some problems with Akron in the first round and their second round game won’t be easy either

BEST CHANCE TO CRASH THE SWEET SIXTEEN

Marquette over Baylor: Marquette is a tough team that has played in a bunch of hard-fought, physical battles. I think Baylor is vulnerable and Marquette is the type of team that could pull off a big upset.

WHO MAKES THE REGIONAL FINALS?

UCLA: I’m going to go with an upset and take the Bruins to take down Baylor and advance to the Elite 8. They are a tournament team and they can go toe-to-toe with the Bears.

OVERVIEW OF THE BOTTOM OF THE BRACKET

WHO IS SEEDED TOO HIGH?

#2 Kentucky: I don’t have too much to gripe about with this one but I do think Tennessee should be a 2 over the Wildcats.

#10 San Francisco: The Dons had a really good season but I’m not sure they even belong in the tournament. They are Play-In team at best.

WHO IS SEEDED TOO LOW?

#11 Virginia Tech: All Virginia Tech did was win four straight games in four straight days over Clemson, Notre Dame, North Carolina, and Duke to win the ACC Tournament. And for that, they get an 11 seed!! Just insane to me and further proof the conference tournaments mean very little. I will say this; I sure wouldn’t want to play them.

FAVORITES TO REACH THE SWEET SIXTEEN

#3 Purdue: The Boilermakers are a very good team that has had many chances to be elevated to a great team. They have failed every time. They are dangerous but they aren’t a lock by any stretch of the imagination.

#2 Kentucky: They aren’t playing at the level they were a couple of weeks ago, but they are a tournament tested school. Tradition means a lot in this tournament. They have a tough 2nd round matchup with Murray State that will be must-see TV for me.

BEST CHANCE TO CRASH THE SWEET SIXTEEN

Murray State and Virginia Tech: Both of these teams could be surprise entries to play into next week. The Hokies are playing the quality of basketball that a lot of people expected out of them all season long. I like them to knock off Texas and Purdue is definitely beatable. Murray State won 30 games and they are formidable. They should beat San Francisco and they will have added incentive against in-state powerhouse Kentucky.

WHO MAKES THE REGIONAL FINALS?

Kentucky: I like the Wildcats to make it to the final eight and take on UCLA. I just think something is missing with Purdue and they haven’t been able to win that big game all year.

FINAL FOUR TEAM FROM THE EAST REGION:

Kentucky: Confidence Level 5 out of 10