March Madness Preview: East Region
This year the east region is stacked with tons of teams in contention for a title. Duke is coming in hot, but can they beat Villanova? There were lots of tough matchups to breakdown in this bracket.
Teams 2 Watch 4 in the East Region:
#2 Duke: Duke is coming in hot after an ACC championship. Their top recruits in Harry Giles and Jason Tatum are starting to play to their full potential. Grayson Allen and Luuukkkeee Kennard are just as hot, with the experience in Duke, they should have a shot at the title.
#6 SMU: SMU is a special team, unlike the others in the NCAA. SMU gave imposed a self-ban from the big dance last year. SMU blew out Cincinnati in the American League championship which gave them automatic berth. SMU hasn’t lost since January 12th and they definitely want to keep that going heading in.
#1 Villanova: Being defending national champs Villanova doesn’t have an easy ride if they want another shot at the National Championship. They have to go through Florida and Virginia and even a chance at Duke at the Elite8 at MSG. Josh Hart looks to pick back right where he left off, with a national championship.
My Picks for the Round of 64 East Region
Thursday March 16th
1 Villanova vs. 16 Mount Saint Mary’s: CBS- 7:10PM- Villanova
8 Wisconsin vs. 9 Virginia Tech: CBS- 9:40PM- Wisconsin
5 Virginia vs. 12 UNCW: TruTV- 12:40PM- Virginia
4 Florida vs. 13 East Tenn. St: TruTV- 3:10PM- Florida
Friday March 17th
6 SMU vs. 11 Providence/USC: TruTV- 3:10PM- SMU
3 Baylor vs. 14 New Mexico St: TruTV- 12:40PM- New Mexico State
7 South Carolina vs. 10 Marquette: TBS- 9:50PM- Marquette
2 Duke vs. 15 Troy: TBS- 7:20PM- Duke
For continued coverage of NCAAM, stay with Upstate Sports Zone… @upstate_sports
By Jake Martino
