1. Duke/16. Siena
I think Siena is probably deserving of a 15 seed, but it doesn't matter a whole lot. Dukies take down Gerry Mac and his guys with ease.
8. Ohio State/9. TCU
First game of the the tournament, and it's could be a great one. I got on TCU last night when I saw they were +2.5. They are a super physical team that is extremely well coached, and have wins over the likes of Florida, Iowa St, and Wisconsin. Ohio St is a one trick pony with Bruce Thornton, and Jamie Dixon will have a plan for him.
5. St Johns/12. Northern Iowa
St. Johns being a 5 seed seems criminal to me, and Pitino probably loves it cause he can use it to fuel his guys. Northern Iowa has a great coach in Ben Jacobson, and this is a tough draw for the Johnnies. It will be a "first to 60 wins" type of game I think, but Zuby is the difference, as he's been all year, and the Johnnies move on.
4. Kansas/Cal Baptist
Kansas has everything you need to win a national championship. A HOF coach. The top pick in the draft who can take over games on his own. A secondary guard that can score 30 any night. And a rim protector. Sorry Baptist.
6. Louisville/11. South Florida
Mikel Brown Jr may be back for this one, but in what capacity? Back injuries are tough to gauge. South Florida is a great offensive rebounding team, that wants to play with pace so they will be plenty comfortable with the Cardinals tempo. They are super athletic, and if they can not let Conwell/Brown go for career nights, they definitely have a shot of pulling this upset off.
3. Michigan St/14. North Dakota St
We know what we get with Sparty. Great coach. Super physical front court. Great scoring PG. NDSU gets their scoring by committee. No one guy is going to beat you, but they are very well coached, Dave Richmond has built a winning culture there in Fargo. They won the Summit Tournament, but their fun stops here.
7. UCLA/10. UCF
This is about as far from LA that you can get, being played in Philly. Good news for the Bruins is, it sounds like stars Donovan Dent and Tyler Bilodeau will be back for the this one after missing the Purdue loss. Dent play 10 mins before leaving with a calf strain, which could be nothing, but it could turn into something mid game again. We shall see. But UCF has played with, and beat really good teams this year, and it's cause of all their experience. They start four seniors, who are fighting for their basektball lives here. The Knights could absolutely pull this off.
2. UCONN/15. Furman
2022-23 Furman Paladins could have played with UCONN, but this years team will not have any shot, at all to win this game.
The Final Four in my East Region is:
UCONN/St. Johns/Duke/USF with UCONN over the Johnnies in their third match up of the year.
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