East Region Bracket Predictions

They've been in the top ten for the better part of this season -- but Pittsburgh and Duke have also developed a reputation in recent years of leaving the NCAA Tournament before they should. With tourney-time disappointments atop the region, will another team have a chance to break through? Or is this Pitt's year to make a run into April?

Most Intriguing First-Round Matchup

Most of the first-round matchups in this bracket are fairly intriguing. There's Tubby Smith's Minnesota Gophers matched up with a talented-but-inconsistent Texas squad that was ranked in the top ten earlier this season... there's first-year coach Travis Ford and Oklahoma State matched with the Tennessee Vols and Bruce Pearl's wide array of looks. And then there's Leonard Hamilton's Florida State squad -- just off a run to the ACC Championship game, going up against Bo Ryan's inscrutable flex offense, as executed by the Wisconsin Badgers.

I'm always interested to see how teams will react to systems they don't see very often -- which is one of the things that makes the Badgers tough at tournament time... so I'll call Badgers/Noles the most interesting of a very interesting set of games.

Upset Potential

This hasn't been a good year for the small conferences -- only four of 34 at-large bids went to non-BCS schools. But VCU is well-positioned to get a measure of revenge by knocking the biggest of the big schools -- the eleven-time NCAA champion UCLA Bruins -- out of the tournament in the opening round. The Rams are led by senior point guard Eric Maynor -- who will get NBA Lottery Pick consideration... and they've played the spoiler before, knocking Duke out in the first round of the 2007 tournament. (Maynor hit the game-winner in that one.)

The Regional Final

I'm expecting Villanova to cruise through the first two rounds; the committee was kind enough to send the Wildcats to play in Philadelphia. I have 'Nova knocking out the Dookies to set up an all-Big East Final. Villanova beat Pittsburgh once this season, but I think the Panthers get even.

More NCAA Tournament Predictions

• Midwest Region
• West Region
• East Region
• South Region
• Final Four

East Region Predictions

	Round 1	Round 2	Sweet 16	Elite Eight
1	Pittsburgh
16	ETSU	Pittsburgh
8	Oklahoma State	Tennessee
9	Tennessee		Pittsburgh
5	Florida State		Xavier
12	Wisconsin	Wisconsin
4	Xavier	Xavier
13	Portland State			Pittsburgh
6	UCLA			Villanova
11	VCU	VCU
3	Villanova	Villanova
14	American		Villanova
7	Texas		Duke
10	Minnesota	Minnesota
2	Duke	Duke
15	Binghamton