It’s the region with one of the best stories of the season (FAU) and one of the best Cinderella stories of the past 10 years (Oral Roberts, 2021). It’s the corner of the bracket with the likely National Coach of the Year: Either Purdue’s Matt Painter or Marquette’s Shaka Smart … or perhaps Kansas State’s Jerome Tang? It’s also the region with two more great coaches, both of whom have national championships and are in the Hall of Fame: Kentucky’s John Calipari and Michigan State’s Tom Izzo.
It’s the spot with yet another veteran coach with a Final Four to his name, and making his 26th tournament appearance: Tennessee’s Rick Barnes.
It’s also the place where the reigning Naismith Player of the Year (Oscar Tshiebwe) is occupying space near the likely successor to that honor (Zach Edey).
It’s the place on your bracket where you’ll see the two most prominent programs in college hoops: Duke and Kentucky. It’s the region that has two Golden Eagles (Marquette, Oral Roberts), two Wildcats (Kentucky, Kansas State) and two Tigers (Texas Southern, Memphis). More feline familiarity abounds with the Bobcats of Montana State and the Catamounts of Vermont. There are also Spartans and Trojans due to clash in the 7/10 matchup.
There’s also a 20-loss team (Texas Southern) playing a team that didn’t even win its conference tournament (Fairleigh Dickinson). I smell chaos in these parts, people. It’s the quadrant of the field of 68 where you’ll find feisty Friars and Ragin’ Cajuns.
It’s the East Region, and it’s going to be must-see TV. Let’s go!
Brackets are here! Get back in your pools and join our Men’s and Women’s Challenges for the chance to win a new SUV and a college basketball dream trip!
Best first-round game
(8) Memphis vs. (9) FAU: Memphis should have been a 7-seed and FAU maybe even a 6-seed, but putting that aside: This is a tremendous 8/9 affair. The Tigers are coming off a win over top-seeded Houston to win the American Athletic Conference Tournament. Penny Hardaway’s team is led by Kendric Davis, who’s one of the best point guards in college basketball. As for FAU, I profiled Dusty May’s admirable team earlier this season. It’s an older group, one that’s done a lot of winning in recent years. Here’s a team that shoots the 3 well, can play 10 guys real minutes and has great interior defense. The best 8/9 game on the board, without question. I…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CBSSports.com Headlines…