2024 NCAA Tournament: East Region Round of 64

Dude…

The bracket is set!! The #1 Overall seed in UConn is set in the East. This quadrant has some of the top teams in it. It has the Big East, Big 12, SEC, and the Big 10 tournament champions in this quadrant. Here is our East Region prediction!!

#1 UConn vs. #16 Stetson- There have been two 16 over 1 seed upsets in history. UConn is an elite offensive and defensive team. They look like they’re going to make a deep run. Karaban, Clingan, and Newton are going to be impressive. This should be a blowout as UConn cruises to the second round.

#8 FAU vs. #9 Northwestern- FAU made it to the Final Four last year. Dusty May have the Owls back into the tournament in a familiar place. The Owls got bounced in the AAC Tournament in the quarter finals. Now, they match up with Northwestern, where Boo Biue is coming in to play spoiler to the Owl’s hopes for a return to a Final Four. Northwestern was my pick for the Big 10 tournament, but ran into a hot Wisconsin team. Now, Buie is trying to redeem himself in his final season as a Wildcat. Northwestern is looking to send Dusty May home and eventually to a new program. The Wildcats will advance to play UCONN.

#5 San Diego State vs. #12 UAB- The Mountain West got disrespected in the tournament seeding, but SDSU got a 5 seed that was well deserved. SDSU is a prolific defensive team who made it to the final in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Now, they look to make a long journey  back to the final this year. They run into a Cinderella team of their own in UAB. UAB was the 4 seed in the AAC Tournament and came out with a victory over Temple. Now, the Blazers take on the Aztecs in what should be a defensive battle. I believe SDSU is going to come out on top here. SDSU is just too strong of an opponent and I believe UAB used all their magic to get into the tournament. I believe SDSU wins pretty easily to move on to the round of 32.

#4 Auburn vs. #13 Yale- This is another game that I feel like should be a blow out, but could be interesting. Auburn won the highly competitive SEC Tournament, however, never had to face a top 3 seed due to early eliminations. Broome is looking to help Bruce Pearl make a long tournament run. Yale got a gift from Brown in their conference tournament. Down 6 with 24 seconds left, the Bulldogs battled back to receive the automatic bid. Now, Auburn should kill this team, but I could also see Yale coming in and trying to control the tempo. They have Danny Wolfe who will have a difficult time with Broome. If they can somehow find a way to slow down Auburn’s high powered offense, they may stand a shot. I don’t think this will be the case, and Auburn will cruise to the second round.

#6 BYU vs. #11 Duquesne- Another interesting matchup with the bid stealing Duquesne battling high three point shooting BYU. BYU finished 5th in the Big 12 this year and had a prolific win against Kansas at Allen Field House. They took care of business in the Big 12 Tournament, just to get ran off the court by Houston. BYU can really shoot it. Dallin Hall has been the leader of this ship and big man Ali Khalifa has proven to be a threat down low with Traore giving them a much needed pressure down low as well. Duquesne has a prolific run, however, their regular season wasn’t amazing. They started 0-5 in conference and battled back to win the auto bid out of the wild Atlantic 10 tournament. I feel like Duquesne is a lot like UAB, they are just going to run out of magic fairy dust and the BYU Cougars are going to whip up on them. I have BYU moving onto the next round.

#3 Illinois vs #14 Morehead State- Illinois is proving to be a dangerous team. They have been one of the best teams in the Big 10 this season. Shannon Jr. and Domask look to dominate the NCAA Tournament like they did the Big 10 Tournament. The Big 10 Tournament champions take on a sneaky Morehead State team. Riley Minix and the Eagles out of the OVC conference look to pull a huge upset. I believe this is a great starting point for Terrence Shannon Jr to establish Illinois as legit threats to make a deep run. I love a good upset, but I think Illinois should move on to the next round, convincingly. 

#7 Washington State vs. #10 Drake- This one should be a THRILLER! The Washington State Cougars have been rolling as of late. They beat Arizona at Arizona. Isaac Jones and Myles Jones have this team on a hype train. To succeed they have to beat a gritty Drake Bulldogs team. Tucker DeVries is a must watch player who crushed the dreams of all hoop fans (me in particular), as they beat Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Tournament. This team is fun to watch and their head coach, Darian DeVries, may get an upgrade come next season. However, in this season, this matchup should be fireworks. I expect for this game to be back and forth, with no one gaining a large lead over the other. It honestly is going to come down to who has the ball last. I think the ball will find Tucker DeVries hands, and send the ball through the net as the clock hits zero. Drake wins in a battle, but the next foe, may be too big of a battle. 

#2 Iowa State vs. #15 South Dakota State- WOW!! To see the Cyclones at this 2 seed is shocking. Iowa State won the Big 12 Conference Championship, which is the hardest conference in the nation this year. Not only did they win, they WON BY 20! Against the #1 TEAM IN THE NATION!! I mean, talk about a momentum builder!! This is where this sucks for Iowa State. They’re a 2 seed. Ok, they had a case for #1, but you can understand them giving it to North Carolina. You would think that would put them at 5. OH NO. THEY HAD THEM AT 8!! WILD. Anyway, TJ Otzelberger will have his guys ready. I feel bad for South Dakota State, this was just an unfortunate draw. Cyclones win.