KSR's 2024 NCAA Tournament East Region Preview

The East Region is the Bracket of Champions. Winners of the SEC, Big Ten, Big 12, and Big East Conference Tournaments will duel for a spot in Phoenix. That is one of the many reasons this has been described as the most difficult quadrant of the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket. Who will survive and advance to the Final Four? KSR has everything you need to know about the East Region.

The Bracket

East Region Schedule

Thursday
(6) BYU (-9.5) vs. (11) Duquesne, 12:40, truTV
(3) Illinois (-11.5) vs. Morehead State, 3:10, truTV
(2) Iowa State (-16.5) vs. South Sakota State, 7:35, truTV
(7) Washington State (+1.5) vs. Drake, 10:05, truTV

Friday
(8) Florida Atlantic (-2.5) vs. (9) Northwestern, 12:15, CBS
(5) San Diego State (-7.5) vs. (12) UAB, 1:45, TNT
(1) UConn (-26.5) vs. (16) Stetson, 2:45, CBS
(4) Auburn (-12.5) vs. (13) Yale, 4:15, TNT

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The Favorite: UConn looks to Repeat

Championship Week was defined by chaos. The top three seeds all fell in the SEC Tournament. Houston was shellacked in the Big 12 final. Purdue was knocked off in the Big Ten Semifinal. Chalk only held in the Big East with No. 1 seed UConn leaving Madison Square Garden with a new trophy to add to its case.

For the last 13 months, UConn has been the most dominant program in college basketball. The Huskies lost six of eight games to tip off Big East play. They are 46-5 since that losing streak and undefeated at home. Even though they lost four contributors from last year’s National Championship team, the Huskies are the favorite (+370) to win the National Title.

UConn looks great on paper in so many different ways. The nation’s most efficient offense averages 81.5 points per game (20th) and shoots 49.6% (5th) from the field. Their defense is pretty darn good as well, allowing only 64.4 points per game (13th) and ranking in the top 10 nationally in effective field goal percentage defense.

The one thing not on Danny Hurley’s side is history. Only two programs have repeated since John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty, Duke and Florida.

Odds to win the East Region

UConn +110
Iowa State +450
Auburn +500
Illinois +800
BYU +1500
San Diego State +2100

Three 2023 Final Four Teams

Florida Atlantic is playing in the 8-9 game with a matchup against the No. 1 overall seed waiting in the second round. Sound familiar? How about San Diego State as a No. 5 seed? That’s exactly where each team was a year ago before they made unlikely runs to the Final Four. The Selection Committee appears to have a sick sense of humor by putting all three returners from Houston in the same East Region.

Big State of Iowa Matchup Looms

Drake broke hearts around college basketball when they upset Indiana State in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament finals, keeping Cream Abdul-Jabbar out of the Big Dance. The role of heartbreaker seems to suit them. They can turn that up a notch in the round of 32.

Iowa State is Little Brother in the state of Iowa. That makes Drake the annoying little cousin. Located in Des Moines, the Bulldogs and the Cyclones have met on the hardwood 175 times since 1908, but the annual series ended in 2018. If you don’t think Drake will be playing for more than a Sweet 16 berth, you’d be lying.

Even though Drake is the No. 10 seed, I can’t pick the Bulldogs as my upset special because they are actually the favorite in their first round matchup with Washington State. That’s because Tucker DeVries is one of the most proficient scorers in the field, perfectly capable of putting the team on his back in postseason play.

East Region Upset Special: Yale over Auburn

Championship Week poisons the well. One good week of basketball forces us to forget what we thought about the team in the regular season. Auburn was a solid basketball team whose best win away from home was against Indiana on a neutral court. They avoided the top three seeds in the SEC Tournament, then played an emotionally drained Florida team that watched a starter suffer a gruesome injury.

Auburn relies on its length and athleticism to shut down opponents and create turnovers. Yale is one of the highest-ranked mid-major programs in the field because they slow down the game (327 in tempo) and take care of the ball (18 in turnover percentage). If the Ivy Leaguers can dictate tempo, Auburn doesn’t have a lot of easy offense outside of Johni Broome. In the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, don’t be surprised if Yale makes Bruce Pearl sweat more than normal.

East Region Champion: Illinois

UConn has the highest floor, but they’re the worst team to pick in your bracket because everyone in your bracket pool will have UConn in Phoenix. That is why I’m thinking outside of the box and rolling the dice with Terrence Shannon. He possesses the Kemba Walker factor more than any other player in the NCAA Tournament, and like 2011 UConn, he has a decent supporting cast at key positions. Marcus Domask ended the season on a heater and Coleman Hawkins is a savvy 5-tool veteran. The Fighting Illini stay hot and give the Big Ten its best chance to win a title since the Flintstones victory in 2000.