2024 NCAA Tournament Region (East)Breakdown, Preview And Picks - We've Officially Reached The Time It's UConn vs The Field
I do this every year and we roll on in 2024. I'll be looking at each region over the next couple of days as the NCAA Tournament gets ready to tip. Not the First Four, the real Tournament. We'll look at matchups, previews, picks, players to watch and what team could be a sleeper to come out of each region.
East Region
Storylines
1. UConn vs the field - It's the storyline. UConn has the best chance to go back-to-back since Florida. They are the favorite, they are the No. 1 overall seed, they look like the best team. It basically turned into UConn/Houston/Purdue as the clearcut top-3 but only one won their conference tournament. UConn did it fairly easily too. Then again the committee tried to tell us the Big East sucks (it doesn't). They can play any sort of style, Newton probably should have won Big East POY and they have NBA talent. I's becoming UConn vs the field.
2. The Last Dance - I know this has become everyone's tagline since the MJ doc, but it's true for Duquesne's Keith Dambrot. Dude coached LeBron in high school and now took Duquesne to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1977. He announced yesterday he's retiring.
He already had one somewhat miracle run getting them to win the A-10 Tournament. Now they get a draw from an 11 seed. I'm usually someone who tries to avoid miracle teams who go on runs in the Tournament but now we have a storyline involved. Brain in pretzel.
3. Can FAU figure it out - We know what FAU did last year. Everyone screamed they were underseeded as a 9 and then made a Final Four. Yeah, it was a bit of a miracle to beat Memphis in round 1 and then they drew a 16 seed in round 2. But they still made a Final Four. Now everyone is screaming they are overseeded as an 8. They brought back everyone and all of America keeps saying they'll just turn it on because they know how to in the NCAA Tournament. This is also a team who lost to Temple, Bryant and FGCU though.
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4. All the major champions - I still don't understand how UConn got this draw. They are the No. 1 overall seed which means they got to pick their geographic bracket. Obviously they take Brooklyn/Boston. But the committee then fucked them over by putting Iowa State, Illinois and Auburn in the region - the 3 teams who won the next 3 best conference tournaments. It's not like they were flukes either. Those three teams were good all year. Obviously UConn can only play 2 of them, but it sets up for ridiculous second weekend games if seeds hold.
5. The Drake run - We all fell in love with Robbie Avila and rightfully so out of the MVC. But Drake is fucking good. Tucker DeVries is a star. They draw Washington State in round 1 and then they actually do matchup well with Iowa State in Round 2. Not to mention the Missouri Valley has done well in the NCAA Tournament. This is a live double digit seed to make a second weekend. Washington State felt like they overachieved this year plus as obnoxious as it is to say, they don't have Tournament experience.
Players to Watch
There are a couple ways to look at this, but I'm looking at this strictly as an intrigue factor. These are players that could be lottery picks in the NBA Draft, could put a team on their back or are just flat out good players. I'll try to avoid the obvious ones like Zach Edey.
1. Boo Buie (Northwestern) - This is a guy who can absolutely go off in the NCAA Tournament. He's awesome to watch, one of the most clutch players in the country, all that good stuff. Do I think Northwestern makes a run? No, it's impossible to think that when they have UConn in round 2. But if they beat FAU and want to keep it close against UConn it's going to be because Buie scores like 34.
2. Cam Spencer (UConn) - A lot of different ways to go with UConn. Castle is the NBA Draft guy who could have his talent on full display. We know Newton and Clingan. But Cam Spencer is the guy who makes it go for UConn. He's a lights out shooter, he pisses everyone off, he's basically Dan Hurley on the court. He transferred in from Rutgers and if he's shooting it and scoring close to 20 UConn should roll.
3. Tamin Lipsey (Iowa State) - He's the guy for Iowa State. They are somewhat overlooked as a 2 seed because they weren't ranked before the season. That typically means disaster, we saw it with Marquette last year. But Lipsey can defend, can do a little bit of everything. If Iowa State wants to go on a run and beat the history of unranked teams to high seeds disaster, Lipsey is going to be the star.
4. Johni Broome (Auburn) - Yeah, he's the obvious one even with Auburn playing roughly 42 guys during a game. But Broome is the All-Conference player and in the NCAA Tournament you need someone like that to be the same. You can't rely on depth as much as not having a star in the NCAA Tournament. Broome can step out shoot. He's a rim protector. I want to see him vs UConn.
5. Jaedon LeDee (San Diego State) - That's right, SDSU is in this bracket too. You know the team who lost in the title game a year ago. They brought back a bunch of that team and LeDee is the guy who can help get them to the second weekend again. He gets to the line a ton.
Other names: Johnell Davis (FAU), Myles Rice (Washington State), Marcus Domask (Illinois), Dallin Hall (BYU), Zeke Mayo (SDSU)
My Favorite Bet to Make the Final Four (odds from DraftKings) - UConn +105
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How can't you take UConn here? They are plus value and everyone will pick them. That's how good they are. I keep trying to figure out if Illinois (who hasn't made the second weekend since, what, 2005?) can get there. I can't trust them. Same goes for Iowa State, history tells me not to. UConn is just fucking awesome. Chalk, but you know what, chalk wins too.
Matchup You Most Want to See: Auburn vs UConn in the Sweet 16
First round gut play:
Drake -1. I'm buying them, I trust them, they have the star. I think they get out of the first round. I was hoping that I'd be able to get a point or two here, but it's fine. It's a gut play, that's Drake.