Tournament East Region Breakdown

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Favorite:

Georgetown. Sensing a theme here? Lots of experience and tough as nails defense will get you in my favorite spot quicker than anything.

Sleeper:

Texas, led by what's his face Kevin something, has the talent to go toe to toe with North Carolina. Anybody else reminded of the 03 Syracuse team, except even better?

Major Sleeper:

You never know what you're going to get with Arkansas. I assume Arkansas fans wanted the Hogs to miss the tournament entirely so Coach Heath could be fired, but they're here now. There's really no excuse for them coming in as a 12 seed, probably the last team into the tournament, with all of their talent. They're either losing in the first round or going to the Elite 8.

Top Two Games:

#4 Texas vs #13 New Mexico State
#5 Southern Cal vs #12 Arkansas

The Games:

#1 North Carolina vs #16 Eastern Kentucky

Eastern Kentucky got here on a buzzer beater against Austin Peay in the OVC conference championship game. EKU hung well in the tournament a couple of years ago as a 15 seed against Kentucky, but UNC is far too talented to let the Colonels stay in this game.

North Carolina 85 Eastern Kentucky 59

#2 Georgetown vs #15 Belmont

Belmont has two huge bodies they can stick on Georgetown's Hibbert and Green, but they tire quickly and can get into foul trouble. The Bruins have a nice backcourt that could give Georgetown a few problems, but Hibbert should absolutely dominate in this game.

Georgetown 74 Belmont 51

#3 Washington State vs #14 Oral Roberts

Most people's 13+ seed upset pick for this season, Oral Roberts has one of the best big men in the country with Caleb Green who forms a really good inside-out tandem with guard Ken Tutt. They must get more scoring production from the other players on the court though- something they haven't done much of this year. ORU keeps it close, but doesn't have quite enough to pull the upset.

Washington State 64 Oral Roberts 57

#4 Texas vs #13 New Mexico State

Texas could actually find themselves in some trouble against the Aggies. NMSU's fast paced attack could give Texas's inconsistent defense some concern for a half, but the Aggies' shooting is too hot and cold for me to pick them to win. Though they can really hang with Texas on the glass, they're far too turnover prone and probably don't have the defensive stopper to contain Durant or Augustin.

Texas 84 New Mexico State 70

#5 Southern Cal vs #12 Arkansas

While Arkansas has the clear advantage with their fantastic frontcourt, USC holds the winning key with their backcourt. Any time a team has Gary Ervin running the point, can you really pick them wholeheartedly? I can't. Who knows which Arkansas team comes to play.

Southern Cal 73 Arkansas 64

#6 Vanderbilt vs #11 George Washington

Another trendy upset pick, but George Washington felt closer to a 13 seed than an 11 seed to me. George Washington, very athletic as always, runs into a team that can score and run with them. Shan Foster and Derrick Byars will be far too much for the Colonials to handle.

Vanderbilt 78 George Washington 69

#7 Boston College vs #10 Texas Tech

Boston College is limping into the tournament and seem ripe for an upset - particularly from a Bobby Knight coached tournament team. We'll forget about that blowout loss to Pepperdine in the first round when he was at Indiana though.

Texas Tech 71 Boston College 64

#8 Marquette vs #9 Michigan State

As most know by now, Marquette's second leading scorer Jerel McNeal is going to miss this game due to injury. Even with McNeal and all their other guards, they still didn't produce much offense. Michigan State can put the clamps down on defense which doesn't help matters.

Michigan State 64 Marquette 62