East Region Preview

Half the bracket done, half of it to go. Who comes out of the East Region with a shot at the National Championship?

First Round Match-ups
[1] Kentucky vs. [16] East Tennessee State
[8] Texas vs. [9] Wake Forest
[5] Temple vs. [12] Cornell
[4] Wisconsin vs. [13] Wofford
[6] Marquette vs. [11] Washington
[3] New Mexico vs. [14] Montana
[7] Clemson vs. [10] Missouri
[2] West Virginia vs. [15] Morgan State

Looks like an easy road for Kentucky onto the Elite Eight. Texas has the talent to beat the Wildcats, but Rick Barnes has done a horrible job with the Longhorns this season. Wisconsin and Temple are nice teams but talent-wise, the boys from Lexington blow them out of the water. West Virginia and New Mexico look like they're on a collision course for a berth into the Elite Eight, but some hot shooting by Marquette could derail the Lobos' plans.

Favorite: Kentucky

- John Calipari has another talented team...what's new? After missing the NCAA Tournament last season and losing the SEC's leading scorer in Jodie Meeks, Coach Cal brought in the top recruiting class and turned a NIT team into a National Championship contender. John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins are the headline names, but other players like Eric Bledsoe and Patrick Patterson put this team into the elite.

Best Player: John Wall, G, Kentucky

- After hitting a jumper at the buzzer to beat Miami of Ohio in Kentucky's season opener, you knew the young freshman point guard was destined for stardom. He lived up to the enormous hype surrounding him, averaging 16.9 points a game with 6.4 assists per contest; all while picking up the SEC Player of the Year award.

Sleeper: Marquette

- If the Golden Eagles are shooting well, watch out. They have three players averaging double-figures and all of them are outside threats. In the first round they get Pac-10 conference tournament champion Washington, and every college basketball fan knows that the Pac-10 has been down this season. Unless they completely choke, Marquette should get by the Huskies, staging a second round match-up against (most likely) New Mexico. The Lobos are also a small team, so the possible bout between these two teams could be one of the best games of the NCAA Tournament.

Cinderella: Cornell

- The Ivy League champion dominated their league this season, only falling once. They also were tested in OOC play, holding a 15 point loss at Syracuse and a five point loss at Kansas to their resume. The Big Red are a balanced team, with both scorers from the outside (Ryan Wittman) and the inside (Jeff Foote). Under-seeded at 12, they get another under-seeded team in Temple and their game should be the best of the first round. After that, they get Wisconsin or Wofford and there's no doubt in mine or anyone else's mind that they can get past them.

Upset Alert: Wisconsin

- The Badgers have a very nice team coached by one of the nation's best in Bo Ryan, but their opponent is a team that almost took down Pitt in Oakland and lost by only 12 at Michigan State. The Terriers are in the tournament for the first time and they are carried by junior Noah Dahlman, who is a great scorer inside. Despite being undersized, him and Wisconsin's Jon Lauer should have a very interesting battle in the paint all game.

First Round Predictions:
[1] Kentucky over [16] East Tennessee State
[8] Texas over [9] Wake Forest
[12] Cornell over [5] Temple
[4] Wisconsin over [13] Wofford
[6] Marquette over [11] Washington
[3] New Mexico over [14] Montana
[10] Missouri over [7] Clemson
[2] West Virginia over [15] Morgan State

Second Round Predictions:
[1] Kentucky over [8] Texas
[12] Cornell over [4] Wisconsin
[6] Marquette over [3] New Mexico
[2] West Virginia over [10] Missouri

Sweet 16 Predictions:
[1] Kentucky over [12] Cornell
[2] West Virginia over [6] Marquette

Elite Eight Predictions:
[1] Kentucky over [2] West Virginia