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March Madness is officially here, so let's fill out some winning brackets! RotoBaller will be bringing you a full breakdown on each tournament region, including some potential sleepers and busts. Today we'll be taking a look at the East Region and my bracket picks.
I'm here to tell you some teams that I believe in to help you make the right tournament bracket decisions. Below I analyze the top four seeds, a potential bust, and a potential final four candidate. Hopefully, my college basketball predictions can help you win your March Madness pools. I really like to use Ken Pomeroy's advanced analytics to help determine a champion. Since 2002, each team to win the title except for one, was ranked top-20 in both offensive and defensive efficiency. I'll be putting those numbers in parentheses after each breakdown of the top-four seeds. Now let's get to it.
Once you're done here, be sure to also check out the rest of our NCAA Tournament articles and analysis including previews, predictions, sleepers, busts and guides on how to fill out your including other predictions for the South, Midwest, and West regions.
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East Region Top Four Seeds
Top four seeds: No. 1 Baylor | N0. 2 Kentucky | No. 3 Purdue | No. 4 UCLA
Baylor is the defending national champion. They had a surprisingly good year especially since they lost big-name players. But will they have enough star-power like they did last year? (Ken Pom: #9 offense, #14 defense)
Kentucky is one of the best teams in the country, but it's been their inability to win big games. Oscar Tshiebwe is the best player in the country and is averaging 16 points and 15 rebounds per game. But will they go to him enough in the clutch? I'm weary of their potential Second Round matchup against Murray State. The Racers are from Kentucky and it'd be like the little brother going against the big brother. Those players feel overlooked Kentucky did not recruit them and would go 110% to win that game. (Ken Pom: #4 offense, #27 defense)
Purdue has a well-balanced roster with two big men and some shooters, but they can really struggle. It showed Sunday in the Big Ten title against Iowa, they couldn't keep a run going or get the stop when they needed to. (Ken Pom: #3 offense, #100 defense)
UCLA is getting no love. This is a team that returned their entire starting lineup from last year's Final Four run. They went 25-7 with losses to Gonzaga, Oregon 2x, Arizona 2x, Oregon State, and USC. A minor hiccup here and there and three of their losses are to teams that are No. 1 seeds. St. Mary's will be a tough matchup in the Second Round, but UCLA is too deep, too talented, and have played in these big games before to go out that early (Ken Pom: #15 offense, #12 defense)
Most Intriguing First Round Matchup
No. 6 Texas vs. No. 11 Virginia Tech
Texas is grossly overrated and Vegas knows it. They're only a one-point favorite against the Hokies. The Longhorns are not consistent and ended the season with three straight losses against Baylor, Kansas, and TCU.
Bust of the Region
Baylor. This is not last year's team. I don't foresee them getting knocked out in the first weekend, but do not think they can beat UCLA.
Final Four Pick
UCLA. UCLA will beat Kentucky in the Elite Eight and get a rematch with Gonzaga in the Final Four.
More March Madness Analysis
