Bracketology 2024: 1st projected field of 68 of the 2023-24 season

East Region (Boston)

(1) UConn vs. (16) Prairie View A&M/Merrimack
(8) Kansas State vs. (9) Illinois
(5) Colorado State vs. (12) Vermont
(4) Tennessee vs. (13) Western Carolina
(6) Florida Atlantic vs. (11) Northwestern
(3) Gonzaga vs. (14) Akron
(7) Wisconsin vs. (10) Arkansas
(2) Duke vs. (15) UNC-Wilmington

The East region finds the defending national champion UConn Huskies at the top, hoping they get a chance to play for another regional title right up the road at the TD Garden in Boston. The Huskies are 7-1 after falling in a true-road game to Kansas, 69-65 in their last game. Their resume is lighter than the other No. 1 seeds right now with just two quad 1 wins against Texas and Indiana, but big opportunities against North Carolina and Gonzaga are still to come before Big East Play.

The Huskies’ road to a repeat is littered with potential pitfalls named Duke, the aforementioned Gonzaga Bulldogs, and one of the best defensive teams in the country the Tennessee Volunteers. There are other dangerous teams in the East including Arkansas, Final Four darling Florida Atlantic, and a Northwestern team that just knocked off No. 1 Purdue.

The team to keep an eye on in the East region is the No. 5 seed the Colorado State Rams. Niko Medved has his team ranked in the top 25 and at 7-0 heading into Saturday’s game with Washington. People began to take notice of the Rams after they beat Creighton by 21, holding the Bluejays to just 48 points. Isaiah Stevens is a name that, if you don’t by now you soon will. The 6’0 senior guard is averaging 18 points and 8.3 assists per game as well as shooting 56% from the field and 50% from behind the arc. The Rams are also a top-20 team nationally in two-point, three-point, and free throw percentage, and entering their game Saturday are the No. 2 team in the country in effective field goal percentage.