East Region (Newark)
Raleigh
1.) Duke vs. 16.) Merrimack
8.) Missouri vs. 9.) Creighton
Seattle
5.) UConn vs. 12.) VCU
4.) Oregon vs. 13.) Yale
Providence
6.) Michigan vs. 11.) UCF/Wake Forest
3.) Kentucky vs. 14.) High Point
Raleigh
7.) Clemson vs. 10.) Maryland
2.) Florida vs. 15.) Little Rock
The East region is headlined by a 17-2 Duke Blue Devil team that hasn’t lost a game since before Thanksgiving. They are 4-2 in quad 1 games that include a home win over Auburn and a road win over surging Arizona. Their two losses are by a combined eight points to Kansas and Kentucky on a neutral floor in November. Whether they can remain on the top-seed line is the question, but some improved depth in the ACC should help them in that regard.
Jon Scheyer has been rolling, but in the East, the SEC is ready to test them, with Florida and Kentucky lying in wait as the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, respectively. UConn is the No. 5 seed in the East, and they are the champs until they are dethroned. Getting Liam McNeeley back from injury soon will help boost their chances of moving up the seed list.
The team to watch in the East is the No. 8 seed Missouri Tigers. Dennis Gates has his team sitting at 16-4 with wins over then No. 1 Kansas and Florida on the road and, most recently, over Ole Miss. The first week of February will show us just how good these Tigers can be. They begin the month with road games at Mississippi State and Tennessee before welcoming Texas A&M to Columbia.