Which East Region teams are coming into the NCAA Tournament on a low note?

The East Region is the region of conference champions. The No. 1 seed UConn just rolled through the Big East tourney at Madison Square Garden, the two-seed Iowa State pounded Houston for the Big 12 title, three-seed Illinois knocked off Wisconsin for the Big Ten crown, and maybe most impressive of all, Auburn dominated the SEC tournament in Nashville before ending up on the four line. 

Beyond those teams at the top, Drake, UAB, and Duquesne were all notable mid-major bid stealers. In total, the East Region has 11 teams coming off conference tournament titles, so this region is loaded and scorching hot. However, a few teams are limping into the proceedings on a very low note. 

Northwestern Wildcats

• Seed: 9
• Last: 70-61 loss to Wisconsin
• 6-6 in last 12 games

Boo Buie didn’t have much help at Northwestern to begin with, but with injuries to Ty Berry and Matthew Nicholson down the stretch, the Wildcats got even thinner. Chris Collins’s team is 6-6 dating back to a January 31st overtime loss at Purdue. 

Washington State Cougars

• Seed: 7
• Last: 58-52 loss to Colorado
• 3-3 in last six games

Kyle Smith’s team is a fantastic story, getting back to the tournament for the first time since Tony Bennett took the Cougars there in 2008. However, this team may have peaked when it beat Arizona for the second time on February 22 which was the final victory of an eight-game win streak. The next game, the Cougars coughed the top seed in the conference back up to the Wildcats with a loss to Arizona State and have lost two of their last three coming into the tournament.

BYU Cougars

• Seed: 6
• Last: 81-67 loss to Texas Tech
• 11-9 record after 12-1 start

BYU is a feast-or-famine team with its three-point shooting and that was on display in the Big 12 Tournament. The Cougars went 14-30 in a win over UCF, then 7-35 the next day in a loss to Texas Tech.