The East region is home to the overall number 1 seed, the Villanova Wildcats. This was the only absolute lock going into the tournament. No one really believed there was anyone else that deserved the overall number one, but their road to a repeat Final Four performance is anything but a lock. There are roadblocks littered all throughout their quarter of the national bracket.

The first is their potential Round of 32 matchup against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Badgers were ranked as high as seven at one point this season, but now finds themselves as an eight seed in the tournament. Considering Minnesota ended up being a five seed (by far the most confusing seed in the bracket) Wisconsin at an eight is odd. They made it to the conference finals of the Big 10, which has seven tournament teams. Also, in a year where the committee seemed to really penalize bad losses, a Wisconsin team with only nine losses and none that are bad doesn’t really make a ton of sense at eight.

At the bottom half of the bracket, there is a Duke team that is absolutely on fire, a Marquette team that Nova has lost to, an SMU team that also is seeded lower than they should be, and a Florida team that looked championship-caliber against everyone in the country not called Vanderbilt. Last year if you look at the path Nova took to the Championship, they had matchups that favored them. Duke has matchup nightmares everywhere and Florida has a lot of depth in the front court, which is Nova’s biggest problem.

Of everyone in the region, though, Duke is obviously the biggest threat. Before the conference tournaments, I published an article with teams that could win the title. I left Duke entirely off that list. Let me be the first to admit how fucking stupid that is. Jayson Tatum is a superstar that I believe should be taken by the Celtics no matter where Danny Ainge is drafting. Luke Kennard is an offensive juggernaut that can hit shots from every inch of the floor. Amile Jefferson and Matt Jones are the senior leaders that keep the young team in check. Frank Jackson has emerged in the second half of the year as a stud, as well. This team is red-hot and can beat anyone in the country. The Devils as the seven-overall seed is honestly hogwash (no your grandmother isn’t writing this article), and it is a real shame for Nova that they got the best two seed in the tournament in their region.

The six seed in the East is my pick as the dark horse in the bracket. Going into today, the Mustangs were twelfth in the nation and beat Cincinnati in the AAC tournament championship. That means they are on a sixteen-game win streak for a total record of 30-4. Sure, the American wasn’t necessarily strong this year, but this is a 30-win basketball team from one of the best mid-major conferences in the country. Humorously, this is more Duke influence because their leading scorer, Semi Ojeleye, transferred to Southern Methodist from Duke. They are lock-down defensively, rebound well and move the ball well on offense. I think this team can make it to at least the Sweet 16 over three-seed Baylor.

The biggest potential upset in this bracket is one I told everyone to look out for last week. UNC Wilmington from the Colonial Athletic Association is a fast, four-guard squad that can run up and down the floor. When I told everyone to look out for them, the one team I had in mind that I didn’t want them to play was Virginia. Well, they drew Virginia. For pride, I am still going to pick them as an upset, though. Virginia will still control the tempo of this game, but the Seahawks of Wilmington will still score and find a way to sneak out the upset.

With all that being said, I still believe the region is Nova’s. Leaving Championship Week, I was asked, “Honestly, who can beat Duke right now?” I answered with an “I don’t know” because they are playing some of the best basketball in the country. But Nova has been doing that all year. They only have three losses, and they have proven that they can sneak out of many tough spots. When trailing at half, Nova is 3-0. This is a stat that struck me for two reasons. The Wildcats have only trailed at the half in three of their 34 games. Also, those three games are against Notre Dame, Virginia and Seton Hall in the Big East Semifinal game. Championship teams simply find ways to win, and this is the best team in the country.