2015 NCAA Tournament: East Region Preview

The East Region is the most intriguing in this year’s tournament. Villanova is the No. 1 seed while Virginia is the two seed. Villanova opens the tournament against Lafayette.  Virginia is going up against Belmont. Both Villanova and Virginia is deserving of the No. 1 seed in the East making the road to the Final Four one of the tougher brackets in the tournament.

The East Region also has a lot going on in the lower seed matchups. Notable first round games include No. 8 North Carolina State vs. No. 9 LSU, No. 5 Northern Iowa vs. No. 12 Wyoming, No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 14 Albany and No. 6 Providence vs. the winner of the final play-in game between Boise St. and Dayton.

Northern Iowa, led by forward Seth Tuttle, is making their first tournament appearance since 2010. The Panthers won 30 games in the regular season and won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Northern Iowa should have an easy road to the Sweet 16 but have the talent to defeat better teams and make a run deep into March.

Virginia had an unbelievable season until their guard Justin Anderson got hurt earlier in conference play. The Cavaliers play an outstanding defense but in some games they lack the scoring to win. A potential second round matchup with Michigan State could give Virginia some problems. If everyone is healthy, look out for Virginia to make a run at the Final Four.

Villanova finished the year 32-2. The Wildcats play four guards who are all great decision makers and reliable shooters. If Villanova faces LSU in the second round it could be a real test for them as the Tigers have the talent to keep it close. It will be a tough road for Villanova if they want to make it to the Final Four but they have the star players to get them there.

Possible upsets that could occur are UC Irvine over Louisville and Albany over Oklahoma. This is the region that will cause the most chaos in bracket pools all over the country.

 

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Photo credit: rantsports.com; Virginia looks to establish their tough defense in the East Region with No. 5 Darion Atkins, No. 15 Malcolm Brogdon, and No. 4 Marial Shayok leading the way.