NCAA Tournament East Region Preview

Story posted March 17, 2022 in CommRadio, Sports by Jameson Kramer

Of all the regions in this year’s field, the East just might be the toughest one to come out of and head to New Orleans for the Final Four.

Both UCLA and Baylor made the Final Four last season so there is plenty of tournament experience in this group. With all of the top-four seeds in this section of the bracket being ranked in the top 10 in the AP poll for much of the year, there’s no hiding in this region.

The Baylor Bears return to the tournament as the defending national champions and are once again a No. 1 seed. Baylor will have a tough road to the Final Four, partly due to the loss of its senior big man Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua to a season-ending knee injury.

The Bears have also lost their best shooter LJ Cryer, to a foot injury that has his tournament status in doubt. Baylor has had a rocky last few weeks after starting off 15-0, culminating in a loss to Oklahoma in the Big 12 Tournament.

Baylor has a potential path of North Carolina, UCLA and Kentucky or Purdue, all very talented teams. The Bears will have their work cut out for them, but the defending national champs have the experience to potentially make up for it.

The No. 2 seed in the East is the perennial blue blood Kentucky Wildcats, a team many have predicted to win the entire thing, including the man himself, Dick Vitale.

Led by their likely wooden award winner Oscar Tshiebwe, the Wildcats have high aspirations. Kentucky is no stranger to making runs in the tournament, legendary coach John Calipari led them to Final Four appearances in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2015.

The No. 3 seed boasts the highest seeded team in the Big Ten, the conference that sent the most teams to the tournament.

The Purdue Boilermakers have playmakers at all levels, including Jaden Ivey and Zach Edey, their 7-foot-4 center. Purdue made a run all the way to the Big Ten championship game before falling to Iowa, so it’s poised to make another run, but watch out for No. 14 seed Yale in the first round.

The fourth-seeded UCLA Bruins might be the most intriguing team in this region. The Bruins snuck into the tournament last season as an 11 seed, and they created madness. UCLA was an insane buzzer-beater away from reaching the national championship game, and with largely the same roster this season the Bruins are back with a vengeance trying to create some noise.

Johnny Juzang might be the best player in the country, and Jamie Jaquez Jr. is a great compliment to Juzang. This duo was a big reason why they went so far last season, and they hope to be the reason again. Recently falling to Arizona in the Pac-12 championship gives them some extra motivation.

There are also some other very intriguing teams in this bracket, including Saint Mary’s, Murray State, North Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Saint Mary’s has defeated the No. 1-overall seed Gonzaga, showing they can beat anyone given the opportunity. Murray State finished the season with the best winning percentage in the entire nation, so it’s no stranger to winning.

North Carolina has a rich history in the tournament and has caught fire recently. The Tarheels defeated Duke in the last game of the regular season in epic fashion, and nothing fires up that team more.

The No. 11 Virginia Tech might be the hottest team in the country, and it enters this region as the only major conference winner. The Hokies ran through the ACC Tournament to earn themselves an automatic bid, as they likely wouldn’t have made it otherwise.

All this is to say, the East is probably the most wide-open region in the field.


Jameson Kramer is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism, to contact him email jek5650@psu.edu.