While Duke may be the #1 overall seed within the 2026 NCAA Tournament, the Blue Devils were done no favors by the Selection Committee, which probably means the whistles will be even more egregious for the school from Durham, North Carolina (just kidding, not really). The East was the first region revealed during Sunday's NCAA Tournament Selection Show, and it instantly stood out as the most difficult. Make the jump to read 10 observations and final predictions for the East Region of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
1. The Blueblood Region: Let's say you haven't watched college basketball all season. Just consider the program names of the top eight seeds from the East: 1. Duke. 2. UCONN. 3. Michigan State. 4. Kansas. 5. St. John's. 6. Louisville. 7. UCLA. 8. Ohio State. The first four schools are annual Final Four contenders. The last four all have storied NCAA Tournament histories. Just looking on paper at the names of this region is quite overwhelming. The East is definitely one of the strongest regions I can ever remember. Quite frankly, it seems quite unbalanced when compared to other regions, which will be detailed later. Whatever school emerges from the East Region will certainly have earned it. With that said, buyer beware with several of these big-name programs. UCONN has been off the last few weeks, Michigan State has overachieved but struggles to shoot the ball, and Kansas is up-and-down with a potential #1 pick in Darryn Peterson who has questions about his eagerness to play college basketball.
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2. Big-Name Coaches: The East Region is a who's who of coaching greats, including UCONN's Dan Hurley, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Kansas' Bill Self, and St. John's Rick Pitino. It is also features highly-regarded young coaches in Duke's Jon Scheyer, Louisville's Pat Kelsey, South Florida's Bryan Hodgson, and even Furman's Bob Richey and Siena's Gerry McNamara. There are also grizzled NCAA Tournament veterans who have been to a Final Four (see UCLA's Mick Cronin) and who haven't been to a Final Four (see TCU's Jaime Dixon). There are extremely solid "mid-major" coaches in Northern Iowa's Ben Jacobson and UCF's Johnny Dawkins who have taken bluebloods to the brink in the past. Jacobson already defeated Kansas during the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament while Dawkins nearly took out his alma mater Duke during the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. Even Ohio State's Jake Diebler is someone to respect as he has saved his job by navigating the Buckeyes back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022.
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3. Something I Like: While the first-round game between Duke and Sienna will likely not be competitive, it is cool to see two head coaches who were point guards on National Champions (McNamara as a freshman with Syracuse in 2003, Scheyer as a senior with Duke in 2010) go against each other. Here are some memories of both coaches having Shining Moments during the NCAA Tournament.
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4. Another Thing I Like: While unlikely to happen, a second-round rematch of #4 Kansas and #12 Northern Iowa would be an amazing call back to the Panthers incredible upset of the Jayhawks during the second round of the 2010 NCAA Tournament. At the very least, this game will lend itself to replay after replay of one of the boldest and coldest three-point shots in NCAA Tournament history, courtesy of Ali Farokhmanesh, who is the current head coach at Colorado State University. Honestly, I don't expect #12 Northern Iowa to have much of a chance against #5 St. John's, and though I don't trust #4 Kansas, I am not sure Cal Baptist has the players to pull off the upset.
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5. One Thing I Dislike: Besides the East Region being stacked, it was disappointing to see UCONN and St. John's, the two best teams in the Big East that just played each other in the Big East Tournament title game on Saturday night, be placed in the same region. Whether the Selection Committee is anticipating an Elite Eight rubber match between the Huskies and Red Storm, which split two games against each other, remains to be seen, though it would have been better for both schools to be in different regions. Honestly, St. John's seemed better than a #5 seed while UCONN was projecting to be the fourth #1 seed for much of the season, that is, until recent stumbles. Of the two teams, St. John's seems more dangerous at the moment. Despite Hurley's incredible tactical abilities, UCONN seems really off, especially at the guard position and even with veteran Alex Karaban struggling.
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6. One Thing I Really Dislike: Consider the bottom half of the region to be the Cantankerous Coaches division of the region and the entire NCAA Tournament. Hurley is one of the greatest coaches in NCAA Tournament history, but his sideline histrionics, bullying and boorishness continue to be a nuisance. UCLA's Cronin has carried himself with not much grace this season, despite his team rallying late in the season. A second-round games between Hurley's Huskies and Cronin's Bruins leaves little to root for in terms of the head coaches. Michigan State's Izzo is one of the greatest coaches in NCAA Tournament history, and while he has done wonders with a flawed team, his treatment of questionable on-court antics by star guard Jeremiah Fears has left a lot to be desired. Watching Hurley versus Izzo during the Sweet Sixteen is another thing best avoided. As for the #1 seed Duke, Scheyer is clearly a very good young coach; however, he does have advantages that no other first-time head coach has ever had and is treated as he is an upper-echelon head coach.
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7. Coach and Team I Am Rooting For: While St. John's Rick Pitino is certainly no saint, he is one of the greatest coaches in NCAA Tournament history, taking Providence to the 1987 Final Four, winning National Championships at Kentucky in 1996 and Louisville in 2013, getting Iona to several NCAAs, and immediately turning around the Red Storm. In my opinion, Big East and NCAA basketball is much more electric when St. John's is legitimately good. The Johnnies are a tough team led by Zuby Ejiofor, who experienced heartbreak last year after the #2 seeded Red Storm were upset by Arkansas during the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament. Could that tournament heartbreak, along with the Red Storm peaking at the right time, propel Pitino to another Final Four at a fourth school?
8. Player I Am Rooting For: Ohio State's senior point guard Bruce Thornton will finally get to play in the NCAA Tournament. Besides being a great floor general, Thornton is a rarity in today's college basketball, someone who has stayed at the same school for his entire career. It would be great to see Thornton rewarded with a first-round victory and a close game against #1-seed Duke in the second round.
9. Player Not to Sleep On: UCONN's Alex Karaban is the ultimate role player who started on the Huskies' National Title teams in 2023 and 2024. While he has struggled this year at times, Karaban is someone who has made many big plays during his NCAA Tournament playing career. It seems UCONN fans are down on Karaban as of late, though I expected him to have a long NBA career as a role player off the bench.
10. Top Pro Prospects Potentially Face Off: If the East Region goes as planned by seed numbers, #1 Duke will face #4 Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen. This game would pit Duke's freshman (and likely National Player of the Year and #1 overall NBA Draft pick) Cam Boozer against Kansas' Peterson, another prospect meriting consideration for the top selection in the draft. Once again, it seems like the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee had this potential showdown in mind when seeding the stacked East.
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Be sure to revisit The College Basketball Nostaglic before the tip off Thursday's NCAA Tournament games to see my predictions for the East Region.
Predictions for the First Round
- Duke beats Siena.
- Ohio State beats TCU.
- St. John's beats Northern Iowa.
- Kansas beats Cal Baptist.
- Louisville beats South Florida.
- Michigan State beats North Dakota State.
- UCLA beats UCF.
- UCONN beats Furman.
Predictions for the Second Round
- Duke beats Ohio State.
- St. John's beats Kansas.
- Michigan State beats Louisville.
- UCONN beats UCLA.
Predictions for the Sweet Sixteen
- St. John's beats Duke.
- Michigan State beats UCONN.
Predictions for the Elite Eight
- St. John's beats Michigan State. (St. John's will upset Houston in the Fina Four, but lose to Arizona in the national championship game).
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