NCAA Bracket 2018: East Region
By Ian Levy
March Madness has arrived and it’s time to check out the newly unveiled 2018 NCAA Tournament field for the East Region, headlined by No. 1 seed Villanova.
With the painfully drawn-out drama of Selection Sunday behind us, we can get a first look at the field for the East Region for the 2018 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Villanova landed on the top line, the No.1 seed for the region, and looks like one of the strongest teams in the field. They’ll take on the winner of the First Four game between LIU and Radford.
Villanova enters the tournament with the second-best adjusted efficiency margin in the country, according to KenPom. However, there are plenty of other strong squads in their region they’ll have to get through. Purdue landed the No. 2 seed and also falls in the top-five of KenPom’s final regular season rankings. They’ll play No. 15 seed Cal-State Fullerton in the first round.
Texas Tech is the No. 3 seed in the East and they’ll kick off against No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin. In 2016, the SFA Lumberjacks were seeded No. 14 and knocked off West Virginia before losing a nail-baiter to Notre Dame. The No. 4 seed in the East, Wichita State, also has plenty of Tournament experience and could be dangerous, assuming they don’t get knocked of by No. 13 Marshall and Dan D’Antoni in the first round.
West Virginia landed the No. 5 seed in the East and they’ll play the No. 12-seeded Murray State Racers. Florida is the No. 6 seed and they’ll play the winner of the First Four game between UCLA and St. Bonaventure. No. 7 seed Arkansas will take on the No. 10-seeded Butler Bulldogs. The winner of the No. 8 – No. 9 matchup between Vermont and Alabama will get the prize of a second-round matchup with Villanova.
The First Four games will take place Mar. 13 and 14 in Dayton, Ohio. The Tournament proper begins on Thursday, Mar. 15. The East Regional Final will be played in Boston Mar. 25.
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The Final Four will be played in San Antonio, Texas on March 31, and the 2018 Championship Game will be played on April 2 live on CBS.