East Region Breakdown: Facing Familiar Foes, Pitt Has a Chance

Pitt has been ranked No. 4 or better in all but one week this year. Despite that, the story all season has been that Pitt has never won more than two games in the NCAA Tournament.

Duke has been hanging around the top 10 all season. The Blue Devils had a slide in the middle of conference play, but tweaking the lineup seems to have worked (except when facing North Carolina) in sparking them to yet another ACC Tournament Championship.

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The two teams played an epic game at Madison Square Garden in December 2008. Will the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the East Region meet again?

Storylines

Pitt, Pitt, Pitt. Pitt received its first-ever No. 1 seed. It's probably a coincidence, but the East Region features a team coached by a former Pitt coach (Ben Howland at UCLA) and a team coached by a former Pitt player (Sean Miller at Xavier). Neither the coach nor the player could get Pitt past the Sweet 16. Will they stand in the way of Pitt going deep this year?

Villanova Has All the Comforts of Home. Villanova received a No. 3 seed and gets to spend the first weekend home in Philadelphia. The Wildcats were very careful to limit the number of games they played at the Wachovia Center so they could qualify to play there. A high seed and home comforts could carry the Wildcats to the Sweet 16.

Tubby's Triumphant Return. What an awkward situation for Kentucky. Tubby Smith, the Wildcats' former coach who was basically run out of town, landed a 10-seed in this year's tournament, while the Wildcats themselves head to the NIT. Potentially bad news for Texas, Minnesota's first-round opponent: in 14 trips to the NCAA Tournament as a head coach, Smith's won at least one game 13 times.

How Much Will Tony Kornheiser Pimp Binghamton This Week? ESPN's Pardon the Interruption co-host is probably Binghamton's most famous alum. The over/under on number of Bearcat references for Monday has been set at seven.

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Team That'll Break Your Bracket

Texas. Texas has hardly been impressive in the Big 12 Conference. If nothing else, the Longhorns have helped to make the resumes of other teams in the conference. They do have an excellent guard in A.J. Abrams, a wing forward in Damion James and a big man who has come on late in Dexter Pittman. The inconsistency has cost them all season -- along with the lack of a true point guard. They are, however, capable of upsetting Duke in the second round.

Team That'll Break Your Heart

Villanova. The Wildcats are a trendy pick to at least make it out of the first weekend, being at home. With their excellent guard play, they will be a popular pick to make it to the Elite Eight, yet that second round matchup with either VCU or UCLA could stop them cold. VCU has their own stud guard in Eric Maynor and won't be too far from home themselves; they could beat 'Nova at their own game. If it is UCLA that Villanova faces in the second round, Ben Howland's team has guards that can stay in front of Villanova's backcourt to deny penetration. The Bruins are also fully capable of mucking the game and making Villanova take bad shots in frustration at the pace.

Predictions

Round 1: Pitt over ETSU; Tennessee over Oklahoma State; Florida State over Wisconsin; Xavier over Portland State; UCLA over VCU; Villanova over American; Texas over Minnesota; Duke over Binghamton.
Round 2: Pitt over Tennessee; FSU over Xavier; Villanova over UCLA; Duke over Texas.
Sweet 16: Pitt over FSU; Villanova over Duke.
Elite 8: Pitt over Villanova.