The fate of the East region may come down to the state of Cooper Flagg’s ankle after the star freshman missed the ACC championship game against Louisville.
Even with Flagg sidelined, the Blue Devils flashed the sort of scoring depth needed to advance deep into March by beating the Cardinals behind a combined 52 points from guards Tyrese Proctor, Sion James and Kon Knueppel.
A wealth of options will serve Duke well in a region that also includes No. 2 Alabama, the highest-scoring team in the country, along with No. 3 Wisconsin, No. 4 Arizona, No. 5 Oregon and No. 6 Brigham Young.
The Blue Devils will also benefit from playing the opening weekend in nearby Raleigh, North Carolina. The region will conclude in Newark, New Jersey, which is close to the New York area that is familiar to Duke.
The Crimson Tide are looming. BYU had a terrific second half to the regular season and could be a trendy pick to reach the Elite Eight. Arizona is, well, Arizona; the Wildcats could flip the switch and win the region outright. And Wisconsin’s offense has finally joined the 21st century, giving the Big Ten runner-up a puncher’s shot at reaching the Final Four for the first time since 2015.
But let’s be clear: Duke is the favorite in the East. USA TODAY Sports breaks down the region:
East Region best first-round matchup: BYU vs. Virginia Commonwealth
BYU dropped three in a row early in Big 12 play to Houston, Texas Tech and TCU before turning things around. The Cougars head into the tournament having won 14 of 18 games, including wins against Arizona, Kansas and a two-game sweep of Iowa State. VCU rebounded from a late-season loss to Dayton – that basically knocked the Rams out of the at-large picture – to win the Atlantic 10 tournament, closing with a must-have win against George Mason. This should be a high-scoring affair: BYU averages 81 points per game, 27th nationally, and VCU is scoring 77.4 points per game, good for second in the A-10.
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East Region potential upset in first round: Arizona vs. Akron
Another option is Liberty over Oregon in the region’s 12-5 matchup. But let’s go with Akron sneaking past Arizona based on the Zips’ nearly perfect march through the MAC and the Wildcats’ frustrating finishing stretch. Akron went 28-6 overall during the regular season and 17-1 in conference play, losing just once since the calendar turned to 2025. Meanwhile, Arizona went 5-6 in the final weeks of the regular season to limp into tournament play.
East Region sleeper: Wisconsin
Wisconsin might be scrutinized for landing as the No. 3 seed after losing the Big Ten championship game to Michigan, especially after the Wolverines drew a No. 5 seed in the South region. The Badgers also scuffled toward the end of the regular season, losing at home to Oregon, at Michigan State and at home to Penn State before rebounding to make a run in the conference tournament. What makes this team interesting, and also dangerous, is the extreme uptick in offense production. After ranking 145th nationally in scoring last season, the Badgers head into the tournament 35th in the country at 80.5 points per game.
East Region winner: Duke
This is one of the most complete teams in the field and the clear favorite to win the region, should Flagg be fully recovered from his ankle injury. If so, his well-rounded game will help make the Blue Devils a difficult matchup for every potential opponent in the East, if not the entire bracket. This is a team with few flaws, if any: Duke ranks seventh in the country in scoring defense, 15th in scoring offense, first in scoring margin, fifth in effective field goal percentage, seventh in field-goal percentage defense and ninth in rebounding margin. You can make the argument that failing to reach the Final Four would be a significant letdown.
