Sportz Assassin's East Region Preview

TEAM TO BEAT: Duke. They have Zion Williams and you don't. 

TEAM THAT WILL WIN THE REGION: Duke. The Blue Devils should cruise to the regional final where they'd likely play Michigan State. Duke is the worst shooting three point team in the field but their athleticism gets them past Sparty. 

TEAM TO WATCH FOR (LESS THAN A NO. 3 SEED): Virginia Tech. They beat Duke already (albeit without Zion Williamson) and are getting Justin Robinson back for the tournament. 

YOUR CINDERELLA: Belmont. Their offense is relentless. They run, fire up threes make tons of passes and try to wear you down. They get Maryland up first who are talented, but young. They then could get an LSU team that is going through a lot lately before hitting the Sweet 16.  They're really, really good.   

WORST SEEDING ERROR: Michigan State. They certainly deserved a No. 2 seed, but they shouldn't have been placed in Duke's region. The selection committee explained they wanted to reward the Spartans by keeping them closer to home. But you gave them the region with the top overall seed. That's not right. I'm sure they rather have been in Louisville or Kansas City instead.    

HOME COURT ADVANTAGE: Maryland. If the Terps can get past their first weekend matchups in Jacksonville, they'll get to play right near home in Washington DC. Really, there are a variety of teams that like being in the DC region (VCU, Duke, Liberty, Virginia Tech). 

MUST WATCH GAME: Maryland vs Belmont. Maryland has NBA talent, but they are also very young. No one in their primary rotation has ever won a college tournament game of any kind. Belmont, as mentioned above, is legit. They are unafraid and have an offense that constantly attacks. With the Terps' size bother the Bruins?

MUST WATCH (POTENTIAL) SECOND ROUND GAME: LSU vs Maryland.  If the Terps can get past Belmont, they'll likely get an LSU team that won the SEC regular season title. Both teams are talented in different ways (big Bruno Fernando and guard Tremont Waters going at it).