East First Round Bracket Breakdown

This is a breakdown of first round of the NCAA brackets. Today we look at the East region. Here's yesterday's breakdown of the west bracket.

The east bracket has four very strong teams. I picked all four top seeds to make it to the sweet sixteen. Who is coming out of the bracket though is hard to figure out. But for now, we will just look at the first round.

1) Pittsburgh vs. 16) E. Tennessee St.- Pittsburgh shouldn't have a problem with this match up. Pitt is one of the best defensive teams in the nation and this should help them go far in the field.

8) Oklahoma St. vs. 9) Tennessee- I like the Cowboys in this game. Guards James Anderson and Bobby Eaton will carry OK St. to the win. That is if they can stay out of foul trouble?

5)Florida St. vs. 12)Wisconsin- The Badgers were red hot at the end of the year when they inserted center Jon Leuer into the lineup. I like the Badgers in this game because Florida St. can go long stretches without a field goal. They rush shots and they go cool from the field. Plus like other Big Ten teams, Wisconsin is a great defensive team.

4)Xavier vs. 13) Portland St.- If Portland St. presses Xavier, then the Musketeers will be in trouble because of their weakness at point guard. But Xavier is a strong rebounding team an area where Portland St. is weak. I like Xavier in this game.

6)UCLA vs. 11)VCU- VCU upset Duke a couple of years ago. I don't think this will happen this year. The Bruins are a strong defensive team and guard Darren Collison is one of the best in the country.

3)Villanova vs. 14)American- Nova has the perfect 1-2-punch with Donte Cunningham inside and Scottie Reynolds on the outside. I expect Villanova to make a run to the final four.

7)Texas vs. 10)Minnesota- The Gophers barely made it in the tournament. While Texas got hot at the end of the year. Also Texas has a strong point guard in A.J. Abrams. And I would always go with a team with a great point guard.

2)Duke vs. 15)Binghamton- I like Duke to reach the sweet sixteen. With Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith on the outside and Kyle Singler and Gerald Henderson on the inside gives the Blue Devils one of the strongest starting lineups in the country.

I don't expect many upsets in this bracket. The top four seeds are all strong in their own right. I expect all four teams to reach the sweet sixteen.

Later tonight, I will break down the first round of the South bracket.