Breaking Down the NCAA Tourney: East Region (By David Gentile)

Overview: The East is perhaps one of the most wide open in the NCAA tournament. One of the reasons for this is the amazing collection of coaches: Jamie Dixon, Mike Krzyzewski, Ben Howland, Rick Barnes, Bruce Pearl, and Tubby Smith. Many potential sweet 16 matchups are rematches of close games played earlier in the year, such as Pittsburgh and Florida State, which the Panthers won by eight last December. It also features one of the best first round games, Oklahoma State and Tennessee, both of whom average better than 78 points per game.

Spoiler: Big East tested Villanova lost five games this season by less than 10 points, including a one point loss to top seeded Louisville. The Wildcats have a potential matchup with Duke for an elite eight bid, which Duke has only reached one time in the last seven tournaments. If they make it to a showdown with Pittsburgh, the Wildcats will have a chance to knock off the Panthers for a second time this season.

Under the Radar: Texas has to be licking its chops, having defeated potential East opponents Oklahoma State, Wisconsin, UCLA, and Villanova. If the Longhorns manage to get past the first and second rounds, they will have a chance at a rematch with any one of those four teams, and the opportunity to prove that they are better than their 9-7 Big 12 record. Texas gets good scoring production from both its frontcourt and backcourt, with senior guard A.J. Abrams leading the way at 16.3 ppg.

Upset City: Does history repeat itself? Virginia Commonwealth sure hopes so. The Rams faced a similar situation two years ago against Duke as an 11 seed. Just like UCLA in 2008, Duke was heavily favored as a one seed in 2006 and fell short of expectations. The following season, The Rams defeated the Blue Devils 79-77. This time around, VCU will need a big game from senior guard and CAA leading scorer Eric Maynor (22.4 ppg, 6.2 apg). Don't be fooled by UCLA's bounce back from losing three of four in the middle of conference play, as four of their last five wins came against the bottom half of the Pac 10.

Pick: Pittsburgh has been the most consistent of all the teams in this regional all year long, so look for them to continue their winning ways. When the Panthers win, they typically do it in dominating fashion, and of their 28 victories this season, 25 came by double digits. With the solid guard play of Levance Fields (10.7 ppg, 7.6 apg), post presence of DeJuan Blair (15.6 ppg, 12.2 rpg), and scoring ability of Sam Young (18.7 ppg), Pittsburgh poses a menacing three-headed horse (or Panther?) to any opponent.