March Madness: Picking the Final Four teams
By Ben Handler
East Region: #1 Uconn
The East region is stacked as it boasts the Big East Champs, Big 12 Champs, Big 10 Champs, and the SEC Champs. Those are the top four teams in the region, and they’re obviously all hot - as they just won their conference tournaments.
Each of those four teams are worthy final four picks, and I could make a case for BYU or even Drake as long shots. But in this case, I think the boring pick is the right pick; the Huskies are simply too strong.
They’ve got the best coach in Dan Hurley, the best players, led by big man Donovan Clingan, and NBA lottery prospect at guard Stephon Castle. They’re deep at every position and they can play inside and out.
On top of that, they obviously have the pedigree. They lost several players to the NBA last season, but don’t seem to have taken much of a step back at all. While I think the other teams I mentioned are capable of beating UConn, they’d need perfect circumstances and lots of positive variance. I just don’t see it.
FAU or Northwestern could possibly even pose a threat in round two, but if UConn brings their A-game, nobody is beating them. That goes for the East region and the entire tournament field.