Bracket Breakdown: East

The East Regional in East Rutherford, N.J. promises excitement and intrigue, no matter who ends up there. Several teams could win this one.

The North Carolina Tar Heels are the top seed, and draw the Colonels of Eastern Kentucky Fried Chicken in the first round. EKU has had a nice season, winning the Ohio Valley Conference tournament, but they're not North Carolina. Tar Heels roll.

They face the winner of a gargantuan 8-9 matchup between Tom Crean and the Marquette Golden Eagles (I almost called them Warriors-naughty, naughty!), and his mentor Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. Teacher beats pupil here. Spartans win this one in Winston-Salem.

The 5 vs. 12 matchup in Spokane gives us the resurgent USC Trojans and the Arkansas Razorbacks, probably the last team chosen for the tournament. The last time these schools met, it was on the football field, and SC hung half a hundred on the Hogs in Fayetteville. This will be a better game, but give the edge to SC.

In the other Spokane game, the Fighting Kevin Durants, a/k/a Texas Longhorns, get a matchup with Reggie Theus and the New Mexico State Aggies. It seems like yesterday Reggie Theus was playing for UNLV and a million NBA teams. Durant and Texas are too much for the Aggies.

Down on the bottom half of the bracket, Gloria Vanderbilt takes on George Washington. It's not really Gloria's school, but I think it's the same family. I smell a slight upset here in the 6-11 game. First in war, first in peace, and first on Thursday in Sacramento: George Washington.

Speaking of upsets, there is another potential upset in Sacramento. Washington State has had an excellent season, finishing in second place in the Pac-10 regular season. They face the Golden Eagles (once a Titan, always a Titan) of Oral Roberts. Oral always said: "Expect a Miracle", and it was on the side of their court at one time. ORU has already beaten Kansas in Lawrence, and they get a 14 over 3 upset in Sac-town on Thursday.

Back in Winston-Salem, the struggling Boston College Eagles are matched up with the O'Reilly Texas Tech Red Raiders. Bob Knight won't be allowed to wear the O'Reilly sweater during the tournament, but he won't have to sell an oil filter to beat BC. Tech wins their first-round game.

Georgetown goes back to the future. They are coached by John Thompson III, son of their legendary coach. One of their players is Patrick Ewing, Jr., son of star Georgetown and Knicks center Patrick Ewing. Not coincidentally, Georgetown has their best team since the 80's. They are matched up with Music City's other team, Belmont, making their second consecutive tournament appearance. I like G'town to win big here.

All of that brings us to the second round. North Carolina should have relatively little trouble with a maxed out Michigan State team. USC and Texas meet in a rematch of the 2005-06 Rose Bowl, with Texas winning the hoops version, as well. In the upset bracket, the father of our country, George Washington, wins out over that fan of 60's retro architecture, Oral Roberts. GW's crosstown rival, Georgetown, solidly handles the Texas Tech O'Reillys.

At the Sweet 16 in the Meadowlands, UNC finds itself in a classic matchup with the Kevin Durants. Durant puts Texas on his back, and the Horns knock off the Heels, setting up a classic Roy Williams post-game press conference. In the other game, Georgetown earns bragging rights to D.C. by dispatching of the upstart GW Colonials.

Which brings us to the regional final, Georgetown vs. Kevin Durant. Kevin Durant is the real deal. For the second year in a row, though, Texas falls in the Elite Eight. The Georgetown renaissance continues, as the Hoyas punch their ticket to Atlanta.