The East Region of the Men’s NCAA Tournament is not for the faint of heart.

There’s No. 1 and top overall seed Duke, the recently crowned champions of the ACC Tournament.

There’s No. 2 Connecticut, which flirted with the tournament’s top line before an uneven close to the regular season.

March Madness printable bracket: Fill out for predictions, picks in NCAA Tournament

There’s No. 3 Michigan State, one of the top teams in the Big Ten. No. 4 Kansas, which will be a Final Four threat if star freshman Darryn Peterson can showcase the form that has made him the most likely top pick in this year’s NBA draft.

There’s even No. 5 St. John’s, last seen crushing the Huskies at Madison Square Garden to repeat as Big East champs.

Best of luck to everyone involved – because someone is going to need some good fortune to make a run through this gauntlet.

March Madness region breakdown: South | Midwest | West

But despite this depth, the favorite in the East are the Cameron Boozer-led Blue Devils. Here’s what you need to know about the region:

East Region best first-round matchup: No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida

Two of the nation’s highest-scoring teams are destined to get into an up-and-down affair that could see the winner crack triple digits.

USF ranks eighth nationally in scoring (87.7 points per game), first in free throws made per game (20.2), second in rebounds per game (42.7) and third in offensive rebounds per game (15.5).

Louisville ranks first in the ACC and 20th nationally in scoring (84.7 points per game) while topping the ACC in 3-pointers attempted (32.3) and made per game (11.5).

Overall, the Bulls have been held under 70 points just three times this season.

East Region potential upset in first round: No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 UCF

There’s always the chance of an even more eye-opening upset, such as No. 15 Furman knocking off UConn or No. 13 Cal Baptist taking down the Jayhawks.

But one matchup that seems ripe for an upset is No. 7 UCLA against No. 10 UCF, largely because of the unpredictability that has defined the Bruins’ season.

They put things together down the stretch to climb to a No. 7 seed, beating Nebraska and Michigan State this month before being bounced from the Big Ten Tournament against Purdue. And UCLA has a distinct talent edge against the Knights thanks to senior forward Tyler Bilodeau (17.6 points per game) and guard Donovan Dent (7.6 assists per game).

Still, this a team that went a combined 10-11 against Quad 1 and Quad 2 competition during the regular season.

NCAA Tournament East Region sleeper: St. John's

In this case, the Red Storm qualify as a sleeper by being outside the region’s top four seeds.

While not reflecting how well St. John’s is currently playing, the seeding stems from a weaker schedule that saw it split 10 games against Quad 1 foes.

But let’s be clear: This is not your typical No. 5 seed. The Red Storm showed that in a dominant 72-52 win against the Huskies in the Big East championship. They’ve also lost just once since Jan. 3 and just twice this calendar year.

St. John’s is led by potential All-America big man Zuby Ejiofor, who paces the team in scoring (16.3 points per game) and assists (3.5 per game). Former Providence transfer Bryce Hopkins has also played very well of late, including 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting against UConn.

NCAA Tournament East Region winner: Duke

Duke remains the team to beat in this loaded region.

The Blue Devils are short point guard Caleb Foster, who is out indefinitely with a foot fracture. But backup Cayden Boozer has stepped up in Foster’s absence, delivering 16 points against Clemson in the ACC semifinals and then another 16 points, five rebounds and four assists in the final against Virginia.

The biggest reason to like Duke’s chance is star freshman forward Cameron Boozer, the clubhouse leader for national player of the year after averaging 22.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game during the regular season.

His ability to score in the paint and control the flow of the game on both ends, along with his competitive drive, will help Duke avoid a shocking pre-Final Four slipup like the one that derailed Cooper Flagg and last year’s loaded roster.

NCAA Tournament East Region schedule

Thursday, March 19

• No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Siena
• No. 3 Michigan State vs. No. 14 North Dakota State
• No. 6 Louisville vs. No. 11 South Florida
• No. 8 Ohio State vs. No. 9 TCU

Friday, March 20

• No. 2 Connecticut vs. No. 15 Furman
• No. 4 Kansas vs. No. 13 Cal Baptist
• No. 5 St. John's vs. No. 12 Northern Iowa
• No. 7 UCLA vs. No. 10 Central Florida

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA tournament 2026 East Region predictions for March Madness

read more