East Regional Favorites Roll into Sweet 16

While the rest of the NCAA Tournament descended into varied states of chaos, the East was a picture of order and stability, and fans with East Regional tickets can look forward to seeing each of the top four seeds this weekend in the nation’s capital.  Indiana, Miami, Marquette and Syracuse took very different paths to reach the Sweet 16, but they all managed to navigate the madness that is the first weekend of the Big Dance. Indiana had few problems taking care of James Madison in their first game, but needed a strong second half to pull away from Temple. Miami crushed University of the Pacific before outlasting Illinois. No team has lived on the edge in the NCAA Tournament more than Marquette, who beat Davidson 59-58 in the first round before squeaking past Butler, 74-72. Meanwhile, Syracuse annihilated Montana 81-34, then coasted in the second half for a six-point victory over Cal.

The matchups will only get more intense this weekend, as the Hurricanes take on the Golden Eagles in the first matchup of the day Thursday, followed by the No. 1-seeded Hoosiers against the Orange later in the evening. Miami will center much of their defensive attention on Marquette’s Vander Blue, who scored 16 against Pacific before erupting for 29 against the Bulldogs. Meanwhile, the focus of Marquette head coach Buzz Williams’ defensive game plan will undoubtedly fall on dynamic PG Shane Larkin, who was huge down the stretch in the ‘Canes victory over the Fighting Illini. In the second game, you can expect to see Indiana All-American Victor Oladipo guarding Syracuse point guard Michael Carter-Williams for a majority of the game. Carter-Williams is one of the best distributors from the PG spot in the country, while Oladipo has developed into a lock-down defender, and their battle on the perimeter may very well decide the outcome of the game. While the Verizon Center will be devoid of any true underdogs this weekend, the star power on display with Indiana, Miami, Marquette and Syracuse all taking their best shots at each other should more than make up for the lack of a Cinderella team in the mix.

For more information about the East Regional conference, continue reading now!

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