In addition to No. 1 overall seed, Duke, the East Region of the men’s NCAA Tournament bracket features three of the four active Hall of Fame coaches and the only three who have won multiple national championships.
But for UConn and coach Dan Hurley, who is well-positioned to eventually receive his gold jacket as a back-to-back champion in 2023 and 2024, the earliest they could see Rick Pitino (for a fourth time this year), Bill Self or Tom Izzo would be in the second weekend of the big dance.
First, the Huskies have to get past the No. 15 seed Furman Paladins, who finished fifth in the Southern Conference and took down regular season champion East Tennessee State to earn the automatic bid out of the SoCon Tournament. The first round game will tip-off at 10 p.m. from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia – where UConn beat Villanova earlier this season – on Friday.
Furman, based in Greenville, South Carolina, carries a 22-12 record into its second tournament appearance in nine seasons under head coach Bob Richey. Opening as an 18.5-point underdog against UConn, per ESPN, Richey and the Paladins have pulled off some March magic before, beating Virginia as a No. 14 seed in 2022-23. That team fell victim to San Diego State in the second round and the Aztecs went all the way to the national championship game in Houston, where they lost to UConn.
This year’s Paladins have played four tournament teams, all in their first six games of the season, and went 1-3 with a win over Queens, which won the Atlantic Sun Tournament and earned the No. 15 seed in the West. They lost to former Husky Youssouf Singare and High Point, along with Troy and Northern Iowa.
Furman is ranked No. 191 on KenPom with the No. 200 offense and No. 181 defense. The fifth-tallest team in the nation, Furman is led by 6-foot-5 freshman guard Alex Wilkins (17.7 points per game) and 6-foot-11 junior forward Cooper Bowser (14.0 points, 6.0 rebounds per game). It is No. 14 nationally in 2-point percentage (59%) and No. 30 in minutes continuity.
UConn has never lost in the first round as a No. 3 seed or better.
Road to the second weekend
Should UConn avoid a stunning first round exit, the Huskies would meet the winner of No. 7 seed UCLA and No. 10 seed UCF (7:25 p.m. Friday on TBS) in the second round on Sunday.
UCLA, the favorite, finished 7th in the Big 10 and carries a 23-11 record into the Tournament. The Bruins are No. 27 on KenPom with five players contributing at least 11 points per game to the nation’s 22nd-ranked offense. But the main questions come on the injury front after senior forward Tyler Bilodeau, their leading scorer at 17.6 points per game at 46.4% shooting from 3, went down with a knee injury and point guard Donovan Dent (13.5 points, 7.6 assists per game) hurt his calf, both in the conference tournament. It isn’t clear whether they’ll be ready for the weekend.
Will it be Hurley and Mick Cronin, two of the sport’s most criticized personalities, sharing the sideline?
Or could the Civil ConFliCT trophy make its way to the hardwood in Philadelphia?
UCF (21-11) finished eighth in the Big 12, collecting some big wins over Kansas, Texas Tech and BYU. But it lost three straight to close the regular season and took overtime to beat Cincinnati before it was ousted by Arizona in the conference quarterfinal. The Knights have their own injury concerns with the situations surrounding 7-foot-2 center John Bol, senior guard and leading scorer Riley Kugel, and leading rebounder Jamichael Stillwell unclear after they were beat up exiting the Big 12 Tournament. UCF is rated No. 54 overall by KenPom with the No. 40 offense and No. 100 defense in the nation.
Potential Sweet 16 opponents
If UConn makes it to Washington, D.C. for the second weekend, where it beat Georgetown earlier this year, it will meet the winner out of the Buffalo pod, which includes No. 3 seed Michigan State vs. No. 14 seed North Dakota State, and No. 6 seed Louisville vs. No. 11 seed South Florida.
It could be a rematch against Izzo and the Spartans, who UConn handled well in a 76-69 exhibition win in Hartford less than a week before the season began. Michigan State started its season 19-2 with losses only to Duke and Nebraska before it dropped three out of four in the middle of Big 10 play to Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, mixing in a win over Illinois. The Spartans have 10 Quad 1 wins, sixth-most in the country.
North Dakota State won dual championships in the Summit League, but hasn’t played any KenPom top-100 teams this season.
Louisville is waiting for an update on star freshman point guard Mikel Brown Jr., who has been dealing with a back injury. With him healthy, the Cardinals – 23-10 in their second year under coach Pat Kelsey – have one of the more productive backcourts in the country with him and Ryan Conwell, who was one of the top scorers in the Big East at Xavier last season and is averaging 18.7 points per game this year.
South Florida was the dual champion of the American Conference and holds top-100 wins over Utah State, Tulsa and Wichita State. The Bulls are a top-40 defensive team and are led by a walking double-double in 6-foot-10 center Izaiyah Nelson (15.7 points, 9.6 rebounds per game).
Elite, Elite Eight
The top half of the East Region includes some of the best coaches and players in the country.
Jon Scheyer, again, has the most talented team in the country at Duke. But a potential Second Round matchup with Ohio State, which played Michigan to a four-point game in the Big 10 Tournament, could spell trouble in Greenville, especially if injuries to center Patrick Ngongba (a former UConn target) and point guard Caleb Foster persist.
In San Diego, Rick Pitino and Bill Self could potentially meet for the first time as power conference coaches if St. John’s and Kansas get past their respective first round matchups against No. 12 seed Northern Iowa and No. 13 seed California Baptist. The Johnnies’ physicality and defensive ability may give them the best shot at limiting superstar Darryn Peterson and, if both get there, challenging Cam Boozer and the top-seeded Blue Devils.
It is not completely far-fetched to imagine a fourth matchup between UConn and St. John’s, this time with a Final Four on the line.
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