NCAA Tourney Picks Analysis: East Region

Don't be fooled by their one-and-done in the Big East tournament; the Cardinals are the real deal. Just like Notre Dame, they're poised to make a run despite their poor showing at the Garden. They finished the regular season as one of the hottest teams in the nation before a three-point loss at Georgetown.

Pitino is not a coach who is prone to be an upset victim. His team has the talent and discipline to beat anybody in America, and it's laughable to picture Boise State winning this game.

The pick: Louisville

(7) Butler vs. (10) South Alabama

Butler got screwed with this No. 7 seed. They went 29-3 with two losses in their league and a loss to Drake on BracketBuster Saturday. They beat every other team they could schedule, including Florida State by 11 and Ohio State by 19.

This is a team that took care of business, was ranked in the polls all year, and won their conference (both regular season and tournament). Short of going undefeated, what else could they have done?

But that doesn't matter at all now. What matters is where they go from here. As far as this game, South Alabama is the highest seeded team that I have never seen play. I guess they deserved to get in, but I don't know anything about them other than what I've seen on paper.

The bottom line is, nothing I can find in research is going to ever convince me to pick them over Butler, so I'm not going to bother to look up anything. I think Butler has the potential to do well in the tournament again this year.

The pick: Butler

(2) Tennessee vs. (15) American University

Let me get this out of the way: Brian Gilmore, AU's sixth man, was a high school friend, a teammate on my swim team, and an avid fan of 2 Skinnee J's (my favorite band). I can admit when I'm biased, and I certainly am in this case.

That being said, I genuinely believe the Eagles have the best chance of any 15 seed—and not just because I want to announce "I know that guy!" to everyone in Buffalo Wild Wings if it happens.

Let's start with the coaching. Bruce Pearl has a good history thus far in the Big Dance. He's taken four teams to the tournament, two at Tennessee and two at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Pearl has a 3-1 first round record, and has taken each school to the Sweet Sixteen one time. (The one first round loss was decided by that excruciating missed layup when UWM played Notre Dame.)

In the first two rounds, the most crucial factors are a team's mindset and level of preparedness. Pearl's teams seem to reflect his loose, but prepared disposition. He has clearly shown a knack for getting his teams ready for the crazy beginning to the tournament. Basically, Pearl can coach a team up for the first weekend.

Why can the Eagles win? Well, unlike many teams who enter the tournament as a low seed and are dancin' for the first time in a while, American has a coach with just as much success in the tournament as the opponent's coach.

Jeff Jones made five trips to the NCAA tournament, going 3-2 in the first round. He also had two Sweet Sixteen teams and took a team to within a game of the Final Four. He knows what it takes to get a team prepared to be successful in the tournament, which should offset the fact that no one on the team has played in the Big Dance.

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