East Region Quick Takeaways

Yahoo Sports College Basketball reporter Krysten Peek takes you through the East Region of the 2021 NCAA Tournament, and gives you her instant reaction to seeing the matchups for the first time.

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Video transcript

KRYSTEN PEEK: The brackets are set. I'm Krysten Peek here to give you a quick bracket breakdown.

Let's take a look at the East Region, where Michigan, not Alabama, got the number one spot, even after Alabama won the SEC regular season and beat LSU in overtime for the SEC championship. Michigan is down one of their star players, senior Isaiah Livers, who is out indefinitely with a stress fracture injury in his foot. He had started every game this season, averaging 13 points per game. If he remains out for the tournament, LSU could knock them out in the second round. Cameron Thomas is the best shooter in the SEC and power forward Trendon Watford matches up well with the Michigan front court.

Another upset to keep an eye on is number 11 Michigan State/UCLA versus number 6 BYU. That play-in game is insane, with Tom Izzo's team projected to get that win. And we all know, March is Izzo's month. So even with BYU's outside shooting, I don't see them getting past Michigan State.

The team to watch in this region is Alabama. Point guard Jahvon Quinerly is playing exceptionally well right now, along with SEC player of the year Herbert Jones, who had the game winning bucket and finished with a double double to win the SEC championship game.

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