NCAA Tournament Preview: East RegionMarch 17, 2008By Mike Halford Bodog Nation Contributing Writer A gathering of dominant big men might be the only thing to derail the Tar Heels from running the state of North Carolina There's two predominant themes coming from the East Region: It's gonna be big, and it's gonna be blue. The big is in reference to the plethora of paint-patrolling post players. The blue is in reference to a shade of Carolina. The Inside Story Home Cookin'. Talk about your favorable draws - Roy Williams' troops won't even have to leave their home state until April. The University of North Carolina will start out the tournament playing in Raleigh and - barring an upset of mammoth proportions - will then head to Charlotte for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. The team has to travel all of 30 miles to play the opening round; it's then a two-hour stroll to another familiar scene in Charlotte (the Tar Heels played their season opener against Davidson in Charlotte). Keep in mind that the last time the Tar Heels went through Charlotte in an NCAA tournament was 2005 - the same year they won it all. Simply put, it could be a Tobacco Road to the Final Four. Have you been studying up on your March Madness team and player statistics? Join the Millions of Americans who bet on Sports, Horses, play Poker and Blackjack at the World's largest online sportsbook and casino, Sportsbook.com! Win $100,000 in their Perfecr Parlay Contest! At the NEW Sportsbook.com Casino, Get Massive Progressive Jackpots and choose from over 120 Games! And always receive a 10% Cash Bonus, 21% Referal Bonus and tons of other great promotions! Join Sportsbook.com Today! March Madness 2008 Odds to win the East region Team (Seed) Odds North Carolina (1) 2/3 Tennessee (2) 7/2 Louisville (3) 7/2 Washington State (4) 9/1 Notre Dame (5) 14/1 Oklahoma (6) 30/1 Butler (7) 25/1 Indiana (8) 25/1 Arkansas (9) 45/1 South Alabama (10) 60/1 Saint Joseph's (11) 50/1 George Mason (12) 80/1 Winthrop (13) 100/1 Boise State (14) 200/1 America (15) 300/1 Bracket Buster (tie) Butler Bulldogs/Indiana Hoosiers. After a Sweet 16 appearance a season ago, it's hard to consider Butler a "Cinderella" or "Sleeper Special." But as a seventh-seeded team with four senior starters, the Bulldogs now possess the dangerous combination of underdog status (throw in a hint of disrespect - Butler was a No. 5 seed last year) with veteran players who know how to crank it up in March. The Bulldogs' impending second-round game with No. 2 Tennessee is an upset in the making. The Indiana story could be remarkable... if they advance past Arkansas in the opening round. On paper, the Hoosiers match up with anybody in the country in terms of talent. D.J. White and Eric Gordon are NBA material. Of course, the fallout from the Kelvin Sampson debacle totally derailed the Indiana season; many skeptics don't figure the Hoosiers will get it back on track. But if the team can catch lightning in a bottle, a Carolina-Indiana second round affair could be the game of the tournament. Best Bet Which No. 2 seed will be first eliminated? At the time of publishing, the Bodog Sportsbook had the two seeds listed like this: Tennessee 9/4 Texas 27/10 Duke 27/10 Georgetown 27/10 Consider me part of the anti-Tennessee camp. Be especially leery of a Vols team with no inside presence; be even more alarmed of a matchup with a methodical Butler team in round two. The Bulldogs play exactly the type of style designed to throw a run-gun-and-fun team like Tennessee out of rhythm. Butler also has the kind of pedigree to beat big programs, having already felled the likes of Michigan, Virginia Tech, Texas Tech, Ohio State and Florida State this season. Now that the Madness has arrived, check out the 2008 March Madness predictions and start filling out your NCAA March Madness Bracket! X-Factor It's Big in Here. Not a region in this tournament can boast these kinds of post presences - the East is full of beasts. UNC's Tyler Hansbrough, Indiana's White, Notre Dame's Luke Harangody, Oklahoma's Blake Griffin and Louisville's David Padgett are all 6 feet 8 inches or taller. All but White lead their respective teams in scoring (White is second to Gordon but still puts down 17 points per contest for the Hoosiers). Not only will the posts be front and center, but the referees will be too. The theme for the entire region could be which team keeps its big man out of foul trouble. There's also the potential for some great mano y mano battles should some of the higher seeds advance. The fact that Hansbrough vs. White and Griffin vs. Padgett are shaping up for the second round should already have fans (and NBA scouts) drooling. The plethora of bigs could be a nightmare for the higher-seeded teams (we're talking about you, Tennessee and Washington State) that don't have a legit post scorer to lean on. Watch These Guys Kyle Weaver, Washington State. On a Cougars team where the "we" is much greater than the "I," there's not a lot of room for individual standouts. But Weaver's play in his senior season has changed that. A lanky defensive presence who has drawn comparisons to Bruce Bowen, Weaver is the embodiment of coach Tony Bennett's swarming style that only gave up 57.1 points per game, the third best average in the country. He seems to be peaking at the right time as well - in a Pac-10 semifinal loss to Stanford, Weaver put up a career high 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds. He's going to make life especially difficult for Winthrop's leading scorer Michael Jenkins in the opening round. Reggie Larry, Boise State. The Broncos' leading scorer at 19.6 points per game, Larry came on strong late in the season, capped by a 31-point, 16-rebound outburst in the WAC tournament final against New Mexico State. While he only stands 6-6, the fearless senior leader notched 14 double-doubles this season. Headed to the Sweet 16 No. 1 North Carolina, No. 4 Washington State, No. 3 Louisville and No. 7 Butler. --- by Bodog at 1800-sports.com on March 21, 2008
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