NCAA Bracket 2011 Preview: East Region Teams Headlined By No. 1 Ohio State

It has been a roller coaster-like ride for Syracuse basketball in 2010-‘11. At one point, the Orange were 18-0, ranked No. 4 in the country and were penciled-in to earn a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. However, a mid-season tailspin (SU lost six of its next eight games, including a three-game home skid) plummeted the Orange down the national rankings (No. 20 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll). But SU, led by 35th-year head coach Jim Boeheim, who earned his 850th career victory earlier in the year, righted a wondering ship -- SU had won five straight games entering Thursday’s Big East Tournament quarterfinal matchup with St. John’s.

Key wins: 70-58 victory at then No. 15-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Jan. 1 -- The win moved the Orange to 15-0 overall and into the top-5 of both national rankings. On Feb. 2, Syracuse won at No. 7 UConn, 66-58, snapping a four-game losing streak.

Despite losing key players from last season’s Final Four team, a short-handed West Virginia team has overachieved this season to the tune of 11 Big East wins, good enough for a sixth place finish. The Mountaineers end the season as one of the hottest teams in the Big East, winning their last three regular-season games, and four out of their last five. Coach Bob Huggins may drink for free for life in the Mountain State because of last season’s postseason run, but the coaching job he’s done this season has arguably been better. Using trademark defense and rebounding, Huggins has his undersized Mountaineer squad ready to be a tough out for anyone this March.

Record: 20-10 overall as of March 9, 11-7 in Big East

Success in both the regular and postseason has become an expected part of life at Xavier and 2011 has been no exception. The Musketeers finished as regular season champions in the Atlantic-10 for the fifth consecutive season and won it outright for the third time in that stretch. Furthermore, the program finished with at least 24 wins in the regular season for the fifth straight year as well. As if all of that wasn’t enough, a win in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament would mark the fifth straight season that the Xavier has won a March Madness game, having reached the Elite Eight and the Sweet 16 twice during this recent run of dominance. For his latest efforts, second-year head coach Chris Mack was named A-10 Coach of the Year.

Record: 24-7 (15-1) *as of Thursday

After being considered heavy favorites to win the Pac-10 throughout non-conference play, the Washington Huskies have had an erratic and tumultuous experience in conference play.

The Patriots know how to get it done offensively. They rank 16th in the nation in efficiency, and 14th in points per possession. Opponents will need to be rather careful to limit GMU’s chances, as the Patriots shoot 39.7 percent from three-point range.

Record: 26-6, 17-3

On January 15th, Villanova was the No. 7 ranked team in the country. They had only lost once all year, were undefeated in the Big East and even had a couple wins over ranked opponents. Everything was rosy for Jay Wright’s boys. But then the roses turned brown, fell off their vine, lit on fire and burned down the house. The Wildcats would go just 5-10 from that point including a loss in the first round of the Big East tournament. Clearly, they are not heading into the NCAA Tournament playing their best basketball.

Record: 21-11, 9-7

RPI: 40 (.587)

The Tigers may have the best pedigree among Ivy League teams thanks to the scare Pete Carril’s squad put in Georgetown and the upset of UCLA it engineered, but Princeton had been one of the lesser Ivy League in the 2000s until Sydney Johnson took over as coach. Since Johnson’s arrival, a senior class that suffered through Princeton’s worst Ivy League season ever has grown into the 2011 Ivy League champion, scored one of the more dramatic victories in Ivy League history with a buzzer-beater to beat Harvard, and given Jadwin Gym its first NCAA Tournament-bound tenant since 2004.

Record: 25-6, 12-2 in the Ivy League

The Indiana State Sycamores’ post-Larry Bird successes in the modern era haven’t featured much in terms of the NCAA Tournament. This is just Indiana State’s third March Madness appearance since that magical run to the NCAA final, and its first round win in 2001 is the only one since the era of Larry Legend. These Sycamores, though, have their own legacy: in a Missouri Valley Conference with three presumed titans, the Sycamores, thought to be third of three, made a run through the conference to take their rightful NCAA Tournament automatic berth.

Record: 20-13, 15-6 in the Missouri Valley

Texas-San Antonio earned its way into the 2011 NCAA Tournament by winning three games in the Southland Conference Tournament by a combined 13 points. That’s admirable fortitude from the Roadrunners, but it will translate to an early exit from March Madness.

Record: 19-13, 9-7 in the Southland

The March Madness 2011 bracket has officially arrived for this year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. You can see our printable NCAA 2011 bracket here for all your office pool needs. Following the Selection Show, we will preview all 16 teams in the East region of the bracket, where Ohio State is the one-seed (and the Buckeyes earned the No. 1 overall seed, as well).

Before we take a closer look at each team in the region, here is the schedule for the first-round match-ups, which will be played on Thursday and Friday: