NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: Teams to Fade (East Region)
While not every region includes chaos, this year's NCAA Tournament East Region seems primed for some major upsets. While I, and pretty much everyone else in America, expect Duke to make it out of this region alive, there are plenty of teams in danger of getting ousted early.
Here are the teams to fade in the East Region.
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2026 NCAA Tournament Upset Alert: East Region
No. 4 Kansas Jayhawks
This isn't the highest seed on my list, but this is the team I have the least amount of faith in. Kansas actually got an OK draw with No. 13 Cal Baptist in the first round. However, it wouldn't shock me in the slightest if Cal Baptist pulled the upset. Both Cal Baptist and Kansas like to play slow basketball, and the Lancers rank 36th in points allowed, giving up just 67.6 per game.
But even if Kansas gets past Cal Baptist, as I ultimately think the Jayhawks will, Kansas will likely need to face a seriously underranked St. John's team in the second round. While I give Kansas very little chance in that matchup, if the Jayhawks were to survive, they'd have to face Duke. Yeah, Kansas won't be making it past the Sweet 16 this year. In fact, I don't think they survive to the second weekend at all.
No. 2 UConn Huskies
Watching UConn in the Big East title game definitely left me feeling very worried about this team heading into the 2026 Men’s NCAA Tournament. The Huskies have now lost two of their last four games, and their two wins were over Xavier and Georgetown, two teams that finished below .500 this season.
While I don't see the Huskies having any issues with Furman, I am very concerned about their second-round matchup. UCLA lost Tyler Bilodeau in the Big Ten quarterfinals, but all news indicates that he will be on the floor for UCLA during the tournament. UCLA nearly defeated Purdue without Bilodeau, and the Bruins have won four of their last five games, with two wins over top-10 teams. UCLA is hot, and UConn is not. That could spell disaster for the Huskies.
No. 11 South Florida Bulls
Fading a No. 22 seed. Really? Yes, really. This isn't an upset, but South Florida is a trendy pick right now. The Bulls have won 11 consecutive games, with six of their last seven wins coming by at least 15 points.
But South Florida hasn't faced a team like Louisville in a very long time. The Cardinals have been without second-leading scorer Mikel Brown Jr. since the end of February. But Brown has been progressing through his injury and looks poised to play in the tournament.
Even if Brown doesn't play, Louisville has been very competitive without him. They're 3-1 in his absence, with wins over Miami and SMU, two teams in the NCAA Tournament. Additionally, Louisville's last three losses have all been by five points or fewer to teams in the field of 68. South Florida is not the upset to pick.
Phil Wood is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Phil, check out his archive and follow him @Phil_Wood_Jr.