After winning both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament championship, the Purdue Boilermakers headline the East Region of the 2023 NCAA men's basketball tournament.

The other top-four seeds in the East include the Marquette Golden Eagles, Kansas State Wildcats and Tennessee Volunteers.

Oh, and the fifth and sixth seeds belong to blue-blood powers in the Duke Blue Devils and Kentucky Wildcats...and the seventh seed is the Michigan State Spartans, a respected program led by Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.

This quadrant of the bracket is stacked.

B/R has a complete preview of the East Region with the first-round schedule, key matchups, top players, a potential Cinderella team and predicted results. One team will be cutting down the nets in Madison Square Garden before heading to Houston for the Final Four.

Make your picks: Play the NCAA March Madness Men's Bracket Challenge and Tournament Run.

1st-Round Schedule and TV Info

Wednesday, March 15 (play-in game)

No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson vs. No. 16 Texas Southern, 6:40 p.m. ET (truTV)

Thursday, March 16

No. 12 Oral Roberts vs. No. 5 Duke, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

No. 13 Louisiana vs. No. 4 Tennessee, 9:40 p.m. (CBS)

Friday, Marcy 17

No. 10 USC vs. No. 7 Michigan State, 12:15 p.m. (CBS)

No. 15 Vermont vs. No. 2 Marquette, 2:45 p.m. (CBS)

No. 16 play-in winner vs. No. 1 Purdue, 6:50 p.m. (TNT)

No. 11 Providence vs. No. 6 Kentucky, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)

No. 9 Florida Atlantic vs. No. 8 Memphis, 9:20 p.m. (TNT)

No. 14 Montana State vs. No. 3 Kansas State, 9:40 p.m. (CBS)

Must-See Games

No. 5 Duke vs. No. 12 Oral Roberts

Winners of nine straight games, Duke enters March Madness on a sizzling hot streak. "That's cute," Oral Roberts fans may be saying. The undefeated champions of the Summit League—and, you may recall, a Sweet 16 qualifier in 2021—have ripped off 17 consecutive victories.

No. 6 Kentucky vs. No. 11 Providence

After losing to Georgia on Feb. 11, it seemed Kentucky might not even make the tournament. On the other hand, Providence was flirting with a possible No. 6 seed or better. What a difference 30 days makes, huh?

No. 8 Memphis vs. No. 9 Florida Atlantic

It's a showdown between the AAC tournament winner and Conference USA champion. It's a senior-heavy Memphis roster opposite an underclassmen-loaded FAU rotation. And there's a presumed date with top-seeded Purdue at stake in this fascinating clash.

Top Storylines

The Region of Death

When the World Cup rolls around, the quickest takeaway is finding the "Group of Death" for the tournament. Well, folks, the East Region is demanding that billing in March Madness.

Purdue swept the Big Ten championships, and Marquette broke out the brooms in the Big East. Kansas State has a likely All-American pick in Markquis Nowell. Tennessee is KenPom's second-rated defense. Duke and Kentucky are, well, Duke and Kentucky. Heck, even eighth-seeded Memphis won the AAC tournament.

Cross your fingers, say your prayers and buckle up.

Best of the Mid-Majors

As if that above collection of teams isn't impressive enough, Florida Atlantic boasts a 31-3 record and is the highest-seeded mid-major program in the tourney. Oral Roberts is 30-4 and features Max Abmas, who played a leading role in ORU's trip to the Sweet 16 two years ago.

Oh, both FAU and Oral Roberts swept Conference USA and the Summit League, respectively. The depth of the East Region is somewhere in the range of incredible and preposterous.

Eyeing the Breakout Team

As much attention as the above two storylines will command, we certainly need to watch for sleepers. Izzo is revered for turning Michigan State into a March nightmare, while the double-digit seeds, in order, are USC, Providence, Oral Roberts, Louisiana, Montana State, Vermont and Texas Southern.

Stars to Watch

The Big Men

Purdue center Zach Edey is the likely National Player of the Year, and Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe earned that honor last season. Edey has secured the most total rebounds this season, and Tshiebwe leads in rebounds per game.

The Playmakers

Along with Max Abmas, the region features Marquette's Tyler Kolek and Kansas State's Markquis Nowell. They enter the NCAA tournament ranked second and third nationally in assists per game. Memphis guard Kendric Davis averaged 21.8 points and 5.7 assists, as well.

The Draft Prospects

In his latest 2023 NBA mock draft, B/R's Jonathan Wasserman included four players set to appear in this region. Kentucky's Cason Wallace landed as a lottery pick at No. 13, while Duke's Dariq Whithead (18th), Kyle Filipowski (28th) and Dereck Lively II (29th) all appeared in the first round.

Favorite Most Likely to Fall

No. 1 Purdue Boilermakers

Before the bracket was unveiled, Purdue lingered as a likely selection. Although the Boilers secured the Big Ten tourney title, they've been playing close games for an entire month.

And now, y'all see this bracket, right?

Purdue has an undeniable superstar in Edey, a 7'4" center who dominates as a rebounder. He grabs 5.4 offensive and 7.4 defensive boards per game while averaging 22.1 points and 2.2 blocks.

The problem is the Boilermakers are awfully thin behind him. They rely heavily on freshmen guards Fletcher Loyer and Braden Smith to produce, and that vulnerability has been exposed in a major way lately.

Mason Gillis and David Jenkins Jr. both had a couple of strong performances in the Big Ten tournament to buoy the non-Edey scoring. Before then, however, neither player had provided 10-plus points since Feb. 10; it's a bit reactionary to say Purdue has settled this issue.

This bracket is potentially too unforgiving for Purdue.

Most Likely Cinderella

No. 11 Providence Friars

Last year, Saint Peter's knocked out Kentucky, Murray State and Purdue on the way to becoming the first-ever No. 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight. North Carolina ended up eliminating the Peacocks.

Will the East Region—which also featured No. 11 UCLA making the Final Four in 2021—produce the Cinderella yet again?

Oh, hey there, Providence; haven't said much about you.

Yes, the Friars are arriving on a cold streak with four losses in their past five outings. Sure, they're not a great team defensively. But they secure offensive rebounds at the 16th-highest rate nationally, shoot a bunch of free throws and have five double-digit scorers.

The chalky path includes an inconsistent Kentucky squad, an inefficient Kansas State offense and a Marquette squad that Providence already beat earlier this season.

Spoiler: I won't be predicting the Friars to achieve this. But the potential road, clearly, is manageable.

Who Makes the Sweet 16?

No. 8 Memphis Tigers

Hello, upset. Memphis holds a 26-8 record and has played competitively in every single game all season. No loss included a margin of more than eight points, and five finished within three points. Kendric Davis is a superstar playmaker, and the defense is full of absolute pests to average 8.8 steals per game. As long as they navigate a strong FAU team, the Tigers will be a thorn for Purdue.

No. 5 Duke Blue Devils

The idea of another Cinderella run from Oral Roberts is highly entertaining. However, the Blue Devils should dispatch ORU before eliminating Tennessee. While the Vols are efficient near the rim, they're not built to handle Duke's size on the interior and don't shoot well enough on the perimeter to atone for that vulnerability.

No. 3 Kansas State Wildcats

The confidence level is not high in this pod. Kansas State's offense can disappear, even though Markquis Nowell and Keyontae Johnson are versatile scorers. Still, the 'Cats may reach the Sweet 16 behind a sturdy defense that matches up well against slower-tempo teams.

No. 2 Marquette Golden Eagles

Shoutout to Vermont, the continual kings of the America East. But the Catamounts will leave the Dance still searching for their first-ever NCAA tourney win (outside of a play-in game). Michigan State or USC will await in the next round, and both programs will be tough. Marquette, nevertheless, can ride its hyper-efficient offense into the second weekend.

The Elite Eight Matchup Will Be...

No. 5 Duke vs. No. 2 Marquette

The simple takeaway is these programs have strung together a terrific month, and we'll trust the hottest teams.

Finally healthy, Duke has showcased its talent through a stout defense that can slow Memphis' attack. Miami is the only opponent to crest 70 points on the Blue Devils during their nine-game winning streak.

Marquette, meanwhile, has created the 22nd-highest rate of turnovers forced. Those takeaways are a key reason the Golden Eagles are 21st in effective-field goal percentage on shots in transition, per Hoop-Math.com. Kansas State ranks 303rd in turnover rate offensively.

For my fellow basketball nerds: This would only be the ninth all-time clash between the programs, and Duke won the lone NCAA tournament matchup in the 1994 Sweet 16.

And the Final Four Team Is...

No. 5 Duke Blue Devils

It's not breaking news to remind you, dear reader, that a good portion of college basketball fans do not like Duke. However, the distaste for the Blue Devils seemingly lost a bit of intensity after Mike Krzyzewski retired and Jon Scheyer took the helm.

Duke returning to the Final Four may remove that feeling.

Ah, the good, ol' fashioned eye-roll reactions would presumably return in rapid fashion. Duke, though, is starting to play its best basketball at the perfect time.

Since a controversial finish at Virginia that ended with an overtime loss, the Blue Devils are a perfect 9-0. They're still a flawed offensive team, but Duke's defensive length is ridiculous. Led by 7-footers Dereck Lively II and Kyle Filipowski, the rotation only has two players under 6'5".

Duke is seeking its 18th appearance in the Final Four and first trip to the championship game in eight years.