March Madness is set to return to New Jersey, as Prudential Center, the home of the Seton Hall Pirates, hosts the East Regional semifinals and finals. The semifinals are set to take place on Mar. 27, while the finals will occur on Mar. 29.
ESPN’s bracket predictions has Duke, one of the favorites to win the tournament, as the top seed in the East Region. Other powerhouse schools such as Tennessee and Iowa State are featured in the bracket. All the talent playing in the bracket makes it a guarantee for some dramatic and entertaining basketball. Even more exciting is the hope of underdogs making it past the favorites.
NJ is no stranger to underdogs, with FDU, Saint Peter’s and Princeton all pulling off historic upsets as No. 15 and 16 seeds in the tournament over the past few years. New Jersey is in danger of being shutout from the men’s March Madness tournament for the first time since 2015, as teams such as Seton Hall and Rutgers have struggled this season.
The state’s best hope is Princeton, who will be facing Yale tomorrow in the Ivy League tournament. A win over Yale would send Princeton to the finals, with an opportunity to clinch an NCAA bid if they win.
Princeton are 8-point underdogs and the least favored of the four teams in the tournament, but if anything has been shown in March Madness over the past few years, it’s that you can never count the Garden State out. As Princeton looks to keep the state’s tournament hopes alive, there is still sure to be some exciting basketball in Newark later this month.