Looking for the chalkiest region in the first round of the NCAA Tournament? Our model thinks it’s likely to be the East. Only two of six Bracket Breaker games have an upset chance of greater than 10 percent, and no team has more than a 28 percent chance of springing an upset.

Below is a game-by-game analysis of every first-round matchup with Bracket Breaker implications in the East. We’ve already examined the Midwest and the West and will break down the South on Wednesday and every potential second-round matchup. To qualify as a Bracket Breaker game, opponents need to be separated by at least five seeds (which is why we don’t cover the 8/9 or 7/10 games). Our analysis adjusts teams’ basic strengths according to how closely they statistically resemble favorites and underdogs from past tournaments and, where appropriate, by style matchups. We can’t tell you how to bet — that depends on how richly your pool rewards deep upsets and your tolerance for risk. But if you’re interested in how our model works, check out this piece.

And now, onto the upsets!

More Bracket Breakers: Men’s Top 10 Upsets | Midwest Region Preview | West Region Preview | Women’s Top 10 Upsets

Odds are from BetMGM. For more Underdogs, listen to Peter and Jordan’s podcast. For all our…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

Charles McClelland’s first vote as a member of the men’s NCAA Tournament selection committee was whether to cancel the 2020 event because of COVID-19. In his second year on the committee, much of his time was spent discussing protocols to play the tournament without fans in the Indiana bubble.

So now that McClelland is the 2024 selection committee chairman and has to lead the group in sorting out a chaotic season, he can put things in perspective.

“Debating bubble teams is so much better than saying, ‘If somebody catches COVID, will we allow that team to participate or not?’” said McClelland, who is also the SWAC commissioner. “We’re actually talking basketball now, which is what we all enjoy.”

The committee convened last week and talked a lot of basketball before releasing its initial top 16 seeds. “The only problem,” McClelland joked, “is that the teams then went out and played games.”

Nine of the top 16, including the No. 1 and No. 2 overall seeds Purdue and UConn, have lost since the reveal. But that’s the 2023-24 season in a nutshell. While the committee…

(Editor’s note: This is part of the Bracket Central Series, an inside look at the run-up to the men’s and women’s NCAA Tournaments, along with analysis and picks during the tournaments.)

In 1997, the Fox network began airing a series of TV specials called “Breaking the Magician’s Code: Magic’s Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed,” in which a masked man showed how to pull off such tricks as sawing a woman in half and making an elephant disappear. The show briefly became a minor sensation — it was the ’90s; you had to be there — even though it was all very silly, with fog machines and self-serious music cues.

In the finale of the original series, the masked magician revealed himself as Las Vegas performer Val Valentino. He was immediately sued by other, furious illusionists. (And there are few things funnier than angry magicians.)

We find ourselves thinking about Valentino, both because it’s Valentine’s Day week and because some secrets we care deeply about will soon be exposed to the world. The men’s NCAA Tournament selection committee gathered this week and will release its current top 16 seeds on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET on CBS. No, there won’t be as many smoke and mirrors as “Breaking the Magician’s Code,” but if our pal Seth Davis wanted to…

As the nation turns its attention to college basketball this weekend, fans will be watching what’s happening on the court. Lawyers and other interested parties will continue to track what’s happening off of it.

The NCAA’s business model is under attack from all sides, with multiple cases challenging the organization’s refusal to grant athletes employee status. And last week, two athletes took specific aim at one of college sports’ most recognizable and prestigious conferences.

Brown University basketball players Grace Kirk, who currently plays for the women’s basketball team, and Tamenang Choh, who played on the men’s basketball team until 2022, sued their university and the seven other Ivy League schools over their policy against offering athletic scholarships, alleging that it amounts to illegal price-fixing in violation of federal antitrust law.

It’s the newest intriguing challenge to the status quo. Here’s what you need to know.

What the case alleges

The lawsuit was filed in federal court in Connecticut by lawyers representing Kirk and Choh. The plaintiffs are seeking class-action certification on behalf of current and former Ivy League athletes dating back to March 7, 2019.

At issue is the fact that Ivy League athletes aren’t reimbursed in the form of…

Ten current college athletes have signed on to a public campaign advocating for a more equitable allocation of athletic department revenue. The athletes are asking for a share of the revenue their teams drive — split equally among all the athletes on the team — as well as the expansion of scholarships to cover six years, the protection of current NIL freedoms from Congressional involvement and the institution of scholarships for Ivy League athletes. Here’s what you need to know.

• The effort is led by the National College Players Association, which has supported public campaigns in the past such as #NotNCAAProperty, in which athletes pushed for NIL rights and reform during March Madness in the spring of 2021.
• This campaign is focused on restrictions that limit direct payment from schools and conferences to athletes, as well as potential Congressional involvement in NIL regulations that would add restrictions around what opportunities are permissible for athletes to pursue. The campaign will use the “FairRevShare” hashtag on social media.
• Michigan basketball player Hunter Dickinson and Pitt basketball player Jamarius Burton will both wear a letter “S” for “Share” written on their hand when their teams play each other in Wednesday night’s men’s basketball…