UConn won the 2026 East Regional, beating top seed Duke 73-72 in the regional final after trailing by 15 at halftime. No odds on the 2027 East Regional are posted yet, and the 2027 bracket will not exist until Selection Sunday in March.
This page keeps the 2026 East as the record and will carry the 2027 region’s board once the field is set. The 2027 Final Four is at Ford Field in Detroit, April 2 to 5, 2027. The title race is priced now on our college basketball championship odds page.
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How the 2026 East was won
The regional was played at Capital One Arena in Washington. In the Sweet 16 on March 27, top seed Duke beat fifth seed St. John’s 80-75, and second seed UConn beat third seed Michigan State 67-63.
The regional final on Sunday, March 29, looked settled at the half. Duke led 44-29. UConn outscored Duke 44-28 after the break and won 73-72. DraftKings had Duke as a 4.5-point favorite, so UConn won outright as the underdog. Tarris Reed Jr. led UConn with 26 points, and Cameron Boozer scored 27 for Duke.
| Round | Result |
|---|---|
| Sweet 16 | Duke 80, St. John’s 75 |
| Sweet 16 | UConn 67, Michigan State 63 |
| Regional final | UConn 73, Duke 72 |
| Final Four | UConn 71, Illinois 62 |
| National final | Michigan 69, UConn 63 |
UConn went on to beat Illinois 71-62 in the national semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, then lost the title game to Michigan, 69-63.
What changes in 2027
The NCAA announced on May 7, 2026, that the men’s tournament grows from 68 teams to 76, starting with the 2027 tournament. The four First Four games in Dayton give way to a 12-game Opening Round of 24 teams, played on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday in Dayton and a second city. The round of 64 and every round after it stay the same, so each region still sends one team to the Final Four.
This page adds the 2027 East Regional’s site and dates, and its board, once the bracket is set on Selection Sunday.
What the 2026 East says about betting a region
Duke, the top seed, won its first three games and reached the regional final. It then lost as a 4.5-point favorite, from 15 points up at halftime. A regional futures ticket on a top seed has to survive four games, and the last of them is the regional final.
The price to win a region is a bet on four straight wins. Multiply the chance you give the team in each game, and compare that product with the chance the region price implies: a team you rate at 80%, 75%, 70% and 60% in its four games has about a 25% chance, which is +300. If the region price is shorter than that, backing the team game by game is the better bet. Compare prices across books with our sportsbook reviews. Records of the handicappers we list are on the handicappers page.
Once the season starts on November 1, our college basketball predictions carry the games we cover. The race to Detroit is on our Final Four odds page.