The first weekend of the NCAA Tournament has come and gone, and we have a loaded Sweet 16 slate. The region that will get the most attention is the East. It is loaded with big-time programs and coaches, with Jon Scheyer and the Duke basketball program facing Rick Pitino and St. John's to open the Sweet 16, and then Tom Izzo and Michigan State playing Dan Hurley and UConn. That attention has gotten to the ticket prices.
The tickets for the matchups in Washington, D.C., have skyrocketed to a minimum get-in price of $482. That price applies to both the St. John's and Duke game and then the Michigan State and UConn game. Duke and UConn speak for themselves in terms of how dominant each program has historically been. Then, Michigan State has always been a factor nationally and still has Tom Izzo. Finally, the appeal of St. John's starts and ends with Rick Pitino and his rejuvenation of the program.
St. John's is playing its best basketball of the season at the moment, and they are going to play a Duke team that is still dealing with an injury to one of their point guards.
To get to the Sweet 16, the fifth-seeded Red Storm blew a 12-point lead against Kansas, but Dylan Darling, who hadn’t hit a shot all day, scored at the buzzer for a 67-65 win that sends St. John’s to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999. In comparison, Duke survived a scare against Siena in their opening round game before blowing out TCU to get to the Sweet 16.
The biggest factor in this matchup is Duke's health. Patrick Ngongba II came back for the Blue Devils against TCU and was a major factor, and they desperately missed him against Siena. Caleb Foster is still sidelined due to a broken bone in his foot, but Jon Scheyer has not ruled him out for their game yet.
The Blue Devils and the Red Storm open the night in Washington, D. C., and then Michigan State and UConn close it out. The ticket prices match the sheer amount of great programs in this region.
