NCAA Tournament 2012 Bracket Update: Loyola (Md.) Is No. 15 Seed, Will Face No. 2 Seed Ohio State On Thursday

The 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket and field has been announced, and the Loyola Greyhounds received a No. 15 seed in the East Region. The Greyhounds' first opponent will be the No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes, and they will play on Thursday in Pittsburgh. If Loyola were to win their first matchup, they will face the winner of No. 7 seed Gonzaga and No. 10 seed West Virginia.

Loyola earned the No. 15 seed by winning the MAAC Tournament, earning the conference's automatic bid. They finished second in the conference during the regular season, but were helped by some upsets on the other side of the tournament bracket. Iona, the regular season champions, were upset in the semifinals by the No. 4 seed Fairfield Stags, who met Loyola in the tournament final.

Fairfield and Loyola split the regular season series, with both teams surprisingly winning the road games. The neutral site final in Springfield, Massachusetts was a closely contested one, with Loyola ultimately prevailing 48-44.

Here's a look at the East Region of the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket:

No. 1 Syracuse vs. UNC Asheville, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 8 Kansas State vs. No. 9 So. Miss, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Harvard, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 4 Wisconsin vs. No. 13 Montana, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 15 Loyola (Md.), Thursday 3/15/12
No. 7 Gonzaga vs. No. 10 West Virginia, Thursday 3/15/12
No. 3 Florida State vs. No. 14 St. Bonaventure, Friday 3/16/12
No. 6 Cincinnati vs. No. 11 Texas, Friday 3/16/12

For more coverage of Loyola in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation DC's StoryStream. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012. SB Nation's live printable bracket can be found here.

Brackets on the brain? Us too! Play Yahoo! Tourney Pick'em and be a part of the craziest month of college basketball. It is fun, easy, and free.