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The 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket and field has been announced, and the Cincinnati Bearcats will receive a No. 6 seed in the East region. The Bearcats' first opponent will be the Texas Longhorns, and they will play on Friday. If the Bearcats wins their first matchup, they will face the winner of No. 3 Florida State and No. 14 St. Bonaventure
Cincinnati earned the No. 6 seed after losing to Louisville in the Big East Championship Game. During the regular season, the Bearcats overcame several suspensions that resulted from an ugly brawl against Xavier to finish fourth in the Big East. They topped Georgetown and Syracuse to reach the Big East title game.
Here's a look at the East 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 on Cincinnati, visit Down The Drive. For more coverage of Cincinnati in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation Cleveland's StoryStream. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012.