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

The 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket and field has been announced, and the Ohio State Buckeyes will receive a No. 2 seed in the East Region. The Buckeyes' first opponent will be the Loyola (MD) Greyhounds, and they will play on Thursday in Pittsburgh. If OSU wins their first matchup, they will face the winner of No. 7 seed Gonzaga and No. 10 seed West Virginia on Saturday.

Ohio State earned the No. 2 seed by coming up just short in the Big 10 Championship Game after dominating Michigan in the semifinals. The Buckeyes were a bit uneven during the season after high expectations, due in large part to Jared Sullinger's health woes and William Buford's inconsistency, but they rallied to earn a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

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

No. 1 Syracuse
No. 16 UNC Asheville

No. 8 Kansas State
No. 9 Southern Miss

No. 5 Vanderbilt
No. 12 Harvard

No. 4 Wisconsin
No. 13 Montana

No. 2 Ohio State
No. 15 Loyola

No. 7 Gonzaga
No. 10 West Virginia

No. 3 Florida State
No. 14 St. Bonaventure

No. 6 Cincinnati
No. 11 Texas

For more on Ohio State, visit Along The Olentangy. For more coverage of Ohio State in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation Cleveland's STORYSTREAM. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012.