The Gonzaga Bulldogs head East this year and will start our their tournament play in Pittsburgh, against the West Virginia Mountaineers. The Syracuse Orange grab the top spot in the region and represent a great challenge for the Zags, should they catch fire and win a few games.
The Mountaineers had an up and down season but toiled in the Big East, a very tough conference. They had the 18th ranked strength of schedule this year, in the nation, and still managed to finish 19-13, but that was only good for 8th in their conference. They're 4-6 in their last 10 games, including losses to Pitt, Louisville, UConn, and Notre Dame twice.
Gonzaga, predictably, had the 78th ranked strength of schedule on the year so it's tough to compare overall records - GU finished 2nd in the WCC for the first time in 11 years, after winning outright or sharing the title for over a decade. Regardless, the Zags have a fairly tough draw- if they're able to get by the Mountaineers, it's likely, barring a major upset, they'll face off with the No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes, who finished 7th in the nation in RPI, according to CBS, and who are owners of a 27-7 record.
Check out the full Southeast region bracket below.
No. 1 Syracuse vs No. 16 UNC Asheville
No. 8 Kansas State vs No. 9 Southern Miss
No. 5 Vanderbilt vs No. 12 Harvard
No. 4 Wisconsin vs No. 13 Montana
No. 2 Ohio State vs No. 15 Loyola
No. 7 Gonzaga vs No. 10 West Virginia
No. 3 Florida State vs No. 14 St. Bonaventure
No. 6 Cincinnati vs No. 11 Texas
For more on the Bulldogs, be sure to visit SB Nation's Slipper Still Fits to take a look. For more on college basketball, check out our college basketball hub and make sure your grab a copy of our updated printable NCAA bracket 2012.