The 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket and field has been announced, and Vermont will receive a 16-seed in the Midwest region. The Catamounts' first opponent will be the No. 16 seed Lamar Cardinals, and they will play on Wednesday at Dayton, OH. in a First Four game. If the Catamounts win their First Four game against Lamar, they will face the No. 1 seed North Carolina on Thursday.
Vermont earned the 16-seed by winning the America East Conference Tournament. The Catamounts took home the championship with a 51-43 win over Stony Brook in the title game on Saturday. During the regular season, Vermont went 22-11 and 13-3 in the America East, finishing second to Stony Brook. That meant the Catamounts ultimately had to win on Stony Brook's home floor to make it to the Big Dance.
Here's a look at the Midwest Region of the 2012 NCAA Tournament bracket:
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 16 Lamar/Vermont, Friday
No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Alabama, Friday
No. 5 Temple vs. No. 12 Cal/South Florida, Friday
No. 4 Michigan vs. No. 13 Ohio, Friday
No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 15 Detroit, Friday
No. 7 Saint Mary's vs. No. 10 Purdue, Friday
No. 3 Georgetown vs. No. 14 Belmont, Friday
No. 6 San Diego State vs. No. 11 NC State, Friday
For more on Vermont, visit our team page. For more coverage of the Catamounts in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, visit SB Nation Boston's StoryStream. Click here for a link to our NCAA bracket 2012.