March Madness 2012 Schedule: 1st-Round Matchups We're Dying to See

We are hours away from Selection Sunday—one of the best days of the sports calendar. While the brackets are yet to be filled out and the field isn't finalized, let's forecast ahead to possible matchups we would love to see in the first round.

*Not all of these teams are guaranteed locks in the NCAA tournament field*

No. 5 Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Long Beach State

Complete speculation here about the seeds, obviously. However, with Long Beach State's resume and how they challenged their team by playing at Pittsburgh, Louisville, Kansas and North Carolina, we should expect an 11, 12 or 13 seed for The Beach.

This would likely give them a matchup against a power conference team like Wisconsin, Michigan, Cincinnati or several other options.

Bo Ryan can flat out coach basketball in tournament situations, but I love how Long Beach State performed throughout the course of the season. They challenged themselves by playing top-notch competition and they won't be afraid of anybody in the NCAA tournament.

Casper Ware is a tournament-like talent capable of leading the 49ers to the second round. 

I like Long Beach State if this game were to take place. 

No. 8 Iowa State vs. No. 9 North Carolina State

North Carolina State didn't get the benefit of several calls against North Carolina on Saturday, but they should still be in the NCAA tournament field.

Led by C.J. Leslie, a future NBA talent, the Wolfpack have played some of their better basketball of the season down the stretch. They have earned the opportunity to make the dance and compete for a national championship.

Iowa State, the all-transfer team, were 12-6 in the Big 12 this season. They are led by Royce White who averages 13.1 points and 9.2 rebounds per game. Their style of play with players capable of stepping away from the basket and knock down jumpers has the capability of giving many teams trouble in the first round.

This would be an intriguing game that I would see coming down to the wire. 

I would take Iowa State. 

No. 4 Murray State vs. No. 13 Drexel

Drexel is a fringe tournament team with their resume, but I believe they did enough in the Colonial Athletic Association to earn a berth. They finished the season 27-6 and 16-2 before losing to the tournament champions Virginia Commonwealth Rams.

They struggle to score the basketball but few teams play better team defense than the Dragons. Drexel also has players like Frantz Massenat, Damion Lee, Chris Fouch and Derrick Thomas who can knock down outside shots.

Murray State is the best mid-major in the country. They finished 30-1 in the Ohio Valley Conference with quality wins over Memphis, Southern Mississippi and Saint Mary's. Isaiah Canaan and Donte Poole can knock down the outside shot with relative ease.

Canaan is the difference maker. He has that star quality I look for when filling out my bracket. He would be the best player on the floor if these two teams played in the first round, but he would be challenged by Drexel's fantastic defense. 

Murray State would have the edge, in my opinion. 

This year's tournament is going to be unbelievable. There are legitimately 10 mid-major schools that could make deep runs in the tournament. It sounds like I may be exaggerating, but I'm not. It will be fantastic.