March Madness 2012 Picks: 3 1st-Round Matchups That Will Shape Tournament

Now that the 2012 NCAA tournament brackets have officially been released, what first-round matchups have the potential to drastically change the outcome of the tournament?

Here's the link to download a pdf of the official bracket.

No. 8 Creighton vs. No. 9 Alabama

After finishing with a 28-5 record during the regular season, the Creighton Bluejays were given the short end of the stick by being slapped with the No. 8 seed in the Midwest region. They won the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, and finished as the No. 24 overall team in the nation.

Couple that track record with a handful of solid victories, and it should warrant more than just a No. 8 seed in the tournament.

If the Bluejays happen to pull off the "upset" against Alabama in the first round, they'll be set to play the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels in the second round.

Led by sophomore forward Doug McDermott, who is averaging 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in 2012, Creighton could give North Carolina a run for their money in a potential second-round matchup.  

No. 6 UNLV vs. No. 11 Colorado

If there is one thing to pay attention to when filling out your brackets, it's to locate the hot teams and pick their games carefully.

Colorado is only one year removed from making it to the semifinals of the NIT last season, and they had another solid season in 2012.

They wouldn't have made it to the NCAA tournament if they hadn't won the Pac-12 Conference Championship, but that's exactly what they did by beating Utah, Oregon, Cal and Arizona.

If they happen to win their first-round matchup against UNLV, they could pose a problem to the No. 3 Baylor Bears in the second round.

No. 5 Wichita St. vs. No. 12 VCU

The Wichita St.-VCU game could be the most intriguing first-round matchup of them all.

Wichita St. won the NIT last season, and VCU was the Cinderella team of 2011 after they made it all the way to the semifinals of the NCAA tournament. 

But the bigger question is who can beat the No. 1 Kentucky Wildcats?

If either of these teams make it to the third round of the tournament, they could be Kentucky's kryptonite and be that under-the-radar team that pulls off the upset.