ESPN NCAA Bracket 2012: Favorites on Upset Alert in Round of 32

The NCAA tournament's Round of 32 is starting to take shape, and there are already several tremendous matchups on the slate. Despite a lack of upsets in the opening round, favorites can't start to get overconfident or else they'll be heading home early.

Let's take a look at some high seeds that will have their hands full in the third round. For a complete look at how the tourney is shaping up, click here for ESPN's bracket.

Ohio State

Ohio State was never threatened against Loyola, and now must begin preparing for a much more tricky test against Gonzaga on Saturday. The Bulldogs made easy work of West Virginia in what was supposed to be a close contest.

The Buckeyes still need another scoring threat to emerge outside of the Big Three. Jared Sullinger, William Buford and Deshaun Thomas were enough to get past an inferior Greyhounds squad, but now that the competition will pick up, they need another player to step up.

Gonzaga has all the pieces you look for in a potential sleeper. It has a dangerous point guard in Kevin Pangos and a dynamic duo in the paint in Elias Harris and Robert Sacre. All those weapons mean that the Buckeyes will need to bring their "A" game to advance.

Syracuse

The Orange almost suffered the biggest upset in tournament history against UNC Asheville, but they used a second-half charge to survive. They must learn from that experience or their season will come to an abrupt end much earlier than expected.

Syracuse's struggles weren't strictly because Fab Melo was unavailable. There was a general lack of intensity until the team's back was against the wall, and they couldn't knock down a shot to save their lives at different points throughout the game.

Kansas State, the Orange's next opponent, played 14 games against fellow tourney teams during the season, so the Wildcats have a battled-tested roster. If Syracuse doesn't have a massive turnaround performance, the underdogs will take advantage.

Marquette

Marquette took advantage of a BYU team that didn't appear to fully recover from its thrilling comeback victory over Iona in its play-in game. Jae Crowder overpowered the fatigued Cougars in the paint to the tune of 25 points and 16 rebounds.

Mid-major powerhouse Murray State will be a much tougher test. The Racers have an eye-popping 31-1 record, and not all of those wins came against weak opponents either. They defeated Memphis and Saint Mary's en route to a 4-0 record against big dance teams.

Isaiah Canaan is going to get his fair share of points, so the Golden Eagles need to make sure none of his supporting cast members are able to find a rhythm. Marquette needs to be prepared to battle for 40 minutes. There won't be any garbage time in this one.