Long Beach State Nearest Team to Pass in NCAA 2012 March Madness Bracket

The March Madness party-crashers nearest to the San Gorgonio Pass this year are the Long Beach State 49ers, who defeated UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night to win the Big West Conference Tournament at the Honda Center in Anaheim.

The 49ers are 12th-seeded in the West Region of the annual college basketball tournament, and they take on 5th-seed New Mexico in their opening game Thursday in Portland, Oregon.

The NCAA released its seedings, pairings and brackets for the men's tournament Sunday. The decisive Final Four matchups this year will be March 31 in New Orleans, and the tournament championship game is April 2.

Long Beach State was led Saturday night by Casper Ware, two-time Big West Conference Player of the Year.

Ware dominated the Big West Conference Tournament championship game with 33 points to lead the 49ers to a 77-64 win over UC Santa Barbara in front of more than 7,500 at Honda Center, the school's athletic department reported.

A printable copy of the 2012 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket is attached to this report.