NCAA Bracket 2015: Schedule and Updated Predictions Before Thursday's Sweet 16

The 2015 NCAA tournament's Sweet 16 tips off Thursday with a matchup that will have viewers on upset alert when the seventh-seeded Wichita State Shockers take on No. 3 Notre Dame in a Midwest Region semifinal.

Two of March Madness' top seeds in Wisconsin and undefeated Kentucky will be heavily favored versus North Carolina and West Virginia, respectively, in the next two contests. Capping off the evening is another talented Wildcats squad in Arizona taking on Xavier.

Instead of spoiling all the juicy storylines on the opening slate of this year's Sweet 16 now, read on for an updated bracket, schedule and predictions for every game, capped by a deeper dive into Thursday's action.

Thursday, March 26	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
Friday, March 27	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State	7:15 p.m.	CBS	Wichita State
No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 North Carolina	7:47 p.m.	TBS	Wisconsin
No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia	9:45 p.m.	CBS	Kentucky
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Xavier	10:17 p.m.	TBS	Arizona
No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 UCLA	7:15 p.m.	CBS	Gonzaga
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 8 NC State	7:37 p.m.	TBS	Louisville
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Utah	9:45 p.m.	CBS	Duke
No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State	10:07 p.m.	TBS	Oklahoma

Thursday Sweet 16 Breakdown

No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State (Midwest)

Bad pun alert: It wasn't exactly a shocker when Wichita State defeated Kansas in the third round. Everybody on this Shockers team plays with a chip on their shoulder, and rightly so.

Coach Gregg Marshall's squad made the Final Four in 2013 and was bounced last year by eventual national runner-up Kentucky. Despite ranking 14th in the most recent AP poll, a seventh seed was all the Shockers garnered.

The mindset Wichita State senior Tekele Cotton had prior to the Kansas win—fresh off a stellar second-half defensive performance on Indiana's Yogi Ferrell—showed the Shockers are in their element in the Big Dance, via 580 WIBW Radio's Alex Gold:

Cotton led Wichita State with 19 points in the landmark win over the Jayhawks, but he's part of a tremendous defense that has the personnel to bother Notre Dame star Jerian Grant.

As good as Grant is at creating offense for himself and teammates, his point guard counterpart in Fred VanVleet is darn smart with the basketball and is among the savviest floor generals in the country. Check out this stat from Synergy Sports Tech:

VanVleet, Cotton and Ron Baker comprise quite a trio of guards for the Irish to worry about.

Kansas was in the top 10 in the country in KenPom.com's adjusted defensive efficiency, yet Wichita State found a way to pour in 78 points on the Jayhawks.

Notre Dame had to claw its way past Butler in overtime just to get to this stage. Given that Kansas is 10th in the AP and the Fighting Irish are eighth, it isn't much more of a leap for this so-called "upset" to happen.

Prediction: Wichita State 75, Notre Dame 68

No. 1 Wisconsin vs No. 4 North Carolina (West)

Thanks to a tremendous ability to crash the boards, North Carolina won't necessarily be overmatched in this contest. The key for the Tar Heels is consistency, something they've struggled with all season.

That's why North Carolina's stock shouldn't be taken at face value fresh off an impressive 87-78 win over Arkansas in the round of 32.

The following tweet from CBS Sports' Seth Davis summarizes why Wisconsin ought to pull this one out:

For a Badgers squad that is two wins away from returning to the Final Four and is as fundamentally sound as any team in the country under coach Bo Ryan's watch, the same can't be said. The steady brilliance of unique Wisconsin big man Frank Kaminsky keeps the team in every game.

Kaminsky is the Badgers' catalyst, but two other forwards in Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes have three-point range to create matchup issues for anyone.

Let Tar Heels coach Roy Williams do the talking with regard to how tough it is to mark Kaminsky alone, via ESPN College BBall:

"

UNC head coach Roy Williams knows it'll take a team effort to contain Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky. pic.twitter.com/ermXQEBM3w

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 24, 2015"

North Carolina's frontcourt is mostly comfortable down low, so it's going to be a bit uncomfortable venturing out to the three-point line to defend. Offense is the Tar Heels' forte, and the other end of the court may keep them from achieving what they're capable of.

The Badgers present a versatile challenge up front. They also have two capable knockdown-shooting guards in Josh Gasser and Bronson Koenig—the latter of whom can also slash to the rim. This combination will ultimately render Wisconsin too much for UNC to handle.

Prediction: Wisconsin 73, North Carolina 65

No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia (Midwest)

The prompt postulated above ponders whether the Wildcats' second unit could punch a ticket to the national semifinals. That this is even a debatable topic goes to show just how deep Kentucky is.

Coach John Calipari doesn't have great history against his Mountaineers counterpart in Bob Huggins, per ESPN Stats & Info:

But that should be all but disregarded in this one. The way West Virginia was able to bully Maryland to get past the round of 32 simply won't be possible against these Wildcats.

The following quote from Calipari is fitting to describe how much the Mountaineers are up against:

Kentucky didn't even play all that well in its last contest—and still won by 13 points against a gritty Cincinnati squad, 64-51, a score that doesn't do justice as to how much the Wildcats dominated.

KenPom.com has the favorites as the top-ranked team in the country in adjusted defensive efficiency. West Virginia will also be hard-pressed to deploy its quick pace against the Wildcats' incredible combination of length and athleticism.

Hyphen big men Karl-Anthony Towns and Willie Cauley-Stein make life in the paint difficult for Kentucky's opponents. That will force the Mountaineers into outside shots, which they struggle with, shooting just 32 percent from beyond the arc as a team.

Absent an absolute eruption from West Virginia star guard Juwan Staten and an utter collapse by the entire perimeter rotation of the Wildcats, this game should be lopsided in Kentucky's favor.

Prediction: Kentucky 70, West Virginia 54

No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Xavier (West)

How interesting: Wildcats coach Sean Miller will face the program he left for a higher-profile job in Tucson.

Chris Mack used to be an assistant to Miller, but he now finds himself at the helm of Xavier's program, conflicted about the impending showdown.

"It's really tough," said Mack in an interview with The Jim Rome Show. "Obviously we're excited to be on the stage that we are, it's been well earned, our guys have done a great job over the last month a half of the season of continuing to get better but it's never easy to play against your mentor."

ESPN's Jeff Goodman highlighted how good of a job done Mack has done in his own right to preserve a strong tradition at Xavier:

Some may poke fun at his appearance, but no one can deny Matt Stainbrook is a force on the inside for the Musketeers who's also second on the team in assists.

Stainbrook and fellow senior point guard Dee Davis have both played extremely well in two tourney wins. What really gives Xavier an added edge is Jalen Reynolds, who came off the bench for a career-high 21 points against Georgia State.

Arizona is such a huge step up from the Musketeers' last opponent and round-of-64 foe in Ole Miss, though. It's going to be too much to surmount. Mack's familiarity with Miller and his ways won't be enough to overcome the gap in talent.

There are ulterior motives at stakes here as well. The Wildcats have a shot at a rematch with Wisconsin after losing by one point in last year's Elite Eight.

A new leading scorer in freshman stud Stanley Johnson has emerged for Arizona. It has a healthy Brandon Ashley, a tremendous, improved defensive stopper in Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and senior leadership from guard T.J. McConnell.

The chemistry is right for Arizona to move on and get another crack at the Badgers in the East Regional final.

Prediction: Arizona 71, Xavier 60