NCAA Bracket 2017: Full Weekend Tournament Schedule and Predictions

Although a few big-name teams (e.g. Villanova and Duke) exited the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament early this year, some marquee squads, names and storylines still remain in March Madness.

Below you'll find the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight schedules (the latter won't be official until Friday night, but the times and television networks are confirmed) as well as three predictions for the biggest Sweet 16 games.

Bracket

Schedule information via NCAA.com.

Thursday, March 23

Matchup	Regional	Time (ET)	Television	Location	Prediction
No. 3 Oregon vs. No. 7 Michigan	Midwest	7:09 p.m.	CBS	Kansas City, Missouri	Michigan
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 4 West Virginia	West	7:39 p.m.	TBS	San Jose, California	Gonzaga
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 4 Purdue	Midwest	9:39 p.m.	CBS	Kansas City, Missouri	Kansas
No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 11 Xavier	West	10:09 p.m.	TBS	San Jose, California	Arizona

Friday, March 24

Matchup	Regional	Time (ET)	Television	Location	Prediction
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 4 Butler	South	7:09 p.m.	CBS	Memphis, Tennessee	UNC
No. 3 Baylor vs. No. 7 South Carolina	East	7:29 p.m.	TBS	New York City	Baylor
No. 2 Kentucky vs. No. 3 UCLA	South	9:39 p.m.	CBS	Memphis, Tennessee	Kentucky
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 8 Wisconsin	East	9:59 p.m.	TBS	New York City	Wisconsin

Saturday, March 25

Matchup	Regional	Time (ET)	Television	Location
TBD	TBD	6:00 p.m.	TBS	TBD
TBD	TBD	8:30 p.m.	TBS	TBD

Sunday, March 26

Matchup	Regional	Time (ET)	Television	Location
TBD	TBD	2:00 p.m.	CBS	TBD
TBD	TBD	4:55 p.m.	CBS	TBD

Michigan Continues Remarkable Run

The Wolverines survived a terrifying plane accident as they were set to fly to Washington D.C. for the Big Ten tournament earlier this month.

Since then, Michigan has been playing like one of the best teams in men's college basketball, winning the Big Ten tournament and beating Oklahoma State and Louisville during March Madness.

Seniors Derrick Walton Jr. and Zak Irvin have led the Wolverines charge, as they are first and second on the team in scoring.

Walton Jr. is a double-double threat any time he steps on the court, as Oklahoma State found out when he posted 16 points and 11 assists in a 92-91 first-round win.

Irvin is a sharpshooter right now, as he has shot 48-of-83 (57.8 percent) from the field since March 1.

Junior forward D.J. Wilson is also coming on strong lately, averaging 18 points in the NCAA tournament.

The Wolverines will face a stiff test in Oregon, however. Although Ducks sophomore forward Chris Boucher is lost for the season with a torn ACL, the team still has plenty of star power, led by junior forward Dillon Brooks (16.4 points per game) and sophomore guard Tyler Dorsey (14.0 points per game).

On paper, this looks like a coin flip (Michigan is only a one-point favorite, per OddsShark). In the end, give the edge to the hot team in Michigan to squeak by Oregon.

Gonzaga Wins a Slugfest With West Virginia

A battle between two of the best defensive teams in the country should go down to the wire. West Virginia leads Division I in steals and turnover margin, but Kenpom.com rates Gonzaga No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency.

Expect the combination of 7'0" freshman center Zach Collins and 7'1", 300-pound senior center Przemek Karnowski to be the difference in this game.

Collins has averaged 12 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks in just 21 minutes per game during the NCAA tournament. He's only topped 20 minutes three times prior to March Madness, in part because Karnowski mans the post.

Karnowski is quite good in his own right, posting 12.9 points and 5.9 boards in just 22.8 minutes per game this season. Together, the combination of he and Collins will pose a problem for a Mountaineers team that doesn't have a player in its rotation taller than 6'9".

This should go down to the wire, but Gonzaga will pull through.

Star Freshmen Shine in Tournament Classic

In one corner, Kentucky will send out guards Malik Monk and De'Aaron Fox as well as forward Bam Adebayo.

In the other corner, point guard Lonzo Ball and forward TJ Leaf will try to lead the Bruins to the Elite Eight.

On paper, this looks to be one of the best games of the entire tournament, if not the best. According to DraftExpress, Ball, Fox and Monk are projected to go second, fifth and eighth in its latest NBA mock draft, while Leaf and Adebayo slot in at No. 26 and No. 27 respectively.

These two teams played each other earlier this season, as UCLA beat Kentucky in Rupp Arena, 97-92 behind 17 points, 13 rebounds and five assists from Leaf. All five Bruins starters were in double digits. Adebayo was UK's star with 18 points, 13 boards and four blocks. Monk pitched in 24, and Fox scored 20.

The guess here is that Friday's game plays out similarly to the earlier meeting, as both teams will participate in a race to 90 (or perhaps even 100) points.

However, the result should be different this time. As odd as it is to say about a college basketball team that scores 92 points, Kentucky was cold shooting the basketball that night, making only 41.2 percent of its field goals and 66.7 percent of its free throws. 

Expect the Wildcats to shoot a little better this time around and squeak by a tough UCLA team.