March Madness 2015: Printable NCAA Bracket, Schedule and Upset Picks

The genius of any good bracket, other than filling it out in pencil, is an ability to nail down the big upsets.

Sorry, but the 12-over-5 rule is not enough these days to win bracket pools—those picks are unfortunately as common as fedoras in public. It takes a deeper dive into not just matchups, but advanced stats to figure out which teams are weak, when and why.

The beautiful thing about bracket decisions these days is success hinges on time invested thanks to the wealth of information at the fingertips of anyone.

Without further ado, let's look at the overarching tournament and then narrow in on a few of the probable upsets.

Key Tournament Information

Dates: March 17–April 6

Channels: CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV

Live Stream: March Madness Live

All Your Bracket Essentials

• Download the Printable Bracket

• Play the Free Bracket Challenge

Schedule

Date	Event	Location	TV
March 17-18	First Round	Dayton	truTV
March 19, 21	Second and Third Rounds	Jacksonville, Louisville, Pittsburgh and Portland	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 20, 22	Second and Third Rounds	Columbus, Charlotte, Omaha and Seattle	CBS, TBS, TNT, truTV
March 26, 28	Midwest Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Cleveland	CBS and TBS
March 26, 28	West Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Los Angeles	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	South Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Houston	CBS and TBS
March 27, 29	East Regional (Sweet 16 and Elite Eight)	Syracuse	CBS and TBS
April 4	National Semifinals	Indianapolis	TBS
April 6	Championship Game	Indianapolis	CBS

Upset Picks 

No. 12 Wofford over No. 5 Arkansas

All right, call it a slight lie—start with a No. 12 over a No. 5. There are plenty of attractive options, so it helps to narrow down the field and grab the one sure to occur, right?

Dial in on a showdown between Wofford and Arkansas. Many are sure to feel safe with the 26-8 Razorbacks as a sleeper pick to make a run—after all, they rank 16th in the nation at 78 points per game, and Bobby Portis (17.7 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game) is prone to an epic outburst at any point.

As a wise man once said, though: "Not so fast, my friend."

Wrong sport, but the logic applies. The Wofford Terriers are the exact opposite, employing a slow, plodding style that gives opponents fits. ESPN's Jeff Borzello paints the situation in broad terms: 

Wofford ranks 48th in ESPN's RPI rankings and touts three wins against RPI Top 100 opposition because of its ability to slow things down and knock down shots.

It sounds boring, and maybe it is. But senior Karl Cochran (14.6 points per game) helps the Terriers shoot .458 from the field. Arkansas, though, may run at a deft speed but has shown a propensity to lose to slower, near-.500 or worse teams such as Florida, Clemson and Tennessee this season.

When push comes to shove, Wofford trumping athleticism with efficiency and control is perhaps the safest of the 12-over-5 bets.

No. 7 Wichita State over No. 2 Kansas

USA TODAY Sports

Look, this skips a round, but with all due respect to the Indiana Hoosiers, they are in the field on reputation alone and will have no answer for a hot Wichita State team.

Neither will No. 2 Kansas.

Wichita State ranks 17th in RPI with a 7-4 mark against the RPI Top 100 thanks to the efforts of Ron Baker (15.0 points per game) and Fred VanVleet (12.7). As ESPN's John Gasaway points out, this year's iteration is not very different from past powerhouses:

Even Kansas coach Bill Self is a tad confused about the Shockers' seed, per USA Today's Nicole Auerbach:

Kansas, Big 12 champs, won't have many issues getting past New Mexico State to start things off, but consistency has been a season-long problem sure to haunt the Jayhawks against a quality opponent.

Which the Shockers are. This is the team that went to the Final Four two seasons ago and went 35-0 at one point last season. They're here to stay as a big program capable of trading blows with a team such as Kansas. Experience and consistency when it matters will see the Shockers through. 

No. 13 Valparaiso over No. 4 Maryland

Despite coming in 50th in RPI with a 3-1 mark against the RPI Top 100, few know about Valparaiso.

Take the time to learn about the Crusaders before it's too late. Bryce Drew's team ranks among the top 70 teams in the nation in field-goal percentage (.459) and the top 35 in rebounds (37.7), in large part because sophomore Alec Peters leads the team in scoring (16.7) and rebounds (6.8).

Maryland is a great team and can pour on the points when senior Dez Wells gets hot, but it's hard to imagine it happens against the Crusaders.

Valparaiso ranks 31st in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com, meaning its points allowed per game adjusted by strength of schedule is one of the best marks in the nation.

With an ability to clean up on the glass—the Crusaders rank almost 100 spots higher than the Terrapins in rebounding—and the ability to control tempo through defensive efficiency, Maryland looks like one of the prime top-seeded candidates to fall.

Stats and info are courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.