NCAA Brackets 2015: Picks, Odds Advice, Updated Schedule After 1st-Round Games

Four teams stepped up to the task in Dayton, Ohio, during the two-day first round of the 2015 NCAA tournament, and now it's on to the real thing, as the tournament truly begins with Thursday and Friday's second-round play.

The opening quartet of games not only gives fans the opportunity to get their feet wet with the action, but it can also prove to be a springboard for teams that make it through Dayton and into the field of 64. Each of the last two seasons saw a team advance from the first round into the Sweet 16 as No. 11 and No. 13 seeds, and we could see the same this year with a handful of dangerous teams emerging from Dayton.

With that said, Wednesday's games were only a taste of what is to come over the weekend, when tournament play really picks up as 16 games grace each of Thursday's and Friday's slates. So now that we know which teams are moving into the field from Dayton, let's take a look at all of the updated information.

Seed	Result	Score	Leading Scorers
No. 16	Robert Morris def. North Florida	81-77	Beau Beech (UNF): 28 points
No. 11	Dayton def. Boise State	56-55	Derrick Marks (BSU): 23 points

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Odds and Schedule for Second Round of 2015 NCAA Tournament

Time (ET)	Matchup (Spread)	TV
Thurs., March 19
12:15 p.m.	No. 3 Notre Dame (-11.5) vs. No. 14 Northeastern	CBS
12:40 p.m.	No. 3 Iowa State (-14) vs. No. 14 UAB	truTV
1:40 p.m.	No. 3 Baylor (-9) vs. No. 14 Georgia State	TBS
2:10 p.m.	No. 2 Arizona (-23.5) vs. No. 15 Texas Southern	TNT
2:45 p.m.	No. 6 Butler vs. No. 11 Texas (-1.5)	CBS
3:10 p.m.	No. 6 SMU (-4) vs. No. 11 UCLA	truTV
4:10 p.m.	No. 6 Xavier (-3) vs. No. 11 Ole Miss	TBS
4:40 p.m.	No. 7 VCU vs. No. 10 Ohio State (-4)	TNT
6:50 p.m.	No. 1 Villanova (-23) vs. No. 16 Lafayette	TBS
7:10 p.m.	No. 8 Cincinnati vs. No. 9 Purdue (-1)	CBS
7:20 p.m.	No. 4 North Carolina (-10) vs. No. 13 Harvard	TNT
7:27 p.m.	No. 5 Utah (-7) vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin	truTV
9:20 p.m.	No. 8 N.C. State (-2)vs. No. 9 LSU	TBS
9:40 p.m.	No. 1 Kentucky (-34) vs. No. 16 Hampton	CBS
9:50 p.m.	No. 5 Arkansas (-7.5) vs. No. 12 Wofford	TNT
9:57 p.m.	No. 4 Georgetown (-8) vs. No. 13 Eastern Washington	truTV
Fri., March 20
12:15 p.m.	No. 2 Kansas (-10.5) vs. No. 15 New Mexico State	CBS
12:40 p.m.	No. 7 Michigan State (-5.5) vs. No. 10 Georgia	truTV
1:40 p.m.	No. 5 Northern Iowa (-6) vs. No. 12 Wyoming	TBS
2:10 p.m.	No. 5 West Virginia (-4.5) vs. No. 12 Buffalo	TNT
2:45 p.m.	No. 7 Wichita State (-5.5) vs. No. 10 Indiana	CBS
3:10 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia (-16.5) vs. No. 15 Belmont	truTV
4:10 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville (-8) vs. No. 13 UC Irvine	TBS
4:40 p.m.	No. 4 Maryland (-4.5) vs. No. 13 Valparaiso	TNT
6:50 p.m.	No. 8 Oregon (-1.5) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State	TBS
7:10 p.m.	No. 1 Duke vs. No. 16 Robert Morris	CBS
7:20 p.m.	No. 7 Iowa (-2.5) vs. No. 10 Davidson	TNT
7:27 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma (-12.5) vs. No. 14 Albany	truTV
9:20 p.m.	No. 1 Wisconsin (-19.5) vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina	TBS
9:40 p.m.	No. 8 San Diego State (-3.5) vs. No. 9 St. John's	CBS
9:50 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga (-18) vs. No. 15 North Dakota State	TNT
9:57 p.m.	No. 6 Providence vs. No. 11 Dayton	truTV

Note: Schedule courtesy of NCAA.com. Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and last updated March 18 at 11 p.m. ET.

Spread Picks for Most Intriguing Games

West: No. 6 Xavier vs. No. 11 Ole Miss (Xavier -3)

The blueprint executed by Tennessee and La Salle over the last two tournaments—advancing from the Dayton play-in games to the Sweet 16—will be tested again Thursday, when the Ole Miss Rebels hope to take a step toward following suit in a second-round affair with sixth-seeded Xavier.

The Rebels were punched in the mouth early Tuesday by a hot-shooting BYU team, but they rallied against the odds for a 62-point second half and won in a thrilling 94-90 affair. Guards Stefan Moody and Jarvis Summers eventually negated the Cougars' perimeter advantage, while Ole Miss began pummeling BYU in the post late with M.J. Rhett's 20 points.

However, the test will be much tougher in Thursday's meeting with Xavier, as Fox Sports' Tim Brando analyzed:

The Musketeers may be a No. 6 seed, but they could be overrated by the committee with a record of just 9-9 in Big East play along with nonconference defeats to UTEP, Long Beach State and Auburn. Big man Matt Stainbrook and forward Trevon Bluiett give Xavier a formidable frontcourt, but one that will struggle against the Rebels' versatility.

Moody and Summers are shooting the ball confidently late in the season, and the Rebels' free-throw shooting prowess—their 77.8 percent rate leads the SEC by a large margin—will come in handy late. With only one guard averaging in double figures, Xavier will struggle to keep Ole Miss' backcourt in check.

Prediction: Ole Miss 79, Xavier 72

South: No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 14 UAB (Iowa State -14)

Timothy D. Easley/Associated Press

The Iowa State Cyclones built their reputation on being comeback kings during their late run to a second straight Big 12 tournament title, but they will have to deal with being heavy favorites in Thursday's NCAA tournament opener against UAB.

The Blazers surprised many by winning the Conference USA tournament title and upsetting Middle Tennessee. Their 19-15 record doesn't do any favors to their outside chances of competing with the star-studded Cyclones, but that ignores the fact that UAB has looked like a completely different team since its 4-9 start in nonconference play.

Chris Williams of CycloneFanatic.com lauded UAB's finish to the season, especially considering its youth:

Any team that reaches the NCAA tournament isn't worth overlooking, but the Cyclones are susceptible to looking ahead in this one. A tough third-round matchup against either SMU or UCLA looms, but the Blazers have leading scorer Robert Brown (13 points per game) ready to surprise and give Iowa State a run for its money.

Iowa State simply has too much quality on its roster to fall victim to an early upset against an unpolished squad like UAB, but the Blazers have shown their poise in a number of must-win situations late in the season. Look for UAB to give the Cyclones a well-fought contest and beat the spread.

Prediction: Iowa State 71, UAB 65

South: No. 5 Utah vs. No. 12 Stephen F. Austin (Utah -7)

Upsets of No. 12 seeds over No. 5 seeds have become so commonplace in the NCAA tournament that the fifth-seeded squads have generally played the part of the underdog in recent years. Utah comes in as a favorite in Thursday's affair with Stephen F. Austin, but perhaps it shouldn't be.

The Utes were given a favorable No. 5 seed, but they certainly didn't earn it late in the season. After beginning with a 14-2 record, the Utes underwent some struggles in Pac-12 play, including losing four of their final seven games.

As for Stephen F. Austin, it has one fewer loss in the last two seasons combined than the Utes have this season alone, and the team presents a strong case as a tournament sleeper, as told by CBS Sports' Seth Davis:

Scouting a team like the Lumberjacks—who have few, if any, games aired nationally—may be tough for Utah, but the Utes found a comparison in their own conference to the Oregon Ducks, as The Salt Lake Tribune's Matt Piper and Kyle Goon noted:

"

Similarities down to some motion and isolation concepts both SFA and Oregon run. While the personnel is quite different and the Jacks pass the ball a lot more — and maybe they don't have a guard who will nail a 30-foot shot at the end of a game, Utah would hope — there's definitely some basis for comparison that [Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak] described as something the coaching staff could "lean on" in the scouting report.

"

Utah forward Jordan Loveridge also spoke of SFA's similarities to Oregon, per Piper and Goon:

"We've talked about how they get out in transition, they're really good at making the extra passes, playing together, and they can shoot really well," Loveridge said. "They run a little bit of the motion, shuffle-type action [like Oregon], so it's easier to pick that up."

So, that's an advantage for Utah, right? Not quite—the Utes went 0-2 against the Ducks during the 2014-15 season.

The Utes' lack of big-game experience has come back to haunt them during stretches of the season, and it will doom them again facing a Lumberjacks squad fine-tuned for tournament success. Utes guard Delon Wright will be bottled up, while Stephen F. Austin will present too many scoring options to contain.

Prediction: Stephen F. Austin 69, Utah 63