NCAA Brackets 2015: Picks, Updated Odds Ahead of Friday's 2nd-Round Schedule

Thursday's start of the 2015 NCAA tournament second round sent a message to viewers for Friday and the rest of the weekend—be ready for anything.

Some of the field's most dangerous teams were put on the ropes very early on. No. 3 Notre Dame survived Northeastern in Thursday's first game, but the next two three seeds weren't so fortunate, as Iowa State and Baylor both fell victim to shocking early upsets. 

If anything, the wacky and wild 16 games to grace Thursday's slate only proved that no team is safe. The biggest upsets in the tournament so far have come out of nowhere, and don't be surprised if that follows suit into the weekend.

Here's a look at odds and picks for all of Friday's games.

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Time (ET)	Matchup (Spread)	TV	Prediction
12:15 p.m.	No. 2 Kansas (-10.5) vs. No. 15 New Mexico State	CBS	Kansas
12:40 p.m.	No. 7 Michigan State (-6) vs. No. 10 Georgia	truTV	Michigan State
1:40 p.m.	No. 5 Northern Iowa (-6) vs. No. 12 Wyoming	TBS	Northern Iowa
2:10 p.m.	No. 5 West Virginia (-4.5) vs. No. 12 Buffalo	TNT	West Virginia
2:45 p.m.	No. 7 Wichita State (-6) vs. No. 10 Indiana	CBS	Wichita State
3:10 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia (-17) vs. No. 15 Belmont	truTV	Virginia
4:10 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville (-8) vs. No. 13 UC Irvine	TBS	Louisville
4:40 p.m.	No. 4 Maryland (-4.5) vs. No. 13 Valparaiso	TNT	Maryland
6:50 p.m.	No. 8 Oregon (-1.5) vs. No. 9 Oklahoma State	TBS	Oregon
7:10 p.m.	No. 1 Duke (-22.5) vs. No. 16 Robert Morris	CBS	Duke
7:20 p.m.	No. 7 Iowa (-2) vs. No. 10 Davidson	TNT	Iowa
7:27 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma (-13.5) vs. No. 14 Albany	truTV	Oklahoma
9:20 p.m.	No. 1 Wisconsin (-19.5) vs. No. 16 Coastal Carolina	TBS	Wisconsin
9:40 p.m.	No. 8 San Diego State (-4) vs. No. 9 St. John's	CBS	San Diego State
9:50 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga (-18) vs. No. 15 North Dakota State	TNT	Gonzaga
9:57 p.m.	No. 6 Providence (-3) vs. No. 11 Dayton	truTV	Providence

Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated March 19

Picks for Biggest Games

No. 5 West Virginia vs. No. 12 Buffalo

The West Virginia Mountaineers might be trendy picks to fall Friday against No. 12 Buffalo given an affinity for No. 5 seed upsets and their late-season slide, but a closer look suggests the Big 12 won't receive another setback in this second-round affair.

Sure, the Mountaineers come in having lost three of their last four to close out the season. But two of those were tough road contests against Baylor and Kansas, and all three came against ranked foes.

More importantly, West Virginia was down Juwan Staten (its leading scorer) and guard Gary Browne, both of whom are expected back for the NCAA tournament, as CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein reported:

The Bulls turned plenty of heads early in the season when they led Kentucky by five at the half in Rupp Arena before falling 71-52, but leading scorer Justin Moss (17.7 points, 9.3 rebounds) won't be the mismatch that he's been all season in Mid-American play. Mountaineers forward Justin Williams is more than capable of limiting him and thus slowing Buffalo's offense.

Of course, that's all on top of West Virginia's suffocating press that has forced 1.2 more steals per game than any other team, per the NCAA. As for Buffalo matching up against said press, the results in 2014-15 haven't been great, as ESPN Stats and Info uncovered:

With Staten back healthy and Browne helping off the bench to keep the Mountaineer guards fresh, the Bulls don't figure to have many answers in the backcourt to deal with West Virginia. That will make itself evident when the Moutaineers force turnover after turnover with their press and thwart Buffalo en route to a second-round win.

Prediction: West Virginia 71, Buffalo 62

No. 8 San Diego State vs. No. 9 St. John's

Matchups between No. 8 and No. 9 seeds are traditionally toss-ups, but San Diego State looks to have a decided edge in its second-round affair with St. John's Friday in Charlotte.

The Red Storm are going to be without starting big man Chris Obekpa due to a two-week suspension that will leave him out of the rest of the tournament unless they make an unlikely Final Four run. Even winning one game will be a handful for St. John's, as Sports Illustrated's David Gardner sees some good fortune for San Diego State early in the bracket:

"

Lucky draw for San Diego State, getting St. John's without Obekpa

— David Gardner (@byDavidGardner) March 15, 2015"

It's not like the Aztecs wouldn't have been a tough out regardless. San Diego State gets double-digit scoring performances regularly from Winston Shepard, Aqeel Quinn and J.J. O'Brien and dominates the boards in order to make up for a subpar team shooting percentage (.419).

CBS Sports' Jeff Borzello envisions a tough day for St. John's offensively:

D'Angelo Harrison is capable of taking over games during stretches but has been noticeably inconsistent throughout the late portion of the season for St. John's. Dominant performances from him and Rysheed Jordan are necessary just to have a fighting chance against head coach Steve Fisher's squad, and even that may not be enough if the Aztecs bring their defensive grit with them.

At full strength and with an effective Obekpa, the Red Storm would have a shot at dealing with the Aztecs on the boards. But without him, San Diego State looks poised to control the glass on the way to a victory.

Prediction: San Diego State 64, St. John's 55