March Madness 2015 Bracket: Latest Picks and Odds Advice Before Friday's Round 2

Take a deep breath, everyone, because Thursday's brilliant action is just half the fun. The round of 64 has a whole new day of action and, man, does it have a lot to live up to.

To ensure you have all the information you need at your disposal heading into Friday's madness, I've compiled the updated bracket, television schedule, odds and given you my own predictions. Enjoy the show, folks.
 

Bracket

Schedule and More

Time (ET)	Matchup	TV	Odds	Straight-Up Pick
12:15 p.m.	(15) New Mexico St vs (2) Kansas	CBS	Kansas (-10.5)	Kansas
12:40 p.m.	(10) Georgia vs (7) Michigan St	truTV	Michigan State (-6)	Michigan State
1:40 p.m.	(12) Wyoming vs (5) Northern Iowa	TBS	Northern Iowa (-6)	Northern Iowa
2:10 p.m.	(12) Buffalo vs (5) West Virginia	TNT	West Virginia (-4)	West Virginia
2:45 p.m.	(10) Indiana vs (7) Wichita St	CBS	Wichita State (-6)	Wichita State
3:10 p.m.	(15) Belmont vs (2) Virginia	truTV	Virginia (-17)	Virginia
4:10 p.m.	(13) UC Irvine vs (4) Louisville	TBS	Louisville (-8)	Louisville
4:40 p.m.	(13) Valparaiso vs (4) Maryland	TNT	Maryland (-4.5)	Maryland
6:50 p.m.	(9) Oklahoma St vs (8) Oregon	TBS	Oregon (-1.5)	Oregon
7:10 p.m.	16) Robert Morris (1) Duke	CBS	Duke (-22)	Duke
7:20 p.m.	(10) Davidson vs (7) Iowa	TNT	Iowa (-2)	Davidson
7:27 p.m.	(14) Albany vs (3) Oklahoma	truTV	Oklahoma (-13)	Oklahoma
9:20 p.m.	(16) Coastal Carolina vs (1) Wisconsin	TBS	Wisconsin (-19.5)	Wisconsin
9:40 p.m.	(9) St. John's vs (8) San Diego St	CBS	San Diego State (-4)	San Diego State
9:50 p.m.	(15) North Dakota St vs (2) Gonzaga	TNT	Gonzaga (-18)	Gonzaga
9:57 p.m.	(11) Dayton vs (6) Providence	truTV	Providence (-3)	Providence

All odds via Odds Shark

Advice

Guys, you can take my advice with a grain of salt when it comes to picking NCAA tournament games. Frankly, you can take any advice with a grain of salt, because as we saw on Thursday, the unthinkable, unbelievable and unpredictable happens with regularity.

On Thursday, I lost a Final Four team (Iowa State) and two Sweet 16 picks (Baylor, Stephen F. Austin). I nearly lost an Elite Eight team (Notre Dame) and another Sweet 16 squad (North Carolina). And you know what?

Every minute of it was a thrill ride. It was one of the craziest, most breathless days at the tournament in memory. 

On Thursday, R.J. Hunter and Kevin Ware, two players on the team of the day—the Georgia State squad that upset Baylor in most memorable fashion—were asked if they believed in miracles after Hunter's game-winning shot.

“Yeah,” Hunter said, via Andy Staples of Sports Illustrated. “Now we do.”

“Definitely,” Ware added.

It's hard to bet on miracles, folks.

So offering you rock-solid, ironclad betting advice just seems foolish. This is March Madness, after all, not March Predictability. There are a few things to feel pretty confident about, however.

If you are going to bet on a game with a No. 1 seed involved, lay the points. Every once in a while a top seed struggles, but generally they roll. It would also be advisable to stay far, far away from any No. 8 vs. No. 9 matchups. In theory, the teams in these games should be too close to call based on similar resumes and talent level, so it's often a throw of the dart.

In the table, there are a few of the lines to like. The only Vegas underdog picked to win on Friday was Davidson, so gladly take the points with them against Iowa.

It's a bit surprising to me as well that Maryland is only laying four points against Valparaiso. Valparaiso is probably a bit under-seeded as a No. 13, but Maryland is a very talented squad that just went through the wars in the Big Ten (of course, quite a few teams that went through the wars in the Big 12 didn't last very long) and came out looking pretty rosy.

Melo Trimble and Dez Wells will be the two top players on the floor. Maryland beat Wisconsin, one of the few teams in the nation to do that. They play excellent defense. They've been quite good in close games. 

Yes, Valpo will be a tough out. But Maryland should survive by more than four points. The same could be said about Providence laying three to Dayton. Providence is the better team, and they are one of the few favorites to possibly trust laying a minimal amount of points.

Of course, if Friday is as crazy and unpredictable as Thursday was, you might as well just pick names out of a hat. I'm not joking. The NCAA tournament isn't fun because we know what's coming next. It's brilliant because we never imagined what we just saw. 

It's hard to bet on miracles, after all.