March Madness Bracket 2015: Picks, Odds Advice, Schedule After Friday's Round 2

Bravo, 2015 NCAA men's basketball tournament. Bravo.

College basketball's grandest event just concluded an enthralling two days of action. Five lower seeds upset their favored rivals, and 10 games were decided by three points or less.

The lower-seed insurgency fizzled as the round of 64 wore on—the 14th-seeded Georgia State Panthers and University of Alabama-Birmingham Blazers both completed their upsets early on Thursday, and Friday saw only the No. 11 Dayton Flyers upset the No. 6 Providence Friars—but that hardly detracted from the wall-to-wall action.

Moments of joy could be found all throughout the two days of action.

Some—like Georgia State head coach Ron Hunter falling out of his chair after his son's (R.J. Hunter) instantly legendary game-winning three on Thursday—will be talked about and cherished for years to come.

Other moments of sports-fan ecstasy weren't as grand. Perhaps they were even overlooked by some. CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie certainly found one, courtesy of UC Irvine's 7'6" center, Mamadou Ndiaye:

"

MAMADOU NDIAYE JUST SLAPPED THE FLOOR. THIS IS MY FAVORITE.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 20, 2015"

Here's a look at the weekend schedule for the NCAA tournament, complete with predictions for each matchup and a look at some of the more intriguing odds after a wild two days of college basketball.

Schedule

Saturday Schedule
Sunday Schedule
Date	Matchup (with Spread)	Time (ET)	Pick Against Spread
March 21	No. 11 UCLA (-6) vs. No. 14 UAB	12:10 p.m.	UAB
March 21	No. 1 Kentucky (-16.5) vs. No. 8 Cincinnati	2:40 p.m.	Cincinnati
March 21	No. 2 Arizona (-9) vs. No. 10 Ohio State	5:15 p.m.	Arizona
March 21	No. 6 Xavier (-6.5) vs. No. 14 Georgia State	6:10 p.m.	Georgia State
March 21	No. 1 Villanova (-9) vs. No. 8 NC State	7:10 p.m.	Villanova
March 21	No. 4 Georgetown (-4) vs. No. 5 Utah	7:45 p.m.	Utah
March 21	No. 4 North Carolina (-4.5) vs. No. 5 Arkansas	8:40 p.m.	Arkansas
March 21	No. 3 Notre Dame (-4) vs. No. 6 Butler	9:40 p.m.	Notre Dame
Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	Straight-up Pick
March 22	No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 Michigan State	12:10 p.m.	Virginia
March 22	No. 1 Duke vs. No. 8 San Diego State	2:40 p.m.	Duke
March 22	No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 7 Wichita State	5:15 p.m.	Wichita State
March 22	No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Dayton	6:10 p.m.	Dayton
March 22	No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 Iowa	7:10 p.m.	Gonzaga
March 22	No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Oregon	7:45 p.m.	Wisconsin
March 22	No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 5 West Virginia	8:40 p.m.	West Virginia
March 22	No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa	9:40 p.m.	Northern Iowa

Updated Bracket

Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark and up to date as of Saturday, March 21, at 3 a.m. ET.

Odds Advice 

Some people might be willing to do away with odds, predictions and office pools entirely after this round of 64. The perception after these two thrilling days of basketball may be that the tournament is governed only by pure, unadulterated chaos—and no amount of number-crunching, context-making or trend-watching can help.

However, Friday restored some semblance of order to the tourney, so fans can take heart in that fact. Of course, those teams don't play until Sunday—meaning Saturday's group of renegades and thrill-seekers might be primed to tip the tourney back into an incomprehensible, wonderful mess.

The undefeated Kentucky Wildcats are staggering 16.5-point favorites over eighth-seeded Cincinnati. Head coach John Calipari's squad is coming off a walkover 76-53 victory over Hampton on Thursday.

Sure, trying to score on Kentucky might feel like trying to score against a court full of Ents at times, but the Bearcats are no slouches and have a good chance of wading through the forest of limbs on their way to a decent scoring night.

Cincinnati ranks a robust 34th in offensive efficiency this season, per KenPom.com. It beat Purdue 66-65 on Thursday, shooting 41 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Octavius Ellis had an off night—making just three of his 10 shots—but should prove to be a stronger contributor on Saturday.

Kentucky will win this one, but the Bearcats have a great chance of covering that monstrous spread. If Hampton can beat the opening spread by 11 points, the Bearcats can do the same.

One team that appears unlikely to cover the spread is No. 8 North Carolina State against No. 1 Villanova.

These Wildcats are favored by 9.5 points and are coming off a brilliant 93-52 victory over the hapless Lafayette Leopards. CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein is a fan of their all-out hustle and excellent team play:

North Carolina State, however, needed a late comeback and a game-winning hook shot from the unheralded BeeJay Anya to overtake LSU 66-65 on Thursday.

The Tigers missed their final 12 shots—six from the field and six from the charity stripe—in that game. They also had a double-digit lead for much of the second half, an advantage Villanova is unlikely to choke away.

The Wildcats shot 63.2 percent from the field and made 11 of 22 shots from downtown.

The Wolfpack had a problem with turnovers against LSU, at least in the first half. The 'Nova defenders are a talented, rambunctious group. Should North Carolina State stay with the Wildcats late into the game, the top-seeded squad has the makeup and mettle to pull away for a double-digit win.