March Madness 2015 Bracket: Latest Picks, Odds Advice Before Saturday's Round 3

Picking winners straight up in the NCAA tournament is a major challenge due to the chaotic nature of March Madness, so doing it with a point spread involved is that much tougher.

Few could have guessed that teams like UAB and Georgia State would win their opening games at the 2015 NCAA tournament Thursday, but they will be two of the 16 teams battling for a spot in the Sweet 16 Saturday. Both of them are fairly substantial underdogs, but even the oddsmakers struggle to peg certain games at this point in the season.

With Saturday's diverse slate of games looming, here is a full listing of picks against the spread for the NCAA tourney's round of 32.

*Point spreads courtesy of Odds Shark.

Saturday's Third-Round Odds and Picks

Date	Time (ET)	Team 1	Team 2	Spread	Pick Straight Up	Pick ATS
Saturday, March 21	12:10 p.m.	UAB	UCLA	UCLA (-6)	UCLA	UAB
Saturday, March 21	2:40 p.m.	Cincinnati	Kentucky	Kentucky (-16.5)	Kentucky	Cincinnati
Saturday, March 21	5:15 p.m.	Ohio State	Arizona	Arizona (-8.5)	Arizona	Ohio State
Saturday, March 21	6:10 p.m.	Georgia State	Xavier	Xavier (-6.5)	Xavier	Xavier
Saturday, March 21	7:10 p.m.	NC State	Villanova	Villanova (-9.5)	Villanova	NC State
Saturday, March 21	7:45 p.m.	Utah	Georgetown	Utah (-4.5)	Utah	Utah
Saturday, March 21	8:40 p.m.	Arkansas	North Carolina	North Carolina (-4.5)	North Carolina	North Carolina
Saturday, March 21	9:40 p.m.	Butler	Notre Dame	Notre Dame (-4)	Notre Dame	Notre Dame

Updated Bracket

Top Picks Against the Spread

UAB (+6) vs. UCLA

Many were shocked when UCLA was given a spot in the NCAA tournament field, and few gave a second thought to UAB having a chance to advance past No. 3 Iowa State. After a crazy Thursday, however, these two underdogs are poised to lock horns in the round of 32.

Interestingly, this won't be their first meeting of the season. The Bruins beat the Blazers 88-76 in November, and ESPN.com's Andy Katz is shocked that they will be going at it with a Sweet 16 berth on the line:

There is no doubt that the odds are stacked against UAB as it has already lost to UCLA, and No. 14 seeds don't have a good history against No. 11 seeds, per ESPN Stats & Info:

With that said, showed remarkable grit and toughness in outlasting a Cyclones team that many expected to go deep in the tournament. Iowa State is a more talented and accomplished squad than UCLA, so it wouldn't be wise to write off the Blazers.

Leading scorer Robert Brown hit some timely shots against Iowa State, and he will need to be great again in order for UAB to compete. The Blazers' Cinderella run will likely come to an end in the third round, but they have proven that they can at least keep it close against a team like the Bruins and cover the six-point spread.

Xavier (-6.5) vs. Georgia State

As shocking as UAB's win over Iowa State was Thursday, Georgia State's come-from-behind victory against Baylor may have been even more surprising due to the incredible run the Panthers went on in the closing minutes.

Georgia State showed some impressive mettle in that game, but the No. 3 Bears also choked it away to some degree as they didn't score a single point in the final two minutes and 54 seconds despite having several opportunities at the free-throw line.

No. 6 Xavier doesn't seem likely to experience a similar letdown as the Musketeers blew a hot Ole Miss team out of the water in the round of 32.

Although nothing is certain until two teams meet on the court, Xavier was far more impressive than Georgia State in their only game against a common opponent this season, according to Shannon Russell of The Cincinnati Enquirer:

To make things even tougher for the Panthers, they are expected to be without second-leading scorer Ryan Harrow due to a hamstring injury, per Jon Rothstein of CBSSports.com:

That means even more pressure will be put on leading-scorer R.J. Hunter. While he answered the bell against Baylor, doing it two games in a row against elite competition won't be easy.

Everything seems to be tilting in Xavier's direction, and that is why the Musketeers should be able to cover the 6.5-point spread fairly comfortably.

Utah (-4.5) vs. Georgetown

Utah and Georgetown are two teams that have put forth some disappointing performances in the NCAA tournament over the past several years, but they will have a chance to change that when they meet in the third round Saturday.

Both teams had strong regular seasons with the Utes especially standing out in that regard. They beat Wichita State and pushed Kansas to the limit, and they also put up a 13-5 mark in Pac-12 play. The Utes also ranked an impressive eighth in Ken Pomeroy's advanced statistical rankings.

Utah turned in an up-and-down performance against Stephen F. Austin, but guard Brandon Taylor believes the No. 5 Utes were ultimately able to settle in, according to Kyle Goon of The Salt Lake Tribune.

"I think we got the jitters out," Brandon Taylor said. "I was anxious. I'd be lying to you if I said I wasn't anxious about the experience. I've never been here before. It was just good to get that experience and get it off your chest."

Seven-foot Austrian center Jakob Poeltl helped in that process as he took the game over at times for Utah on both ends of the floor and put up some big numbers, per Rothstein:

One thing that Utah has done particularly well this season is shoot from three-point range, and that could be a major factor against Georgetown, according to ESPN Stats & Info:

The Hoyas have a ton of depth, and they also boast a potentially dominant scorer in guard D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera. He scored 25 points in Georgetown's win over Eastern Washington, and Utah can't afford to let him go wild.

Proved the Utes can hold him in check to some degree, look for them to cover despite being 4.5-point favorites.

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