NCAA Brackets 2015: Updated Schedule and Predictions After Friday's 2nd Round

With 32 teams left standing, this year's March Madness seems different.

Make no mistake: Most brackets sit in shambles. But the No. 12 seeds are far from being the culprits this time—in fact, every No. 5 seed remains upright with the third round on the horizon.

Instead, No. 14 seeds are running wild like Hulkamania, the state of Indiana might become akin to a medieval warzone and somebody needs to get the Texas Longhorns and their strange preseason hype a shoulder to cry on.

So, yes, madness is alive and well—just in a different form.

The action on Thursday and Friday set the stage for an epic lineup of weekend games sure to entertain and break hearts in one fell swoop.

Key Tournament Information

Dates: March 17 to April 6

Channels: CBS, TBS, TNT and truTV

Live Stream: March Madness Live

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TIME (ET)	MATCHUP	TV	Predicted Winner
Saturday, March 21
12:10 p.m.	(14) UAB vs. (11) UCLA	CBS	UCLA
2:40 p.m.	(8) Cincinnati vs. (1) Kentucky	CBS	Kentucky
5:15 p.m.	(10) Ohio State vs. (2) Arizona	CBS	Arizona
6:10 p.m.	(14) Georgia St vs. (6) Xavier	TNT	Xavier
7:10 p.m.	(8) NC State vs. (1) Villanova	TBS	Villanova
7:45 p.m.	(5) Utah vs. (4) Georgetown	CBS	Utah
8:40 p.m.	(5) Arkansas vs. (4) North Carolina	TNT	Arkansas
9:40 p.m.	(6) Butler vs. (3) Notre Dame	TBS	Notre Dame
Sunday, March 22
12:10 p.m.	(7) Michigan St vs. (2) Virginia	CBS	Michigan St,
2:40 p.m.	(8) San Diego St vs. (1) Duke	CBS	Duke
5:15 p.m.	(7) Wichita St vs. (2) Kansas	CBS	Kansas
6:10 p.m.	(11) Dayton vs. (3) Oklahoma	TNT	Oklahoma
7:10 p.m.	(7) Iowa vs. (2) Gonzaga	TBS	Iowa
7:45 p.m.	(8) Oregon vs. (1) Wisconsin	truTV	Wisconsin
8:40 p.m.	(5) West Virginia vs. (4) Maryland	TNT	Maryland
9:40 p.m.	(5) Northern Iowa vs. (4) Louisville	TBS	Louisville

Predictions for Weekend's Top Matchups

No. 5 Arkansas vs. No. 4 North Carolina

The second round wasn't kind to either of these teams.

North Carolina—ranked 11th in ESPN's RPI rankings—was lucky to escape 13th-seeded Harvard, 67-65. Even worse, to do so, the Tar Heels needed to shoot 55 percent from the field and hit on 5-of-7 attempts from downtown. Furthermore, the team needed 14 points from Justin Jackson to survive.

Tar Heels head coach Roy Williams put it best afterward:

"It's the luckiest I've ever felt after a basketball game in my entire life," Williams said, per The Associated Press (via ESPN.com). "In saying that, I'm thrilled that we're still here and we're still playing."

Arkansas should be praising the collegiate basketball gods as well. Despite a No. 19 ranking in the RPI, not to mention a fifth seed in the West, the Razorbacks eked past 12th-seeded Wofford, 56-53.

As expected, forward Bobby Portis shined with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but the team also needed a 20-point outburst from Michael Qualls to fend off the Terriers.

The question is this: Which team holds an advantage? Both love to run up the score and rank in the top 20 in the nation, hovering around 78 points per game on average. The RPI and CBS Sports' Gary Parrish suggest the Tar Heels will win, as captured by Paul Finebaum:

It's not an easy sell, though. Arkansas is the one team capable of matching North Carolina blow for blow.

Not only that, but Portis is also the closest bet to a sure thing each time out, averaging 17.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 blocks per game. As the numbers against Harvard show, the Tar Heels need pristine shooting to keep their run alive.

The sure thing is always the safest pick.

Prediction: Arkansas 82, North Carolina 78

No. 5 Utah vs. No. 4 Georgetown

Speaking of teams struggling out of the gates in the Big Dance, look at Utah and Georgetown.

As ESPN Stats & Info points out, both teams looked sluggish down the stretch in their second-round matchups:

Alas, Georgetown took care of business against Eastern Washington—as most figured it would—shooting 52.1 percent from the field while getting 25 points from D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera.

More interesting is Utah: one of the hottest upset picks of the year for a No. 12 seed over a No. 5 seed thanks to an encounter with an underrated Stephen F. Austin team. Without knowing the final score, it would look like the Utes lost, too, considering that they lost the battle on the glass and turned the ball over five more times than the Lumberjacks.

Utah's saving grace turned out to be forward Jakob Poeltl, who shot 7-of-7 from the field with 18 points and eight rebounds. He's a difference-maker—to say the least—and even more so against a big Hoyas roster.

Georgetown is too risky of a pick, though. Counting on Smith-Rivera to go off for almost 10 points more than his average is playing with fire. Senior Joshua Smith played just seven minutes against the Eagles thanks to foul trouble.

If Utah focuses on getting Smith into trouble again, Poeltl is going to have a field day without anyone capable of stopping him in the paint.

Prediction: Utah 70, Georgetown 67

No. 6 Butler vs. No. 3 Notre Dame

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

No state is more interesting than Indiana in the third round. 

Butler—31st in the RPI—played a defensive gem Thursday to fend off the reeling Texas Longhorns. Notre Dame—16th in the RPI—kept its hot streak alive with 57.4 percent shooting from the field to down Northeastern, 69-65.

The storylines run deep, but all signs point to a Fighting Irish triumph.

Quick decision, right?

For one, Butler lost its best player, Roosevelt Jones, to a knee injury in the second round. While he did return, it sounds as if the junior's role in Saturday's showdown is up in the air, as the team's Twitter account captures:

It's one thing to survive the loss of Jones against a Texas team only capable of mustering a 17-of-50 effort from the floor. It's another to counteract Notre Dame—12th in scoring at 78.8 points per game and second in field-goal percentage at .510.

Kellen Dunham, who exploded for 20 points against the Longhorns, won't have enough firepower on his own to counteract one of the nation's best offenses.

Prediction: Notre Dame 78, Butler 70

Stats and info are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.