March Madness 2015: Full Round of 32 Bracket and Upset Predictions

It would be hard to find two more disparate NCAA tournament days than Thursday and Friday. When it seemed like this year was destined to be filled with upsets after five one-point finishes, chalk reigned supreme Friday to tear everything down. 

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The good news is there are still plenty of opportunities for upsets over the weekend. They may not be as thrilling as a No. 14 beating a No. 3, but the idea of at least one No. 1 seed falling before the Sweet 16 isn't far-fetched at this stage. 

With the stage firmly set for a wild weekend in the NCAA tournament, there are some upsets that are screaming for attention. Here are the best bets to keep their dream alive in dramatic fashion. 

Midwest: No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 7 Wichita State

There wasn't a more anticipated potential Round of 32 matchup than Kansas vs. Wichita State due to the Jayhawks' refusal to play the Shockers in the regular season. 

It's not uncommon for a major program like Kansas to avoid a smaller school like Wichita State, because it doesn't stand to gain anything from a win and loses more in defeat, but the Shockers have become one of the best mid-major teams in the country. 

There's also the possibility that Gregg Marshall's team is putting too much into this game. In addition to the pressure of winning in the NCAA tournament, as these comments from Ron Baker after the Indiana win suggest, the game is important to the in-state rivalry, via The Associated Press (h/t Matt Norlander of CBS Sports):

"It's a big thing for the state of Kansas," said Baker. "A lot of houses are going to be divided. Being a player from Kansas, I'm really fortunate to be in this game. These types of games don't happen a whole lot."

Despite the possible desire for Wichita State to make a statement, let's not forget this is an excellent basketball team taking on a banged-up Kansas team. 

The Jayhawks know they are going to be without Cliff Alexander for the tournament due to potential NCAA improprieties. Perry Ellis has been banged up this season, though Self did note to Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star that he's seen some of the old explosiveness in practice. 

Orlin Wagner/Associated Press

Ellis is still not where he needs to be, shooting 4-of-10 from the field with nine points and two rebounds in 23 minutes against New Mexico State. Kansas didn't need him to win that game, but it will need a much better effort against Wichita State. 

Wichita State will need a much better shooting effort than it displayed against Indiana, making 25 field goals—nine coming from Fred VanVleet—and going just 2-of-13 from three-point range. However, it's also encouraging that a team can win a game despite shooting so badly.

The Shockers wanted this matchup, the selection committee gave them the opportunity to make it happen and now the time has come to take advantage. A completely healthy, intact Kansas team would win, but that's not where this group is right now.

Wichita State 74, Kansas 70

East: No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 Michigan State

Interestingly, per OddsShark, the game between Virginia and Michigan State has the largest point spread of the upset picks listed here. The Cavaliers get a four-point edge, despite still looking sluggish in their first tournament win against Belmont. 

Michigan State didn't consistently dominate Georgia in the Round of 64, but it did look like the team that made a run to the Big Ten title game in the first half, taking a 35-22 lead. The most encouraging thing for the Spartans is their impressive shooting numbers. 

Tom Izzo's team has a strong overall shooting percentage (47.1 in the regular season), but there's been a level of inconsistency that plagued the team en route to losing 11 games. 

Izzo acknowledged some of the limitations with this year's Spartans after defeating Georgia, via Lauren Brownlow of Fox Sports:

"

It's pretty easy to see we're not a typical Michigan State team. We don't have maybe as much talent as we had. We tell our guys you have to play hard enough, good enough and smart enough. For the most part, we play hard. A lot of times we play good. Now, the third one, that's got to fall on me because we're just not playing as smart as we need to play in certain situations.

"

However, Izzo found the right mix once March came around, which isn't a surprise, considering Michigan State's history of success in the NCAA tournament, via Justin Rose of WXYZ in Detroit:

On the other hand, Virginia is still hard to pin down. It did get a strong effort from Justin Anderson for the first time since his appendectomy (he scored 15 points in 26 minutes off the bench), but that strong effort was offset by an inconsistent shooting performance from Malcolm Brogdon (6-of-17). 

Anderson is the key to the Cavaliers offense, as he shot 46.6 percent from the field and 46.9 percent from three-point range in the regular season. 

His encouraging effort does make Virginia look more appealing, but it's hard to assume it will continue against a superior team in every way on Sunday. There's no doubt this will be as physical as any game in the NCAA tournament because of how both teams play. 

Right now, the Spartans look sharper on both sides of the ball. Izzo may not want to call this a great Michigan State team, which isn't wrong, but they will be one of the last 16 teams standing. 

Michigan State 64, Virginia 59

East: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa

This is a marginal upset at best, but the seeding still qualifies it. It also helps that Northern Iowa is still an unknown commodity looking to gain a bigger national following, which will come with a win over Louisville. 

In many ways, Northern Iowa is a better version of what Louisville wants to be. The Panthers are equally efficient on both sides of the ball, ranking in the top 20 in offensive and defensive efficiency, per Kenpom.com. 

The Cardinals are an elite defensive team, ranking sixth in efficiency, yet can barely buy a basket to save their lives, as evidenced by their offensive efficiency rating of 104. 

That comment about Michigan State and Louisville being physical certainly applies to this game as well. Even though Northern Iowa doesn't have a dominant offense, averaging 65.4 points per game, it shoots the ball incredibly well. 

The Panthers are also feeling great about their depth, as evidenced by the bench scoring against Wyoming, per ESPN Stats & Info:

They would finish the game with 41 points off the bench, which was just 16 points less than Louisville's whole team scored against UC Irvine. 

Meanwhile, Rick Pitino's team only got significant scoring contributions from four players in the Round of 64. Depth wins games as much as star power this time of year, and Louisville is seriously lacking it. 

Northern Iowa is going to come out on top in a defensive war, advancing to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010. 

Northern Iowa 58, Louisville 52

Stats via ESPN.com unless otherwise noted