NCAA Tournament 2015: 3rd-Round Schedule and Predictions for Sunday

Your bracket's been busted for three days now.

Look on the bright side: You're free. As Sunday's NCAA men's basketball tournament games dance across your screen, you're no longer saddled with the weight of making responsible picks that will win your office pool.

So just enjoy the chaos and excitement of these final eight games of the weekend as we make the unpredictable push toward the Sweet 16.

Sunday's Schedule

Time (ET)	Matchup	TV	Prediction
12 p.m.	No. 2 Virginia vs. No. 7 Michigan State	CBS	Michigan State
2:30 p.m.	No. 1 Duke vs. No. 8 San Diego State	CBS	Duke
5 p.m.	No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 7 Wichita State	CBS	Wichita State
6 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 11 Dayton	TNT	Dayton
7 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 Iowa	TBS	Gonzaga
7:30 p.m	No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 8 Oregon	TRU	Wisconsin
8:30 p.m.	No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 5 West Virginia	TNT	Maryland
9:30 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa	TBS	Northern Iowa

Predicting Sunday's Top Matchups

No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa

Ted S. Warren/Associated Press

Head coach Rick Pitino leaned mightily on his starters during Louisville's victory Friday over UC Irvine. Center Mangok Mathiang played the fewest minutes with 21. As for the rest of the starters?

Louisville Player	Position	Minutes Played	Points
Montrezl Harrell	Forward	38	8
Wayne Blackshear	Forward	40	19
Terry Rozier	Guard	39	12
Quentin Snider	Guard	37	16

Despite their best players being on the floor for most of the game, the offensively challenged Cardinals still needed Snider's two made free throws at the end to eke out the victory. Louisville must recover to stave off a more physically talented Northern Iowa team, whose starters, by contrast, didn't have to pull nearly as much of the load in their team's convincing win Friday over Wyoming.

Northern Iowa Player	Position	Minutes Played	Points
Seth Tuttle	Forward	35	14
Marvin Singleton	Forward	16	0
Deon Mitchell	Guard	18	10
Matt Bohannon	Guard	16	6
Jeremy Morgan	Guard	18	0

Tuttle, a National Player of the Year candidate, went 4-of-12 from the floor Friday. Singleton and Morgan didn't score, but Northern Iowa still got enough contributions from other players to advance.

Louisville, a struggling offensive team, is going to need other players besides Rozier (17.1 points per game) and Harrell (15.7) to shoulder the load, particularly against Northern Iowa. The tenacious Panthers surrender the fourth-fewest points per game (54.3) in the country.

Prediction: Northern Iowa 62, Louisville 54

No. 2 Kansas vs. No. 7 Wichita State

Nati Harnik/Associated Press

Much is being made about why Kansas and Wichita State haven't played each other in over 20 years. They're separated by only about 160 miles inside the Sunflower State.

Kansas is one of the most storied college basketball programs of all time, and the way the Shockers have raised their profile recently, it seems that a regular-season tilt between the two schools would make sense.

Members of both programs have sniped at one another in recent years and have participated in the type of gossipmongering usually found in high school hallways, according to Andy Hyland of KUSports.com. But none of that really matters now, as the two schools will finally meet on the floor Sunday in Omaha, Nebraska.

All-Big 12 performer Perry Ellis is the leading scorer (13.8 points per game) and rebounder (seven per game) this season for Kansas, which statistically doesn't do any one thing remarkably well on offense or defense.

But the Jayhawks' schedule is the hardest any college basketball team has played in a decade, according to KenPom.com (via Jesse Newell of the Topeka Capital-Journal). In fact, they have 13 victories over teams that qualified for March Madness.

Junior guards Ron Baker (15.0 points per game) and Fred VanVleet (12.7) lead Wichita State in scoring and apply the defensive pressure that has spurred the Shockers to the eighth-best scoring defense in the country.

Prediction Wichita State 81, Kansas 77

No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 7 Iowa

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Gonzaga has gone out in the second round in each of the last five NCAA tournaments, so this year's team is looking to break that disappointing streak.

Kyle Wiltjer and Kevin Pangos, the top two scorers for the Bulldogs, lead an offense that ranks in the top 10 in the country in field-goal percentage (first), assists per game (sixth) and points per game (10th). Domantas Sabonis provides toughness near the rim and is the team's leading rebounder with 6.9 per game.

The Bulldogs will need that toughness against Iowa, one of the tallest and beefiest teams in the tournament.

Senior forward Aaron White has been the Hawkeyes' most consistent player this season, leading the team in both points (16) and rebounds (7.5) per game. He had 26 points when Iowa overwhelmed Davidson, 83-52, on Friday and could be primed for another offensive explosion.

Prediction: Gonzaga 84, Iowa 73