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

The 2015 NCAA tournament is technically more than halfway over in terms of overall games played, but the best are still yet to come as the Sweet 16 is rounded out with eight games on Sunday.

A handful of underdogs took center stage on Saturday with No. 11 UCLA and No. 8 N.C. State breaking through for unlikely Sweet 16 appearances, but a lack of upsets on Friday means that No. 11 Dayton will be the only team seeded worse than No. 8 playing Sunday. That also means higher-quality matchups from top to bottom.

If that's not a good enough reason to spend all Sunday watching hoops, I don't know what is. 

Bracket

Matchup (Spread)	Time (ET)	TV	Prediction
No. 2 Virginia (-5) vs. No. 7 Michigan State	12:10 p.m.	CBS	Virginia
No. 1 Duke (-9.5) vs. No. 8 San Diego State	2:40 p.m.	CBS	Duke
No. 2 Kansas (-1.5) vs. No. 7 Wichita State	5:15 p.m.	CBS	Wichita State
No. 3 Oklahoma (-4.5) vs. No. 11 Dayton	6:10 p.m.	TNT	Oklahoma
No. 2 Gonzaga (-6.5) vs. No. 7 Iowa	7:10 p.m.	TBS	Gonzaga
No. 1 Wisconsin (-12) vs. No. 8 Oregon	7:45 p.m.	truTV	Wisconsin
No. 4 Maryland (-1) vs. No. 5 West Virginia	8:40 p.m.	TNT	Maryland
No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa (-2.5)	9:40 p.m.	TBS	Northern Iowa

Note: Odds courtesy of Odds Shark, last updated March 21

Matchup to Watch: No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 5 Northern Iowa

It's Rick Pitino versus this year's darling of the Missouri Valley Conference. Only, this one doesn't match up anything like that sentence would normally suggest.

For starters, this year's Louisville Cardinals team has been far from the force that it usually presents to be in March. Only two of the Cardinals' eight losses have come to unranked teams, but they were pushed to the brink in a 57-55 win over UC Irvine to start tournament play—and needed a late steal to seal it.

But it's Northern Iowa's emergence that really amps up the intrigue for Sunday's match.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The Panthers have only lost three games this season, and come into Sunday having won 20 of their last 21 games. The lone loss in that span was to Wichita State, which is also in the round of 32.

Star play from Seth Tuttle has been key, but a deep bench boasted by UNI is capable of wearing down opponents who don't go deep into their rotation. That's what happened as Northern Iowa dismantled Wyoming last round, as per ESPN Stats and Info:

It will be pretty impossible for either of these teams to look ahead with their season on the line against a capable opponent, but Villanova's shocking loss to N.C. State does mean a perhaps easier road to the Elite Eight than once expected, per CBS Sports' Gary Parrish:

Neither team is much of an offensive dynamo, but relentlessness on the other end is the biggest similarity between the two. Louisville ranks fifth nationally in Ken Pomeroy's rankings for adjusted defensive efficiency, but Northern Iowa (19th) isn't far behind.

Northern Iowa is actually favored by Odds Shark despite being the lower seed, but it will have to make up a big-time size disadvantage. The Cardinals' frontcourt should have a field day on the glass if Tuttle—UNI's only player with over five boards per game—is taken away from the basket.

Matching up against Tuttle's versatility and athleticism in the post, however, may be spurring Louisville to mix things up as Jeff Greer of The Courier-Journal reported:

Hanging tough with a team that can own you on the glass is easier said than done, but having dynamic players capable of breaking down opponents on the ball leads to higher-percentage shots—and thus, less rebounding opportunities. UNI has just that.

The Panthers showed in the win over Wyoming how they can rely on bench guards like Wes Washpun and Paul Jesperson to take over offensively and make plays. Tuttle struggled at times on 4-for-12 shooting and four turnovers against the Cowboys, but you could hardly tell with a different UNI player slicing into the lane.

Doing that will be tougher against Terry Rozier and Wayne Blackshear, but it's also hard to count on Tuttle to have another subpar performance. He'll present a mismatch nightmare for Louisville's bigs, and the bench will wear down another opponent as the Panthers advance to the Sweet 16 in a defensive slugfest.

Prediction: Northern Iowa 61, Louisville 58