Sweet 16 Bracket: Updated Schedule and Upset Picks for NCAA Tournament

Considering there were plenty of upsets over the first couple of rounds of the NCAA tournament, there is no reason to expect the Sweet 16 to be any different.

While the Cinderella teams at this stage are mostly from the power conferences, the lower seeds can still pull off some more upsets; this tournament is called March Madness for a reason.

Here is a look at a full schedule for the upcoming round as well as potential upsets to watch for on Thursday and Friday.

	Thursday
	Friday
Time (ET)	Matchup	TV
7:15 p.m.	No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State	CBS
7:47 p.m.	No. 1 Wisconsin vs. No. 4 North Carolina	TBS
9:45 p.m.	No. 1 Kentucky vs. No. 5 West Virginia	CBS
10:17 p.m.	No. 2 Arizona vs. No. 6 Xavier	TBS
7:15 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 UCLA	CBS
7:37 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville vs. No. 8 North Carolina State	TBS
9:45 p.m.	No. 1 Duke vs. No. 5 Utah	CBS
10:07 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State	TBS

Upset Picks

No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 3 Oklahoma

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

It's almost unfair to call this an upset at this point, with Michigan State actually going into this battle as two-point favorites, according to Odds Shark. Still, this would be another example of a higher seed going down.

Michigan State showed in its win over Virginia that it was much better than the No. 7 next to its name would indicate. There might not be a bunch of household names on the roster, but it is a well-coached team behind Tom Izzo that plays great defense, rebounds well and always seems find the open man.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett was impressed with the play of the Spartans, via David Meeks of USA Today:

"

Last year, with Harris and Payne, they had probably a couple more big play guys. But they understand who they are, they're very clear. It's Dawson's team, it's Trice's team—you can see that—and Valentine. They're not quite as explosive offensively but very sound, very tough, and know where they've got to go to get stuff.

"

Oklahoma is also pretty tough, but this isn't a good matchup for the Sooners. Leading scorer Buddy Hield is unlikely to get any good looks off, which will result in another inefficient performance. Michigan State should also have a big advantage on the boards on both ends of the court.

With Travis Trice doing his best Shabazz Napier impression lately, Michigan State should keep rolling to the Elite Eight.

No. 8 North Carolina State vs. No. 4 Louisville

Jared Wickerham/Getty Images

If you thought about an ACC battle in the NCAA tournament a few weeks ago, you wouldn't have predicted that North Carolina State and Louisville would be the two teams involved.

The Cardinals are a bit of a surprise to make it this far despite their seed based on the way they have played recently. Without Chris Jones, the squad has struggled to score, and no one outside of Montrezl Harrell and Terry Rozier has contributed.

However, Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports noted that Quentin Snider has stepped up lately:

This makes Louisville a much more formidable opponent, as its defensive play makes up for a lack of other scorers.

Still, the Wolfpack have actually been the better team of late. They might be a bit inconsistent, but the win over Villanova showed how good they can be, as did regular-season victories over Duke, North Carolina and, yes, Louisville.

North Carolina State earned a nine-point road win over the Cardinals back when Jones was on the team. The backcourt of Anthony Barber, Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner is good enough to do it again with its great ability to score from anywhere on the court.

This will be a close matchup, but expect the No. 8 seeds to advance again.

No. 7 Wichita State vs. No. 3 Notre Dame

Jamie Squire/Getty Images

We have come to a weird point in college basketball where Wichita State can beat Kansas in the NCAA tournament, and it isn't all that much of a surprise.

Sure, the Jayhawks won the Big 12 regular-season title and have been among the top teams in the nation all year, but they also weren't quite as good as past versions. Meanwhile, the Shockers are made up of many of the same players who went to the Final Four two years ago and had an undefeated regular season last year.

ESPN's Jeff Goodman described it well after the Kansas win:

Wichita State especially knows how to defend, which will be extremely important against Notre Dame. The Irish like to spread opponents out with their three-point shooting and great passing, and perimeter shooters are seemingly always be open.

The problem is the Shockers have the personnel and discipline to at least slow this attack. If Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet play as well as they have on the offensive end, Wichita State could upset Notre Dame and set up a possible rematch with Kentucky.

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