NCAA Tournament 2015: Updated Bracket, Predictions and Odds for Sweet 16

So your NCAA tournament bracket didn't go as planned. You're not going to become the first person in human history to correctly pick each game. You're also not smart enough to have seen through the Villanova charade or to have trusted Tom Izzo's March brilliance or to even have watched Kansas play basketball this season and know Bill Self's team was susceptible to a loss.

Oh well. Join the club. There are millions of us. But luckily for all of us, the end of our chance at winning our office pool does not mean the end of March basketball. It merely means we can watch the games uninhibited by our awful selections; it means we can actually like basketball again.

Which is great. Basketball is fun. It's a perfectly great time to watch without any financial obligations. In fact, one could easily argue the best way to watch the NCAA tournament is without a bracket. (I wouldn't argue this; I'm just saying it's an argument to be made, and one I'm more inclined to listen to after watching my bracket go up in flames Thursday.)

With that in mind, let's take a look at the eight games that make up the Sweet 16 and try our hand at predicting their outcomes. You know, for funsies this time!

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Wichita State vs. Notre Dame (+1)

Wichita State is quickly becoming a Vegas darling, with the oddsmakers agreeing with most pundits that the Shockers were under-seeded. After a closer-than-expected matchup with Indiana, Gregg Marshall's team turned in a brilliant two-way outing to topple Kansas. All five starters scored in double figures, Kansas shot just 35.1 percent and the underdogs took the Battle for Kansas by 13 points.

Notre Dame, meanwhile, has looked anything but stable in its two wins. The Irish had to sweat out their triumph over Northeastern in the round of 64 and then needed overtime to topple Butler. Their red-hot shooting has also gone cold, as they've been almost nonexistent from beyond the arc.

I picked Notre Dame in this exact matchup at the beginning of the tournament. Now I'm inclined to become a flip-flopper and push Wichita State into the Elite Eight.

North Carolina vs. Wisconsin (-5.5)

Looking at the matchup, there just aren't many scenarios in which North Carolina is the better team. Wisconsin, for all its grind-it-out, nearly unwatchable offensive possessions, is the most efficient offense in the country. You'll rarely confuse the Badgers with a "fun" bunch, but what they do is incredibly effective. 

North Carolina, meanwhile, is the exact opposite. The Tar Heels run, they're pretty enjoyable to watch in the open court and they have played two hotly contested games thus far in the tournament. They're also wildly inconsistent. Their near-upset loss to Harvard was a barely escaped disaster, and this was a team with quite the shaky regular season against tournament teams before turning it on a couple weeks ago.

This feels like the natural end for Roy Williams and Co.

West Virginia vs. Kentucky (-13.5)

I mean, it might happen. Sure. It's possible. But you won't catch me dead picking against Kentucky. Nope. Not this guy. Not today, not tomorrow, probably not even after the final buzzer sound when and if the Wildcats lose.

Bob Huggins' 8-2 record against John Calipari is intriguing, though.

Xavier vs. Arizona (-11)

Arizona might be the team best suited to take down Kentucky if the pair make it to Indianapolis. The Wildcats are the only other team in the nation to rank top-10 in defensive and offensive efficiency, and they've been playing near Kentucky-level basketball for more than a month. Only two teams (Utah and UCLA) have come within 10 points of Sean Miller and Co. since Valentine's Day.

So, like West Virginia, this looks like a natural resting place for Xavier. The Musketeers lucked their way into a pair of double-digit seeds, and while they took care of business, their resume clearly pales in comparison to Arizona's. I'm not willing to totally write off an upset—Arizona could go cold offensively at any time—but picking it would be borderline crazy.

UCLA vs. Gonzaga (-8.5)

If Gonzaga was going to make the Elite Eight, this is the exact path it needed. The Zags won't take on an opponent seeded better than No. 7 until they take on the winner of Duke vs. Utah. They've been largely able to rest on their offensive laurels so far, taking advantage of a bad South Dakota State defense and a shaky Iowa one.

UCLA will make it three-for-three. The Bruins are 68th in defensive efficiency and the second-worst overall team remaining in the tournament, behind North Carolina State, per KenPom rankings. This is a team that by all accounts should have lost to SMU and then got matched up with a happy-to-be-there UAB squad. Part of the tournament is getting opportune matchups, but that ends for Steve Alford's team against Gonzaga.

The Zags should advance another game before bowing out in the Elite Eight.

North Carolina State vs. Louisville (-2)

North Carolina State has won its two games by a combined four points. Louisville beat UC Irvine by two points before taking care of business against Northern Iowa. Neither of these teams have a real shot of being the favorite come the Elite Eight, where peaking Oklahoma and Michigan State teams await.

For the purposes of this particular matchup, history has to play a factor. Rick Pitino has already gone to four Elite Eights at Louisville, including two in the previous three seasons. He's one of the greatest college coaches of his time, able to get his teams to peak at the perfect moment.

Mark Gottfried has gotten past the first weekend once in his career. He's done an excellent job revamping the N.C. State program, but I have a tough time seeing him breaking the Louisville press.

Utah vs. Duke (-5)

Duke is peaking. This can only mean one of two things: Either the Blue Devils are going to the national championship game or they're about to crush their entire contingent with a loss against Utah in a game they should win.

Time will tell. Given that I picked Duke to go all the way to Indianapolis before the tournament and it's looked this good so far, no need to back off here. The Blue Devil offense is firing on all cylinders, and they've even started looking frisky on defense. Utah's biggest hope is that it can find a way to use its excellent team defense to thwart Duke's inside game and force a cold jump-shooting effort.

Michigan State vs. Oklahoma (+2)

Yeah, sure. Michigan State probably looks like the better team at this point. Izzo is perhaps the greatest tournament coach of his generation. I get it. But calling Oklahoma to make it to the Final Four is the one thing remaining in this damn bracket that might make me look smart.

I'm riding and dying with the Sooners until they send me off the rails.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.

All odds via Odds Shark. All advanced metrics via KenPom.