March Madness 2015: Predictions and Betting Lines for Every Sweet 16 Matchup

The time is now for bettors to jump on Sweet 16 odds.

Initial offerings out of Las Vegas are changing quickly. Kentucky's and Arizona's margins of victory are continuing to increase, while notorious Sweet 16 performer Gonzaga continues to decrease.

The point is, bettors should know better than to wait. Las Vegas doesn't take a break because the bracket hits the pause button, so neither should those who want to take advantage of the best lines.

Do so before it's too late. When in doubt, find something to hinge on in each matchup. The top factor? Star players, of course.

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2015 Sweet 16 Schedule and Odds

	Thursday
	Friday
Time (ET)	Matchup (Odds)	TV	Pick
7:15 p.m.	No. 3 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Wichita State (-1.5)	CBS	Notre Dame
7:47 p.m.	No. 1 Wisconsin (-3.5) vs. No. 8 North Carolina	TBS	Wisconsin
9:45 p.m.	No. 1 Kentucky (-13.5) vs. No. 5 West Virginia	CBS	Kentucky
10:17 p.m.	No. 2 Arizona (-10.5) vs. No. 6 Xavier	TBS	Arizona
7:15 p.m.	No. 2 Gonzaga (-8.5) vs. No. 11 UCLA	CBS	Gonzaga
7:37 p.m.	No. 4 Louisville (-3) vs. No. 8 North Carolina State	TBS	NC State
9:45 p.m.	No. 1 Duke (-6) vs. No. 5 Utah	CBS	Duke
10:07 p.m.	No. 3 Oklahoma vs. No. 7 Michigan State (-2.5)	TBS	MSU

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark as of March 25 at 1 p.m. ET.

Stars to Bank on in Sweet 16

Frank Kaminsky, Wisconsin

Thanks to the presence of a senior who figures to take home some individual hardware this year, Wisconsin is an easy bet against North Carolina.

It may not appear so at first glance. Roy Williams' Tar Heels love to get out and run while blowing away teams. They score 77.9 points per game to rank 17th in the country and even rank 12th in adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom.com.

While a 67-65 win against Harvard wasn't promising, an 87-78 victory against Arkansas put things back on track.

While all the above is great for the Tar Heels, Kaminsky is the reason most of it won't matter—and why Wisconsin is the easy bet.

Kaminsky verges on the definition of unstoppable. The man has eye-popping averages of 18.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, not to mention 0.9 steals almost sending things into video-game ridiculousness.

As Williams himself points out, North Carolina doesn't feature one player on his own who stands a chance, as ESPN College BBall illustrates:

"

UNC head coach Roy Williams knows it'll take a team effort to contain Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky. pic.twitter.com/ermXQEBM3w

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 24, 2015"

Kaminsky ensures the Badgers play their game, not their opponent's game. There's a reason why they rank No. 1 in offensive efficiency at KenPom.

With Wisconsin controlling the pace of the game and making the most out of every possession thanks to Kaminsky, expect the Badgers to cover. 

Prediction: Wisconsin 76, North Carolina 70

Branden Dawson, Michigan State

Nell Redmond/Associated Press

How about an unheralded star?

Senior Branden Dawson hasn't received a ton of credit so far this year for Michigan State's shocking-predictable run (seed says shock, Tom Izzo not so much).

It makes a bit of sense. Guard Denzel Valentine led the team in scoring with 16 points in a win against Georgia. Fellow guard Travis Trice exploded for a game-high 23 in an upset of second-seeded Virginia.

What about Dawson? He went quietly about his business underneath the basket, scoring 14 and grabbing six boards against the Bulldogs and scoring 15 and nine rebounds against the Cavaliers.

As Graham Couch of the Lansing State Journal writes, Dawson continues to do the little things not shown on box scores:

"

Sunday, Dawson became the focus. Virginia sent double-teams to get the ball out of his hands in the post. He was MSU's wall defensively, his blocks and rebounds the catalyst behind a fast break that wasn't supposed to be possible against the Cavaliers — fast breaks he sometimes also finished.

"

Against an Oklahoma team ranking sixth in defensive efficiency at KenPom.com, Dawson's contributions will once again dictate the outcome of the game.

Look for Dawson to clog the lane and prevent Oklahoma's Buddy Hield (17.3 PPG) from slashing and facilitating, while on the offensive end cleaning up on the boards and passing well out of double-teams to free up those guards.

Prediction: Michigan State 64, Oklahoma 60

Jahlil Okafor, Duke

Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports

Again, upon first analysis it makes sense perhaps to think about an upset. This applies to the Duke-Utah showdown, with the Utes looking great as of late.

Not only do the Utes average 72.1 points per game and just upset Georgetown on 57.9 percent shooting from the field, they rank 18th in offensive efficiency and seventh in defensive efficiency at Kenpom.com.

Now the question is whether the above factors mean much in the face of Jahlil Okafor.

Okafor, one of the nation's top freshmen, averages 18.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 blocks per game on 68 percent shooting from the floor.

San Diego State figured to provide Okafor and Duke their biggest defensive challenge of the bracket in the third round. After all, the Aztecs entered ranked fourth in defensive efficiency at Kenpom.com.

Even the Aztecs didn't stand a chance against Okafor—he shot 12-of-16 with 26 points, six boards and three blocks. As ESPN Stats & Info pointed out after, Okafor is on a historic pace:

Utah has its own star forward in freshman Jakob Poeltl, but when it comes to an athletic standpoint, Okafor won't have an issue winning an offensive battle.

Okafor, and by extension Duke, is too hot right now to stumble against the Utes. The over is a tad high, but smart.

Prediction: Duke 78, Utah 70 

Stats and info are courtesy of ESPN.com unless otherwise specified.