NCAA Tournament Bracket 2016: Elite 8 Schedule, Dates, TV Info and Live Stream

College basketball fans, your weekend is set. The 2016 NCAA tournament has whittled down 68 teams to an Elite Eight, which means dreams of a national championship are tantalizingly close for every squad still in the hunt. 

Thursday's Sweet 16 slate was the most pedestrian day of the tournament thus far. The higher-seeded teams won all four games by double-digit margins, results that defied the bevy of upsets that defined the early portion of the NCAA tournament. 

The absence of madness didn't last long. Friday saw No. 6 Notre Dame steal away a lead and then a win from No. 7 Wisconsin. No. 10 Syracuse continued it's out-of-nowhere tournament run with a thrilling 63-60 win over fellow upstart No. 11 Gonzaga. 

Here's a rundown of the Elite Eight schedule, bracket and viewing info. Live streams can be found at NCAA.com.

Saturday, March 26	Time (ET)	TV	Location
Sunday, March 27
No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 1 Oregon	6:09 p.m.	CBS	Honda Center in Anaheim, CA
No. 2 Villanova vs. No. 1 Kansas	8:49 p.m.	CBS	KFC Yum Center in Louisville, KY
No. 10 Syracuse vs. No. 1 Virginia	TBD	TBS	United Center in Chicago, IL
No. 6 Notre Dame vs. No. 1 North Carolina	TBD	TBS	Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA

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Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.

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Elite 8 Storylines

Tournament-Favorite Kansas Still in the Hunt

Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

In a tournament that featured a number of upsets in the early rounds, all four No. 1 seeds have managed to make safe passage to the Elite Eight. This includes Kansas, the juggernaut currently riding a 17-game winning streak. 

FiveThirtyEight gives Kansas a 25 percent chance of winning the tournament, with North Carolina close behind at 24 percent.

The Jayhawks have made easy work of all three of their NCAA tournament opponents to this point. They demolished Austin Peay 105-79 in the first round, beat a dangerous UConn squad 73-61 in the second and took out No. 5 Maryland 79-63 in the Sweet 16 on Thursday. 

Perry Ellis was the man for Kansas against Maryland, scoring 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field. Yahoo Sports' Pat Forde noted Kansas head coach Bill Self has made excellent use of his talented weapon: 

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Ellis and his well-rounded game is a near-perfect cog in Bill Self's offensive machine. Self has always championed inside-out basketball, and Ellis will post up inside and score with metronomic consistency. But Self also will occasionally – especially this year – diversify things by utilizing ball-screen action, and Ellis is a proficient pick-and-roll and pick-and-pop scorer as well.

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Ellis' deft work against Maryland was complemented by center Landen Lucas, who put up 14 points and brought down 11 rebounds. When Lucas is playing well, Kansas' starting five has no real weaknesses. 

No. 2 Villanova stands in the way between Kansas and a trip to the Final Four. For a team that lives and dies by the three-pointer, Villanova was certainly living large on Thursday. The Wildcats shot 10-of-15 from downtown en route to a huge 92-69 win over Miami. Ryan Arcidiacono and Kris Jenkins combined for nine of those treys and scored 21 points each.

Al Bello/Getty Images

The accurate shooting would strike fear into most teams, but Kansas has the skill to match them on the outside. The Jayhawks are shooting 42.2 percent from three this season, well above Villanova's 35.6 percent clip (although the Wildcats have been lights out since late February).

Kansas' sophomore guard Devonte' Graham is shooting 43.5 percent on three-pointers this year, and both Wayne Selden Jr. and Frank Mason III are accomplished scorers from beyond the arc.

While they might excel at it, the Jayhawks have the distinct luxury of not needing to rely on three-pointers to win. They shot just 3-of-9 against Maryland and still won by 16 points. Villanova's pesky, relentless defense has troubled many teams this season, but Kansas can get points from anywhere on the court.

If the shots are falling for the likes of Graham, Selden and Mason, Villanova will have to keep up their ridiculously hot shooting. There is no other way around it. Should the Wildcats come back down to earth at all on Saturday, Kansas should come away with a win. 

Syracuse Looking to Continue Unexpected Run

No. 10 Syracuse is the lone double-digit seed in the Elite Eight. Everyone else is a No. 1 or No. 2 seed, save for No. 6 Notre Dame, which has survived three dramatic games against strong opposition to reach this point. No one would suggest Syracuse's run to the Elite Eight is on par with Notre Dame's gauntlet, but they sure have looked impressive doing it.

The Orangemen took out No. 7 Dayton 70-51 in the first round then beat up No. 15 Middle Tennessee State 75-50 in the second. While the win over Gonzaga was close, it was made possible by a frenzied late run, per ESPN College BBall: 

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Syracuse goes on a 9-1 run in the final 3 minutes to make its 1st Elite 8 appearance since 2013. pic.twitter.com/oTYE6klKGz

— ESPN College BBall (@ESPNCBB) March 26, 2016"

A fine second-effort from star senior Michael Gbinije gave Syracuse the lead with 22 seconds remaining, per NCAA March Madness:

Plays like that were likely on coach Jim Boeheim's mind in his post-game comments.

''These guys have fought all year, and every game we've been behind, we've been in some tough situations, and they've battled through them all year,'' Boeheim said, per Jay Cohen of the Associated Press (via CBS Sports).

It's going to take a Herculean effort from Gbinije and company if Syracuse is to continue it's magical tournament run. No. 1 Virginia looms in the Elite Eight. The Cavaliers play nails-tough defense and are capable of grinding games to a halt with their possession-oriented game.

They rely heavily on senior guard Malcolm Brogdon (18.4 points per game) for their scoring punch—though he's had a couple of low-scoring games in the NCAA tournament—but still know how to share the ball. CBS Sports' Seth Davis noted the passing was crisp and effective against Iowa State on Thursday: 

While Syracuse is no stranger to the Final Four, a win over Virginia on Sunday and the subsequent trip to Indianapolis would count among Boeheim's finest coaching achievements.