Elite Eight 2017: Full Schedule and Final Four Bracket Predictions

Eight remain. Three are top seeds. Two are Cinderellas. None are just happy to make it.

The eight teams left alive in this year's March Madness haven't pulled any punches.

A trip to the Final Four awaits the teams able to persevere, though doing so will probably feel like the combined effort it took to make it to the Elite Eight in the first place.

Here's a look at the path so far, where to catch the Elite Eight and a bit of a look ahead.

March Madness 2017 Bracket

Elite Eight Schedule

Matchup	Date	Time (ET)	Television
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Xavier	Saturday, March 25	6:09 p.m.	TBS
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 3 Oregon	Saturday, March 25	8:49 p.m.	TBS
No. 4 Florida vs. No. 7 South Carolina	Sunday, March 26	2:20 p.m.	CBS
No. 1 North Carolina vs. No. 2 Kentucky	Sunday, March 26	5:05 p.m.	CBS

Final Four Bracket Predictions

Kansas

Expect something else?

No team has come close to touching Kansas in the bracket so far. Maybe that changes when the Jayhawks encounter the third-seeded Oregon Ducks, but the path so far has been simple.

Said path included a 100-62 shellacking of 16th-seeded UC Davis. Frank Mason III dropped 22 points, Josh Jackson 17, striking a nice senior-freshman balance. Next was a dismissal of ninth-seeded Michigan State, 90-70, where Mason (20 points) and Jackson (23) went off again. The Sweet 16 was easy, too, in a 98-66 rout of fourth-seeded Purdue, where Mason dropped 26.

Kansas, ranked third in ESPN's RPI rankings, match up well with Oregon. The Ducks have had a rocky ride so far while leaning on Dillon Brooks and Tyler Dorsey, just escaping 11th-seeded Rhode Island 75-72 before hanging on for dear life in the Sweet 16 in a 69-68 win against seventh-seeded Michigan.

To get this far, the Ducks have needed 24, 27 and 20 points from Dorsey, who averaged 14.1 during the regular season. The Jayhawks not only have the defense to contain him, but an offense sitting third in adjusted offensive efficiency at KenPom.com to counter him.

Oregon's best bet is a shootout, but the Jayhawks won't let that happen.

Xavier

The Cinderella keeps marching.

Xavier (RPI 36) has arguably been the most entertaining team to watch this year. The Musketeers started the run by knocking off sixth-seeded Maryland in 76-65 fashion via 50 percent shooting from the floor (25-of-50). They next shot 55.6 percent (30-of-54) to knock off third-seeded Florida State, 91-66. To escape second-seeded Arizona 73-71, the Musketeers came in at 52.8 percent (28-of-53).

The hottest hand belonged to Trevon Bluiett, who posted 21, 29 and 25 points over the three-game span. He took to Twitter to celebrate the 25 in the win over Arizona:

What's a No. 1 seed to Xavier?

Gonzaga deserves its top seed, but only escaping eighth-seeded Northwestern (79-73) and fourth-seeded West Virginia (61-58), the latter only because the Mountaineers couldn't hit open shots (26.7 percent, 16-of-60), has the Bulldogs looking vulnerable.

Xavier is the team to exploit the Zags' problems, forcing turnovers and continuing to shoot well from the floor on the way to the Final Four.

North Carolina

No team looks like it can best the Tar Heels (RPI No. 5) right now.

North Carolina's odd performances to start the tournament go out the window given the ankle issue Joel Berry II battled.

The above is past tense because Berry was fully healthy Friday night when he dropped a game-high 26 points on fourth-seeded Butler in a 92-80 rout. His penetration opened up the floor and allowed Justin Jackson to add 24 while Luke Maye surprised off the bench with 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Make no mistake—second-seeded Kentucky is a great team deserving of its seed and standing in the bracket after coasting before taking care of business against third-seeded UCLA, 86-75.

But the Tar Heels are simply too big and fast, cliche as it sounds, to go down to a program not named Kansas right now. Barring another setback by Berry, the heart of the Tar Heels, it should be smooth sailing again.

South Carolina

Are the Gamecocks a Cinderella?

Why not? Knocking off a program like Duke and taking down a No. 3 seed isn't exactly what most brackets probably had in mind for seventh-seeded South Carolina (RPI 43).

Fox Sports' Stewart Mandel summed up the general vibe around the Gamecocks:

South Carolina outlasted second-seeded Duke in an 88-81 affair in which Sindarius Thornwell scored 24 points. That number, by the way, is his minimum output over three bracket games so far and the exact mark he dropped in a 70-50 rout of third-seeded Baylor in the Sweet 16.

Next up for the Gamecocks is a date with the fourth-seeded Florida Gators, which sets up a nice SEC showdown. Speaking of which, these two split the season series one game apiece, though one has to wonder how much energy the Gators will have after going to overtime in the Sweet 16.

It's simply too hard to ignore the momentum enjoyed by South Carolina, though, and Florida's style might play right into the team's hands. The Gamecocks' suffocating defense ranks second in adjusted efficiency at KenPom, something the Gators will have a hard time countering, especially if they fall behind early like Baylor did.

Advanced metrics courtesy of ESPN.com.