NCAA Bracket 2017: Picks and Updated Odds Ahead of Saturday's Elite 8 Schedule

Four of eight Sweet 16 games in the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament went down to the final possession, including one decided on a buzzer-beater.

The Elite Eight, on paper, looks like it could feature some dramatic contests, and each game has some pressing questions.

Can Xavier guard Trevon Bluiett continue his scorching-hot scoring run?

Will Kansas continue its tournament dominance?

Can South Carolina continue its fantastic defensive efforts?

What will North Carolina and Kentucky do for an encore after UK beat UNC 103-100 in an early-season contest?

We'll find out on Saturday and Sunday. Until then, here is a look at the latest bracket and schedule as well as picks for Saturday's games.

Bracket

Schedule

Matchup	Regional	Time	Television	Odds
No. 1 Gonzaga vs. No. 11 Xavier	West	6:09 p.m.	TBS	Gonzaga (-8)
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 3 Oregon	Midwest	8:49 p.m.	TBS	Kansas (-7)

Predictions

Gonzaga vs. Xavier

The aforementioned Bluiett has averaged 25 points per game in the NCAA tournament. He's done most of his scoring in one half in each of his three contests.

Against Maryland, Bluiett scored 18 of his 21 points in the second half to lead Xavier to a 76-65 win.

Bluiett continued his torrid stretch by scoring 21 of his 29 points in the second half to give the Musketeers a 91-66 victory over Florida State.

On Thursday, Bluiett capped his recent run of success by scoring 18 of his 25 points in the first half in a 73-71 defeat of Arizona.

Xavier's NCAA tournament run has been remarkable considering it lost second-leading scorer, sophomore guard Edmond Sumner, to a torn ACL in late January. The Musketeers have defeated expectations en route to the Elite Eight.

Taking down Gonzaga, however, will be a tough task. The Bulldogs are ranked first in the KenPom.com rankings and Sagarin ratings, and they won 29 straight games to start the season before losing their regular-season finale to BYU. Since then, Gonzaga has rolled off six straight wins, giving the Zags a 35-1 record heading into the Elite Eight.

The Bulldogs' defense might be too tough for Xavier on Saturday, however. It only allows 61.0 points per game and is first in adjusted defensive efficiency per KenPom.com.

Furthermore, Gonzaga has rolled through the tournament with point guard and leading scorer Nigel Williams-Goss struggling from the field. He's only hit 12 of 42 field goals in this tournament for a success rate of 28.5 percent.

Given that Williams-Goss shoots 49.6 percent on the season, it's a matter of time before he breaks the slump and gives the Gonzaga offense a big boost. The guess here is that it happens Saturday.

Pick: Gonzaga

Kansas vs. Oregon

No team has looked nearly as dominant as Kansas has in this NCAA tournament.

Each team that made the Elite Eight had to squeak by a team (or two) with the exception of South Carolina, whose smallest margin of victory was a seven-point win over Duke that didn't seem as close given that the Gamecocks scored 65 in the second half and never led by fewer than six points down the stretch.

But Kansas has blown the doors off teams this year. KU beat UC Davis by 38, Michigan State by 22 and Big Ten regular-season champion Purdue by 30. If you're scoring at home, Kansas has won its trio of NCAA tournament games by an average of 30 points.

It's hard seeing any team stopping the Kansas buzzsaw right now, but this is March Madness, and we've seen a No. 15 seed go to the Sweet 16 and a No. 10 and No. 11 seed head to the Final Four in the past six years.

Oregon forward Dillon Brooks and guard Tyler Dorsey will be the catalysts if the Ducks pull off the upset in Kansas City.

Brooks averages 16.3 points per game, which leads the team, but he has not shot well in the tournament, making 18 of his 44 field goals (40.9 percent). Like Williams-Goss, however, this recent shooting slump isn't the norm for Brooks, as he has made 50.1 percent of his field goals (and 41.2 percent from long range) this year.

Dorsey has been dominant in the tournament, averaging 23.7 points per game and hitting the game-winning shots against Michigan and Rhode Island. 

If he and Brooks are hot on Saturday, then we are in for a high-scoring, close game. If either one shoots cold, then Kansas should win this one running away.

Ultimately, the Jayhawks are playing very close to home and look so good right now that it's hard to pick against them.

Pick: Kansas