NCAA Basketball Tournament 2018: Sweet 16, Elite 8 Schedule, Odds and Picks

After a first weekend full of unexpected results, the NCAA tournament should return to some level of normalcy during the Sweet 16. At least as far as the oddsmakers see it.

Per OddsShark, seven of the eight games on tap for Thursday and Friday have point spreads of 6.5 or below with six expected to be within 4.5 points.

Here's a quick look at the bracket as it stands after the first two rounds:

Below is the schedule for the Sweet 16 as well as the Elite Eight, with times for the latter still approximate (they will be finalized after Friday's last game). We've also made some picks for Thursday and Friday's contests and looked ahead to potential Elite Eight matchups.

Sweet 16 Schedule

Matchup	Regional	Odds	Time (ET)	Television	Location	Prediction
No. 7 Nevada vs. No. 11 Loyola-Chicago	South	Nevada (-2)	7:07 p.m.	CBS	Atlanta, Ga.	Loyola-Chicago
No. 3 Michigan vs. No. 7 Texas A&M	West	Michigan (-3)	7:37 p.m.	TBS	Los Angeles, Calif.	Texas A&M
No. 5 Kentucky vs. No. 9 Kansas State	South	Kentucky (-5)	9:37 p.m.	CBS	Atlanta, Ga.	Kentucky
No. 4 Gonzaga vs. No. 9 Florida State	West	Gonzaga (-6.5)	10:07 p.m.	TBS	Los Angeles, Calif.	Gonzaga

The smallest line is for the game involving the most improbable matchup of the Sweet 16, between Cinderellas Loyola-Chicago and Nevada.

Each had a flair for the dramatic in getting this far, with Loyola winning on buzzer-beaters against Miami (Florida) and Tennessee and Nevada making major comebacks to beat Texas (in overtime) and Cincinnati. The Wolf Pack's victory over Cincinnati came after trailing by 22.

As amazing as those comebacks were, it also means Nevada struggled early to put itself in those holes. That's not something it will want to do again, particularly against a Loyola team that plays at an extremely slow pace and allows just 41.6 percent shooting.

Michigan also needed a buzzer-beater to reach the Sweet 16, not to mention the good fortune of Houston missing three free throws in the final 30 seconds. Texas A&M blew past defending national champion North Carolina in the second round and will look to use its major size advantage to exploit the Wolverines in the paint.

Kentucky, who by default is the "favorite" in the South Region, should be able to capitalize on Kansas State's poor rebounding numbers to move on. It's not a given, though, not with how K-State junior guard Barry Brown has fared shutting down opposing scorers in its first two NCAA games.

Florida State rallied late to beat top-seeded Xavier in the second round but faces another daunting test in Gonzaga, which is back in the Sweet 16 after reaching the national championship last year.

The Bulldogs have combined returning standouts from that squad with new stars such as sophomore forward Rui Hachimura and freshman guard Zach Norvell Jr., who combined for 53 points against Ohio State in the second round.

Matchup	Regional	Odds	Time (ET)	TV	Location
No. 1 Kansas vs. No. 5 Clemson	Midwest	Kansas (-4)	7:07 p.m.	CBS	Omaha, Neb.
No. 1 Villanova vs. No. 5 West Virginia	East	Villanova (-4.5)	7:27 p.m.	TBS	Boston, Mass.
No. 2 Duke vs. No. 11 Syracuse	Midwest	Duke (-11.5)	9:37 p.m.	CBS	Omaha, Neb.
No. 2 Purdue vs. No. 3 Texas Tech	East	Purdue (-1.5)	9:57 p.m.	TBS	Boston, Mass.

Kansas is all that stands between the ACC adding Omaha to its conference footprint, as the other three teams alive in the Midwest Region are from college basketball's most storied league.

The Jayhawks figure to have the crowd on their side, much like they did during the first weekend in Kansas City, Missouri, and have the experience of several players being part of the previous two seasons' trips to the Elite Eight.

Clemson, by comparison, is in its first Sweet 16 since 1997 and first NCAA tourney in seven years.

The other half of the Midwest semifinals is an all-ACC affair, with Duke the next team that must deal with Syracuse's frustrating zone defense.

The Orange rattled a trio of potent offenses in Arizona State, TCU and Michigan State to get this far, and in February, it held the Blue Devils to a season-low 60 points, but Duke won that game by 16 thanks to its own improved defense that leans on a zone.

The best matchup on Friday figures to be the first one in Boston, where East top-seed Villanova puts its seven-game win streak on the line against a West Virginia squad that easily dispatched a pair of upset challengers in Murray State and Marshall.

Villanova beat its first two foes by 49 points, and the Mountaineers did so by 40, though it's unlikely the margin when they meet will ever reach double digits.

Purdue and Texas Tech will wrap up the Sweet 16, with the former trying to reach its first Elite Eight since 2000 and the latter hoping to get there for the first time.

Tech is back to full strength with senior guard Keenan Evans getting past a toe injury, while Purdue is learning to live without 7'2" senior center Isaac Haas after he broke his right elbow in the first round against Cal State-Fullerton.

Elite Eight Schedule

Matchup	Region	Odds	Time (ET)	TV	Location	Prediction
TBD	TBD	TBD	6 p.m.	TBS	TBD	TBD
TBD	TBD	TBD	8:30 p.m.	TBS	TBD	TBD

Our projected South Region final has Kentucky taking on Loyola-Chicago, which would make for one of the greatest David vs. Goliath matchups in recent memory. Kentucky has reached 17 Final Fours, including four since 2011, while Loyola's lone trip there came in 1963 when it won the national title.

In the West Region final, Gonzaga could have a chance to make consecutive Final Fours, while Texas A&M would be trying to make its first appearance.

Aggies coach Billy Kennedy, whose head coaching career began 21 years ago at Centenary, would be able to take his name off the "best coaches never to reach a Final Four" list.

Matchup	Region	Odds	Time (ET)	TV	Location	Prediction
TBD	TBD	TBD	2 p.m.	CBS	TBD	TBD
TBD	TBD	TBD	4:30 p.m.	CBS	TBD	TBD

With all the chaos that went on during the first weekend, the East and Midwest Regions can still end up with No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups in the Elite Eight. We've projected only one of those, though, with Kansas and Duke battling in Omaha for a spot in the Final Four.

Those teams are quite familiar with each other, having played three times since 2011, including in November 2016 as part of the Champions Classic. This would be their first meeting in the NCAA tournament since 2003, when Kansas claimed a 69-65 win in the Sweet 16 en route to a berth in the national championship game.

An East Region final between Villanova and Texas Tech would pit one of college basketball's top programs of the decade against a rising power. It would also set up a heck of a one-on-one guard battle between Villanova junior Jalen Brunson and Texas Tech senior Keenan Evans.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.