Sports
March Madness Brackets Busted: Perfect Predictions Dwindle After First Round
The annual NCAA men's basketball tournament, known as March Madness, sees brackets narrowing after the first week. Millions of entries in ESPN and NCAA bracket challenges already have errors.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament is underway. After the first round of games, the number of perfect brackets has significantly decreased. ESPN's bracket challenge saw the number of unblemished entries drop to 195. This occurred even with high-seeded teams winning their contests. The NCAA's bracket challenge reported only 234 error-free entries remaining. Kalshi is offering a $1 billion prize to anyone who correctly predicts all 63 tournament games.
Key Facts
- The odds of picking a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket are very low.
- The number of perfect brackets in ESPN's challenge fell to 195 after round one.
- Over 99.9% of more than 26 million brackets entered on ESPN already have errors.
- The NCAA's bracket challenge reported only 234 error-free entries remaining after the first round.
- More than 675,000 perfect women's brackets remained after Friday's games.
- Kalshi offers $1 billion for a perfect bracket and $1 million for the top-scoring bracket.
- Thirty-two teams remain in contention for the men's title.
Primary Source
Research Sources
- Jefferson City News Tribune — Number of perfect March Madness brackets dwindles into hundreds after first round | Jefferson City News-Tribune
- Heavy — Which Teams Have Made It to the March Madness Round of 32?