Perfect March Madness Brackets Dwindle Sharply After First Round
The first round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, known as March Madness, concluded on Friday night, significantly reducing the number of perfect brackets among millions submitted across major platforms.
The official NCAA Bracket Challenge Game tracks entries from NCAA.com, ESPN, Yahoo Sports and others. A perfect bracket requires correctly predicting the winner of all 63 games in the single-elimination tournament featuring 68 teams.[1]
Historically, upsets in the round of 64 cause the number of perfect brackets to drop dramatically. In 2024, more than 28 million brackets were submitted, but only 22 remained perfect entering the second round.[2][3]
In 2023, zero perfect brackets survived the first round across tracked platforms.[4]
The 2026 edition followed a similar pattern, with the remaining perfect entries further reduced during early second-round action on Saturday, including after top seed Michigan State's advancement.[5]
Second-round matchups included potential upsets, such as lower seeds facing higher-ranked teams. The tournament continues through regional semifinals, finals, the Final Four and championship game.
Odds of a perfect bracket are estimated at 1 in 120.4 billion, accounting for typical upset frequencies.[6]
Sources
- NCAA
March Madness
Accessed October 2024
https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness - NCAA
2024 NCAA Bracket Challenge begins with record number of brackets submitted
March 18, 2024
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-03-18/2024-ncaa-bracket-challenge-record-number-brackets-submitted - NCAA
March Madness Bracket Challenge: Just 22 perfect brackets remain after first round
March 22, 2024
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2024-03-22/march-madness-bracket-challenge-just-22-perfect-brackets-remain-after-first-round - NCAA
Zero perfect brackets remain in NCAA March Madness men's Bracket Challenge
March 20, 2023
https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/article/2023-03-20/zero-perfect-brackets-remain-ncaa-march-madness-mens-bracket-challenge - NCAA
Bracket Challenge Game
Accessed October 2024
https://bracketchallenge.ncaa.com/ - USA Today
What are the odds of picking a perfect NCAA bracket? Here's the math
March 17, 2022
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2022/03/17/march-madness-perfect-bracket-odds/9458791002/
