One Day into the NCAA Tournament, More than 99.99% of March Madness Brackets have Already been Broken
Less than a day into the men’s NCAA Tournament, over 22 million March Madness bracket submissions were busted on ESPN’s platform alone on Thursday, the sports network reported. Less than 0.001% of brackets remained perfect on ESPN and the NCAA’s bracket challenges, and it’s likely that none of them will stay that way.
After just one day, slightly more than 0.0003% of brackets made using the NCAA’s Capital One March Madness Bracket Challenge are still flawless, with 11-seeded Duquesne defeating 6-seeded Brigham Young University.
Only 116 brackets in Yahoo Fantasy Sports’ challenge were perfect as of Thursday night, out of the more than 22 million brackets that were submitted on ESPN. Less than 2,000 of those brackets were still intact.
In a showdown that went down to the wire on Thursday, the Duquesne Dukes prevailed 71-67. Less than 25% of participants in Yahoo Fantasy Sports’ tournament chose that result; less than 5% of those brackets have the Dukes moving on to the Sweet 16.
Nine-seed In the West, Michigan State also pulled off a narrow victory over eighth-seeded Mississippi State, winning 69-51. Meanwhile, in the Midwest, sixth-seeded South Carolina lost to eleventh-seeded Oregon 87-73.
Later on Thursday night, Oakland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament thus far, defeating Kentucky as a 14-seed in the South and a three-seeded team. Oakland senior Jack Gohlke scored a nearly all-time high 10 three-pointers; in the NCAA challenge, just over 5% of the brackets had Oakland winning.
$1 million. In the USA Today Sports bracket challenge, the winner of the best bracket is still eligible to earn $25,000 even if they don’t choose every game correctly. That’s how much a flawless bracket will win. While ESPN provides ten $5,000 prizes, CBS Sports’ bracket challenge winner will receive tickets to the 2025 NCAA Final Four as well as $6,000 for lodging.
There has never been a March Madness bracket that is flawless, and it’s unlikely that this one will be either. According to the NCAA, there is a pitiful one in 9.2 quintillion chance that a participant chosen at random can properly predict the outcome of all 67 games in the tournament. However, a participant who is familiar with college basketball has far better odds—one in 102.2 billion.
In the previous year’s men’s March Madness tournament, it only took one day of competition for every bracket to collapse, after an incredible upset victory by 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson over 1-seeded Purdue in the first round.
After just one day, slightly more than 0.0003% of brackets made using the NCAA’s Capital One March Madness Bracket Challenge are still flawless, with 11-seeded Duquesne defeating 6-seeded Brigham Young University.
Only 116 brackets in Yahoo Fantasy Sports’ challenge were perfect as of Thursday night, out of the more than 22 million brackets that were submitted on ESPN. Less than 2,000 of those brackets were still intact.
In a showdown that went down to the wire on Thursday, the Duquesne Dukes prevailed 71-67. Less than 25% of participants in Yahoo Fantasy Sports’ tournament chose that result; less than 5% of those brackets have the Dukes moving on to the Sweet 16.
Nine-seed In the West, Michigan State also pulled off a narrow victory over eighth-seeded Mississippi State, winning 69-51. Meanwhile, in the Midwest, sixth-seeded South Carolina lost to eleventh-seeded Oregon 87-73.
Later on Thursday night, Oakland pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament thus far, defeating Kentucky as a 14-seed in the South and a three-seeded team. Oakland senior Jack Gohlke scored a nearly all-time high 10 three-pointers; in the NCAA challenge, just over 5% of the brackets had Oakland winning.
$1 million. In the USA Today Sports bracket challenge, the winner of the best bracket is still eligible to earn $25,000 even if they don’t choose every game correctly. That’s how much a flawless bracket will win. While ESPN provides ten $5,000 prizes, CBS Sports’ bracket challenge winner will receive tickets to the 2025 NCAA Final Four as well as $6,000 for lodging.
There has never been a March Madness bracket that is flawless, and it’s unlikely that this one will be either. According to the NCAA, there is a pitiful one in 9.2 quintillion chance that a participant chosen at random can properly predict the outcome of all 67 games in the tournament. However, a participant who is familiar with college basketball has far better odds—one in 102.2 billion.
In the previous year’s men’s March Madness tournament, it only took one day of competition for every bracket to collapse, after an incredible upset victory by 16-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson over 1-seeded Purdue in the first round.
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