March Madness brackets: A mathematician's formula for the best outcome
Putting together a March Madness bracket might seem like a guessing game, but can the power of math help perfect your choices?
LEARN MOREHow many perfect brackets remain after 1st day of NCAA tournament?
Less than 1% of NCAA men's basketball tournament brackets remain unbusted in the four major online bracket challenges.
Chris O'Meara/AP
March 17, 2023
A lot of people have busted brackets after the first day of upset in the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
The first big upset came early on Thursday when No. 13 seed Furman stunned No. 4 seed Virginia with a last-second 3-pointer.
After that game, the NCAA reported that only 10% of brackets remained perfect in the major online games hosted by the NCAA, ESPN, CBS and Yahoo.
Several hours later, more brackets were busted when No. 15 seed Princeton shocked No. 2 seed Arizona. The stunning result left only 0.12% of perfect brackets in the major games, according to the NCAA.
ESPN's bracket challenge has the most perfect brackets remaining, at 658. It's followed by the NCAA challenge with 62. CBS has 44 perfect brackets remaining, and Yahoo has 23.
The odds of achieving a perfect NCAA bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion, according to the NCAA.
In 2022, there were reportedly no perfect brackets in the major online contests after the first two days of games. The longest any bracket has remained perfect is the first day of the Sweet 16.
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