Just 0.25% of brackets remain perfect after one day of March Madness action
March Madness is the most unpredictable event in all of sports.
Though many contests through the years have advertised larger-than-life prizes, the quest for a "perfect bracket" that correctly predicts the winner of all 63 games of the tournament is an all but impossible endeavor that we are unlikely to see in our lifetimes.
Case in point: After one day of March Madness action, just 0.25% of brackets in ESPN's Tournament Challenge remained perfect, according to ESPN Stats & Info. More than 17.2 million brackets were submitted to ESPN this year, and of them, only 42,828 nailed the first 16 games of the tournament on Thursday.
That low perfection percentage is despite hardly any big upsets on the first day of the tournament. No. 12 Murray State was the lowest-seeded team to win an opening game, and the Racers were one of the most popular upset picks. Other than Murray State, just three teams No. 10 Florida, No. 10 Minnesota, and No. 9 Baylor defeated a team with a higher seed.
In other words, despite an extremely calm first day of action in terms of upsets, about one in every 400 brackets made it through without a loss.
With another full slate of games on Friday, that number is likely to dwindle even quicker as we head into the second round of the tournament.
March Madness is the most unpredictable event in all of sports.
Though many contests through the years have advertised larger-than-life prizes, the quest for a "perfect bracket" that correctly predicts the winner of all 63 games of the tournament is an all but impossible endeavor that we are unlikely to see in our lifetimes.
Case in point: After one day of March Madness action, just 0.25% of brackets in ESPN's Tournament Challenge remained perfect, according to ESPN Stats & Info. More than 17.2 million brackets were submitted to ESPN this year, and of them, only 42,828 nailed the first 16 games of the tournament on Thursday.
That low perfection percentage is despite hardly any big upsets on the first day of the tournament. No. 12 Murray State was the lowest-seeded team to win an opening game, and the Racers were one of the most popular upset picks. Other than Murray State, just three teams No. 10 Florida, No. 10 Minnesota, and No. 9 Baylor defeated a team with a higher seed.
In other words, despite an extremely calm first day of action in terms of upsets, about one in every 400 brackets made it through without a loss.
With another full slate of games on Friday, that number is likely to dwindle even quicker as we head into the second round of the tournament.