As spring rolls around and conference championships wrap up, excitement about a 64-team collegiate basketball tournament known as March Madness begins. This tournament is exciting to watch because any team can win. Many people across the country hope to fill out a perfect bracket. This is something no one has ever been able to achieve. The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are one in 9.2 quintillion. According to the Stuyvesant Spectator, you have better odds of getting struck by lightning, winning the power ball, and getting bit by a shark. Many people like to listen to experts about who to pick. But in March, there are no experts. Tons of brackets get busted on the first day after a crazy upset. Last year, Oakland University, a 14 seed, defeated three seed Kentucky after point guard Jack Gohlke hit ten threes and stunned everyone across the country. These types of games occur every year; some more teams include FDU, St. Peters, NC State, and Loyola.
There is no correct way to pick and choose, but everyones has high hopes because if they fill out the perfect bracket, they win the grand prize of one million dollars. According to the NCAA, the longest streak of a bracket being perfect was 49 games in 2019 by Gregg Nigl. The streak was busted when No. 3 Purdue upset No. 2 Tennessee in overtime. This became the first-ever bracket to reach the Sweet 16 without losing.
Everyone has their own ideas of how they want to fill out their brackets. Whether they have personal connections to the schools, which mascot would beat the other in a fight, or going with their gut feeling. The best way to fill out a serious bracket is to do your own research and determine what will help make your bracket be the best.
Here at Woodland, faculty have their own traditions on how they fill out their bracket. Chris Dailey, life long Uconn superfan and alumni, has his own way he has been filling out his bracket for years. Dailey will work backwards and fill out his final four.
“I’ve always done it like that. That’s just the way my mind works,” Dailey said.
Although filling out the bracket may seem like a smart idea. Dailey claimed that his way of filling it out hasn’t really brought him that much success.
“ It’s why they call it March Madness,” Dailey said.
Dailey hopes for Uconn to bring it home this year but he has his doubts. He would love for the Huskies to win it all, but his bracket favors the Duke Blue Devils. He doesn’t know if it is the right choice, but millions of fans also have Duke winning it all. According to ESPN, Duke is the most favorable team to win it all, with 25% of all Americans choosing them to win. That’s 6,000,000 people.
When Dailey was asked about if his bracket was going to be perfect, he had his doubts,
“It’s perfect right now but in about two and a half hours until tip-off it probably won’t be anymore,” said Dailey.
At the end of the day, the bracket challenge adds an exciting thrill and anxiousness to see if your bracket will survive another game. While everyone is caught up in their brackets, you should take time to witness unforgettable upsets and thrilling buzzer-beaters that’ll leave you on the edge of your seats. This is the type of thrill that makes these games worth watching.
