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How Many Perfect March Madness Brackets Are Left?

This story is on how many perfect March Madness brackets remain. Trey Townsend #4 of the Oakland Golden Grizzlies shoots against Adou Thiero #3 of the Kentucky Wildcats during the second half in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 21, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Oakland Golden Grizzlies won, 80-76.

(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

March Madness is in full swing, and it's a doozie. There are always upsets, but Thursday (March 21) brought one of the biggest upsets in NCAA Tournament history. The 14 Golden Grizzlies took out the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats in a shocking victory, 80-76. Kentucky were favorites to get to at least the Elite Eight, so you can imagine how many brackets are busted. I'm from Michigan, so I'm happy for Oakland, but it didn't help my bracket. So, how many perfect March Madness brackets are left? You're going to be shocked by the numbers.

The death of the perfect March Madness bracket

The odds of filling out a perfect NCAA bracket are about 1 in 9223372036854775808, according to the NCAA. What's more, according to Mike Benzie of NCAA.com, the closest anyone has ever been to having a perfect bracket in the last decade happened in 2019, when an Ohio man picked the first 49 games correctly. That's pretty impressive. So, what about this year? According to the NCAA, Oakland's upset meant that out of millions of brackets, only 2,178 perfect brackets remained last night. That number went down even more after a late-night loss from NC State, who became the third No. 11 seed to beat a No. 6 seed. While that wasn't a huge upset, it was big enough to kill a few more brackets.

So, how many perfect March Madness brackets are left? As of last night, according to the NCAA, NC State's meant that less than 200 perfect brackets were left. One reportedly comes from Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson. He tweeted out his bracket, which was still impressively perfect as of 10:18 p.m. EST Thursday. The actual number of perfect brackets left is pretty mind-blowing. According to the NCAA, after the NC State upset, only 0.0038% of remaining brackets in the country are perfect March Madness brackets. Chances are there will be more upsets this weekend, too. That's so wild. I guess that's why they call it March Madness. My parents are still beating me in my bracket pool, for what it's worth.

Anne Erickson started her radio career shortly after graduating from Michigan State University and has worked on-air in Detroit, Flint, Toledo, Lansing and beyond. As someone who absolutely loves rock, metal and alt music, she instantly fell in love with radio and hasn’t looked back. When she’s not working, Anne makes her own music with her band, Upon Wings, and she also loves cheering on her favorite Detroit and Michigan sports teams, especially Lions and MSU football. Anne is also an award-winning journalist, and her byline has run in a variety of national publications. You can also hear her weekends on WRIF.