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March Madness Bracket Records: The Closest to a Perfect Bracket
Securing a Perfect March Madness Bracket Is Almost Impossible, but Hope Is the Last Thing Fans Lose
When Dreams Meet Reality
Now that the Super Bowl is in our rearview mirrors, the sports world will turn its eyes to March Madness betting. Of course, one of the most popular forms of wagering is filling out the obligatory March Madness bracket, but what are the chances of picking the winners from the opening round to the national title championship?
🔮 NEW BRACKET PREDICTION 🔮
Football season is behind us, and @TheAndyKatz has you covered with another bracket prediction 👀 pic.twitter.com/7kzEbraIbL
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 11, 2025
When Dreams Meet Reality
Whatever the grand prize is for filling out a perfect bracket, it is well below what a feat of that magnitude is truly worth. Last year USA Today offered a paltry $1 million for a perfect bracket. Several years ago, it was reported that mega-billionaire Warren Buffet was willing to shell out $1 billion for anyone who could turn the trick.
Even that eye-popping amount is still laughable considering the March Madness odds of correctly picking winners in all 63 games are somewhere in the vicinity of one in 9.2 quintillion. Even Buffet doesn’t have the kind of financial reservoir, but then again, neither does anyone else. Essentially, it was a Billion Dollar Challenge that nobody could win.
After Day 1, only 14,525 out of 13 million brackets – or 0.1 percent – remain a perfect 16-for-16. pic.twitter.com/au8Fr7vKrE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 18, 2016
Suffice it to say, one would have a better chance of getting struck by lightning twice on the same day or winning the lottery several times in a row. Last year 22 million brackets were filled out on ESPN alone, and there was not a perfect bracket among them.
Although a perfect bracket is not technically impossible, it’s pretty much impossible.
The Legend of Gregg Nigl
Leave it to a brainiac to come as close as anyone ever has to picking the perfect bracket. Gregg Nigl, a neuropsychologist from Columbus, Ohio, correctly picked a jaw-dropping 49 straight games in 2019, setting an all-time record in the process.
Gregg Nigl, the owner of the last remaining perfect bracket, is in the house to watch some #Sweet16 basketball!#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/1FtFP8ZBBS
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2019
It wasn’t until No. 3 Purdue defeated No. 2 Tennessee, 99-94, in overtime of the second game in the Sweet 16 that Nigl’s stunning streak came to an end. Nigl’s was the first bracket to enter the Sweet 16 without a scratch.
Why Perfect Brackets Remain Impossible
If we haven’t convinced you already, consider that only 0.0396% of brackets remained perfect after day one of the 2024 national college basketball tournament. And if you fancy yourself as a college hoops guru, that will bring the odds down from 9.2 quintillion to 1 to a more reasonable 1 in 128 billion, so keep studying.
The most recent example of staggeringly savvy March Madness predictions came in 2024 when a person using the username “Medalstick 84’s Picks 7” correctly picked the first 31 games of last year’s tournament before Utah State ousted TCU and effectively put an end to one person’s dream.
“It’s been the wildest week of my life.”
The man with the final perfect bracket, Gregg Nigl, caught up with @TheAndyKatz after @BoilerBall busted his bracket! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/MEcg4yiDpp
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 29, 2019
No matter how complex the algorithm or AI software is, there is no crystal ball to foresee injuries, momentum changes, adrenaline rushes, or the sheer magic of a No. 16 seed upsetting a No. 1 seed.
Since the field expanded to 64 teams back in 1985, the latter had never happened until UMBC stunned Virginia in 2018. Lightning would strike for only the second time in tournament history when No. 16 Fairleigh Dickinson shocked No. 1 Purdue in 2023.
Simply put, there are too many variables that cannot all be considered when filling out a March Madness bracket. However, what fun would it be if we didn’t continue to try?
