Are you feeling lucky? Many people are, and they are all trying to fill the perfect NCAA bracket. It has never been done, but that shouldn’t deter you. However, you should know what you are getting yourself into.
The good news is that you stand as good a chance to fill in the perfect March Madness bracket as the next person. The bad news is that these odds are ridiculously low!
One in 9.2 Quintillion
Scientists estimate that there are about 7.5 quintillion grains of sand on earth. Well, your chances of picking the perfect NCAA odd are lower than that – 9.2 quintillion to be exact.
Let’s do the math: one quintillion is basically a billion billion, so your odds of filling the perfect bracket are about 9 times that. You stand better odds of being struck by lightning (one in 9 million) or being crushed by a falling satellite (one in 21 trillion). Nevertheless, that has not deterred bettors and NCAA enthusiasts from trying their luck, and some have come incredibly close considering the odds stacked against them.
The Closest NCAA Perfect Bracket Odds
The closest anyone has ever come to picking the perfect March Madness bracket was in 2017, and even then a lot was left to be desired. Out of tens of millions of odds, leading sports analysts from all the major channels including NCAA.com, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, and Fox identified one that remained perfect through 39 games.
Analysts now believe that this incredible winning streak was only possible because of the relative predictability of the 2017 March Madness tournament. In fact, 2017 saw an abnormally high number of perfect brackets survive the first round – most perfect brackets do not make it past this round. This winning streak was broken on the third full night of the games in the final matchup when Purdue beat Iowa State (against great odds).
Before this Brad Binder held the record for the longest March Madness perfect bracket that he made in 2014. His bracket held true for 36 games, and as if by prior knowledge Brad had gone 36-for-36 just as the tournament started. There have been many other attempts, but they simply do not cut it. However, it remains to be seen whether 2019 will be any different – the odds of placing the perfect NCAA bracket are still the same, but hopefully one will go beyond the record of 39 games placed in 2017.
How You Can Improve Your Odds
Considering the odds stacked against your quest for the perfect NCAA bracket, you will need a lot of luck on your side to hack it. However, there is a method to the madness and luck alone wouldn’t be enough.
Most people are turning to technology to try to beat the odds. There are advanced programs designed to exploit the weaknesses in the system to pick the perfect brackets. They are quite impressive when it comes to single brackets, but even they have not been able to pick the perfect NCAA bracket so far – turns out even technology doesn’t stand a chance against one-in-9.2 quintillion odds.
According to Pay Per Head Bookies, besides luck and technology, your best bet is to go old-school and immerse yourself in the sport. This entails improving your knowledge of basketball, getting familiar with all the teams and their players (knowing and exploiting their strengths and weaknesses), and studying the tournament’s history several years back. Still, this may not be sufficient to get you a perfect bracket, but you may as well set a record (and still make good money).
Keep Track of Your Fortunes
Have you already tried your luck in placing the perfect NCAA bracket for 2019? Well, you should keep track of the tournament’s progress just to be sure – besides, this season’s tournament has started off on high gear and promises to be even more thrilling as the rounds go by. As such, don’t fail to watch each game either on your cable TV (if you are in the U.S.) or by streaming March Madness live via a variety of online platforms.
