How many perfect brackets remain in the NCAA Men's tournament?
AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you made a bracket in this year's NCAA Men's Tournament, you're not alone!
More than 20 million brackets were made on ESPN, but just hours into the tournament, the vast majority were already busted.
But how many perfect brackets remain? After Texas A&M-Corpus Christi's loss to Alabama, a little under 720,000 brackets remain perfectly intact.
The first game of the tournament was brutal to brackets nationwide, with more than half busted. About 51% of brackets incorrectly predicted a Maryland win over West Virginia.
Furman's upset win over Virginia then dropped the number of perfect brackets to less than 10%. More than 8 million brackets were busted in that game alone.
The number of perfect brackets then dropped by half thanks to Missouri's win over Utah State. Almost 840,000 remained at that point, about 4.2% of all brackets.
With 63 games in total, how long will it take for all brackets to bust? (No offense to anyone keeping the hope alive, but the odds of getting a perfect bracket are really stacked against you).
According to the NCAA, an Ohio man correctly predicted the outcomes of the first 49 games of the 2019 tournament, the current record. Gregg Nigl, of Columbus, picked the correct winner for every game through to the Sweet Sixteen.
Last year, perfect brackets only remained through the 28th game. We'll soon find out if brackets can last longer this year.