March Madness is an NCAA Division One basketball tournament held annually in March. The tournament is single-elimination with 68 teams participating. This contest is widely known to have people filling out brackets, predicting what teams will move on, and who wins it all.
At Powell High School [PHS], some students also fill out these brackets. However, a perfect bracket has never existed. The odds are nearly impossible; the NCAA says it is 1 in 120.2 billion to have immaculate predictions.
“The odds are pretty crazy,” sophomore Caden Nelson said. “It still surprises me that no one has gotten one yet.”
According to CNN, no flawless brackets are remaining in the men’s division. On the other hand, less than one percent of brackets in the women’s competition are still one hundred percent correct.
While some students mainly see March Madness as an opportunity to test their luck, others just enjoy the game of basketball.
“I think looking at a perfect bracket is people trying to quantify something that is unquantifiable,” senior Marshall Lewis said. “I love the game of basketball and I owe everything to it so I just enjoy and love looking at the sets and schemes teams run.”
I think looking at a perfect bracket is people trying to quantify something that is unquantifiable. I love the game of basketball and I owe everything to it so I just enjoy and love looking at the sets and schemes teams run.”
— senior Marshall Lewis
Every team has a unique game plan specifically built around their roster. They look to find plays and stratagems that will benefit the players’ skill sets.
Sometimes the blueprints for victory don’t pan out the way it was expected to. Upsets aren’t uncommon in March Madness.
“It is fun to watch upsets happen that you predicted,” Nelson said. “All the upsets that happen you don’t see in much of anything else.”
In this year’s tournament, the 3rd-seeded Kentucky Wildcats were taken down by the 14th-seeded Oakland Golden Grizzlies in the first round. For most people, that was an unexpected outcome.
Bleacher Report writes that this tournament has proven to be one of the most watched sporting events in the television industry. It shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. Will someone ever defy the odds and craft a perfect bracket?
“[A splendid bracket] could happen,” junior Landon Smallwood said. “There will be more guys going into college basketball, and I think eventually one lucky individual will predict everything correctly.”
