The odds of creating a perfect NCAA College Basketball bracket range in 1 to 9,000,000,000,000,000,000. Yes, you read that correct that is 18 zeros.
When Warren Buffet and Quicken Loans set out a billion dollar cash prize for creating a perfect bracket, there wasn’t much to worry about.
However, the 9.2 “quintillion” probability didn’t stop March Madness fans from trying their luck for the big payday.
The NCAA Basketball Tournament is composed of total of 68 teams from all over the country. 32 teams gain automatic entry into the tournament by winning their conference championship, while the remaining teams are chosen by a selection committee. The selection committee chooses the remaining seeds through factors such as record, strength of schedule and the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).
The RPI comprises the winning percentages of teams, opponents, and opponents opponent’s, along with strength of schedule to provide a guideline for the selection committee to chose from.
March Madness, which has become exactly what the nickname entails, is heaven for college basketball fans.
The task of creating a perfect bracket has been deemed almost impossible, yet year after year crazed fans attempt their luck at the feat.
Every year, there are shocking upsets that send fans quest for the perfect bracket to doom. For those who entered the Buffet Bracket challenge, this year’s major upset struck early.
The number 11 seed Dayton Flyers shook up 84 percent of the Buffet Bracket challengers by defeating Ohio State 60-59, with a game winning layup in the final seconds.
Later in the evening, after Memphis outlasted George Washington, the quest for a billion dollars was over.
The game that ended most of the participants hopes, however it was another stunning upset by the Mercer Bears against the Duke Blue Devils that lessened the winning percentages for the Buffet challenge participants.
The Blue Devils entered the tournament as the 3rd seed and quickly saw their hopes of a Final Four appearance quickly shot down by the 14 seeded Bears.
Coach Krzyzewski of Duke described the game as “men versus boys” as the senior laden Bears used their experience to guide them to a 78-71 victory against the Bue Devils.
From the trends of March Madness brings year annually, it seems as if “Month of the Upsets” seems more fitting.
As the tournament continues, so have the upsets. Teams such as George Washington, Stanford, Mercer, Dayton, North Dakota, Harvard, Stephen F. Austin, and Connecticut have pulled some impressive upsets as they were busting brackets all over the nation.
With each and every upset, the Madness of March heightens and the perfect bracket hopes dwindle.
As the tourney continues, it will be interesting to see if these bracket buster teams evolve into Cinderella stories.
Dayton pulled off another stunning upset overthird seeded Syracuse in the second round, 55-53. After defeating some of basketball Goliaths, it will be interesting to see where Dayton and their 35 year old coach Archie Miller head as they enter into the later rounds.
The Stanford Cardinal entered the tournament as the tenth seed and quickly made their presence known by defeating the seventh seeded New Mexico Lobos. In their next bout, they would face highly touted freshman Andrew Wiggins the No.2 Kansas Jayhawks.
Wiggins and teammate Wayne Selden Jr. giggled during a press conference when asked how they would plan to control Stanford’s leading scorer Chasson Randle. Wiggins, however, should have been asked how he would plan to score, as he was limited to 1 for 6 shooting from the field after averaging 28 points in the Jayhawks in the previous four games.
Randle finished with 13 points shooting 6-12 from the field yet his team upset the Jayhawks 60-57 to move on to the next round.
The two upset-minded teams of the tournament, Dayton and Stanford, will match up in the next round to become the front-runners of this year’s Cinderella story.
As ironic as it may sound, number one seeds usually do not have a lot of success in the tournament. Early Sunday evening, the tournament saw its first number one seed exit the tourney.
After leading the majority of the game, Wichita State, who only lost one game prior to the tournament, lost a dramatic game to the Kentucky Wildcats. The game came down to the final three seconds as Wichita State missed a go-ahead three pointer to seal the game in favor of the Shockers.
Maybe describing the tournament as “Madness” was right after all.
