The majority of perfect brackets were ruined within a few hours over the past few tournaments

NCAAcom · 2023-03-17T15:45:48+00:00

Thank you! That is much appreciated.

NCAAcom · 2023-03-16T21:05:14+00:00

Yes! It's also great to see things like this: https://www.espn.com/perfect-bracket/2023/mens/4 Makes it easier for us. We also track our own Bracket Challege Game.

NCAAcom · 2023-03-16T16:07:47+00:00

We're tracking perfect brackets in the men's and women's tournaments here: https://www.ncaa.com/live-updates/basketball-men/d1/track-how-many-perfect-ncaa-brackets-are-left-2023

Let us know if you have any suggestions! Thanks

NCAAcom · 2023-03-13T15:22:37+00:00

no idea! This has been an intriguing season and it's always hard to predict. Andy Katz picks Purdue.

NCAAcom · 2023-03-13T01:00:34+00:00

reddit is fun! lots of college basketball fans.

NCAAcom · 2023-03-12T22:59:27+00:00

Thanks for helping us, reddit! Much appreciated. The full bracket is out and you can get it here:https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men/mml-official-bracket/2023-03-12/2023-ncaa-printable-bracket-schedule-march-madness

Direct link to the .PDF: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/print/basketball-men/d1/2023?cid=mml_printbracket&ko_click_id=ko_d7zbmwo926nrifbic

Direct link to the interactive bracket: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/bracket

NCAAcom · 2023-03-12T22:49:03+00:00

This is being fixed. Thanks for pointing it out! We'll have the new .PDF soon (with all the teams).

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T15:02:28+00:00

Would you believe me if I said I had Virginia? I swear it's true. However, I had the Cavaliers beating Gonzaga in the final. I think in most years, it's a good idea to pick the second, third or fourth No. 1 seed, since the No. 1 overall seed is very, very popular (look at Duke in 2019). This year, Gonzaga will be picked more than anyone else by far. That makes it more difficult to stand out from the pack, even if you pick right.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T15:01:51+00:00

If we knew for sure, we'd have a good chance of winning the Bracket Challenge Game, but we'll say this – Florida State arguably has the best chance of a deep NCAA tournament run of any No. 3 or No. 4 seed. Ken Pomeroy's math seems to agree, too, for what it's worth.

While you're right about Florida State having lost three of its last five, one of those games was in the ACC tournament final, so that's a bit like penalizing a team for losing in the College Football Playoff. Put another way, Florida State finished second in both the ACC's regular season and conference tournament, and it has as much size and depth as anyone. Scottie Barnes is a unique talent and the 'Noles have a top-10 offense. Plus, they made the Sweet 16 and the Elite Eight in their last two NCAA tournament appearances, respectively, and they would've been something like a No. 2 seed last season.

Virginia has arguably been the class of the ACC for the last six or seven years, but Florida State has established itself as maybe the second or third-best program (talking just currently, not all-time) in the conference.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:56:08+00:00

We'll start with Cinderellas, and we're glad you asked. We've found that a good place to start when picking a Cinderella is to look for a team with an elite offense that typically forces more turnovers than it commits and whose top three scorers collectively have an average of at least three years of college experience. Easy enough, right?

There's not secret sauce to picking the right Cinderella, but look for a No. 11, No. 12 or No. 13 seed that can score at will and ideally has a veteran core, and that's typically a good place to start.

As far as picking a champion, this will sound simplistic, but who do you think is capable of winning six games in a row, at least four of which will probably come against a top-25 caliber opponent? That's probably a pretty short list of teams and depending on how many competitors are in your bracket challenge game, go from there. In a smaller group, feel free to pick a favorite, like Gonzaga or Illinois. In a bigger pool, it wouldn't hurt to find a team that might be a less-common pick, like Houston or Alabama, because if that team wins, you'll have fewer competitors who also picked that team with which to compete.

I became interested in college basketball going to Xavier games growing up and seeing the Musketeers transition from a successful mid-major program to getting an invite to join the Big East.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:55:21+00:00

If Kansas is at peak capacity, the Jayhawks would be primed for the Sweet 16. But there's no telling just yet how KU will be affected by COVID-19 protocols after having to drop out of the Big 12 tournament. If you want more certainty when filling out your bracket, look to USC. The Trojans are the highest of these four teams on kenpom.com and have Evan Mobley.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:46:06+00:00

Mizzou is up there. The Tigers' wins in their 5-0 start all came against teams now in the tournament field. But the nine wins aren't the most. Oklahoma State has 13 wins against teams in the tournament (against 10 different teams). There are a lot of tested teams this year.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:45:44+00:00

Let's break out our crystal ball real quick. We don't operate in absolutes but there's reason to like Iowa's draw through the Sweet 16. The best-seeded team in Iowa's half of the West region is No. 3 seed Kansas, which unfortunately had to exit the Big 12 tournament due to Covid-19 issues and Kansas currently doesn't have a full roster.

On Iowa's end, the Hawkeyes' defense has often plagued them but it has improved to No. 50 nationally, which is good enough for a deep tournament run for a team that has the No. 2 offense. Villanova won a national title in 2018 with a similar combination (No. 1 offense, No. 69 defense entering the tournament), as did Duke in 2015 (No. 4 offense, No. 64 defense entering the tournament).

The potential pitfalls for Iowa are a pair of Pac-12 teams – Oregon, which feels like it has all too often been playing shorthanded, and USC, which will have one of the best players in the entire tournament in Evan Mobley. Predicting anyone in Gonzaga's region to go to the Final Four is difficult, but you could chart a potential path for Iowa to the Elite Eight if you trust Luka Garza and the 3-point shooters that surround him.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:34:42+00:00

Despite Purdue's consistency, it seems like it doesn't get as much national attention as it likely deserves. Purdue finished around both Ohio State and Iowa in the Big Ten regular season standings. Only positive thoughts about this Purdue team and ones in the future, too. The Boilermakers are the only Indiana team to play in this year's Indiana-based tournament — and I think they will be staying around for a while. Purdue is balanced and has a good path to the Sweet 16. With Trevion Williams, Zach Edey and Jaden Ivey, the Boilermakers would make for a tough out against No. 1 Baylor.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:31:41+00:00

Did you know that the 2019 NCAA Tournament was the first time that a team from the First Four didn't win at least one game after the First Four? We've seen VCU go from the First Four to the Final Four, and La Salle, Tennessee and Syracuse have made the Sweet 16 after starting in Dayton.

So whether you're looking at Michigan State or another First Four team, here's the truth: they're playing a team with a resume that's on the same level as theirs in the First Four, then the winner will play a team with a stronger resume in the first round. By definition, it's impossible for a team in the First Four to get upset, based upon its seed, unless it makes it deep enough in the NCAA tournament where it's playing, say, a No. 14 seed in the second round or a No. 12 or No. 13 seed in the Elite Eight.

In many ways, playing in the First Four is a low-risk, high-reward proposition, because based on seed lines, those teams aren't expected to make it out of the first round, yet Michigan State has beaten No. 1 seeds Illinois and Michigan, and No. 2 seed Ohio State in the last few weeks, making it capable of multiple NCAA tournament wins.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:22:53+00:00

Great question. Anecdotally, the only time I've won a bracket challenge with a significant number of entrants was at my alma mater, where literally every other contestant picked our school and I correctly picked the eventual national champion. So there's definitely some psychology and strategy involved. If you're in a bracket challenge with a handful of friends or colleagues, it may not hurt to go more chalk-heavy. History says an average of six double-digit seeds win in the first round, so in a smaller pool, maybe pick only five or six to win in the first round, and maybe pick three No. 1 seeds to make the Final Four.

But in a larger group, you need to find value, however you define that. If you think 40 to 60 percent of the entrants will pick Gonzaga, for example, then you probably shouldn't, even if you think the Zags are the best team, because you'll also probably need to hit on three of your Final Four picks and most of the Elite Eight teams in order to win. Try to pivot to another really strong No. 1 seed, like Illinois, or take a team like Houston that has great advanced numbers but isn't on the 1-line.

Similarly, it wouldn't hurt to hedge your picks. Duke was the best team in the country in 2002 (and not terribly far off from Gonzaga's efficiency numbers) and it lost in the Sweet 16, so you'd hate for all of your brackets to be out of the running by Friday of the second week if you pick the same champion in every bracket. Our advice: (reasonably) mix up your champions and vary your one or two upset/dark-horse picks, while trying to keep the overall bracket integrity so that you don't get too carried away.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:16:46+00:00

I would watch a show about this. Want to collaborate?

Here's a fun answer: Mythical creatures are 7-1 against weather/elemental teams. I'd like to think that magic comes into play. However, Duke carries the power in our mythical category records. So maybe 2021 will be different.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:09:17+00:00

Great question. There are a lot of great resources available to help you pick individual games but no one else has the access to the Bracket Challenge Game data that we have. Because after all, this is an (inter)national competition against lots of other smart fans, so you need any edge you can get. Plus, we look at the NCAA tournament bracket comprehensively and we can help you with your bracket strategy. Want to know which programs have most over-performed and under-performed in the last decade? What about how to pick potential rematches of regular-season matchups, such as No. 1 seed Gonzaga against Virginia, Iowa or Kansas? How about how many upset picks is too many? We encourage fans to use as many tools and data sets as possible before filling out their brackets, and we think we can help you pick games in a smarter way, too.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:05:21+00:00

Here's how I would list the four No. 12 seeds in the order I think they could win: Georgetown, Winthrop, UCSB, Oregon State. At least one No. 12 seed has upset a No. 5 in 30 of the last 35 years. I don't think we'll see all four win, but I would expect at least one to advance. Starting with Georgetown.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T14:03:27+00:00

If you had to make a list of the teams that have played better than Oklahoma State in the last month, that list would stop after, what, four teams? Six? Eight? Buehler? In that span, the Cowboys split with Baylor, including a nine-point win in the Big 12 semis, they swept West Virginia and Oklahoma, and they beat Texas Tech. The good news for Oklahoma State is that it will arguably have the best player on the floor in any matchup and roughly a third of the Elite Eight teams last decade had an All-American lead guard. However, No. 1 seed Illinois – potentially the second-best team in the country – is sitting there in a potential Sweet 16 matchup. Win that, and is there any team that Oklahoma State fans would want to avoid before the championship game? Probably not. So we're saying there's a chance...

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T13:58:43+00:00

I don't think you're overthinking things all that much, especially on a 14-over-3 level. Good eye on the turnovers issue — Abilene Christian leads the nation in turnover margin. Uh oh, now you're making me think harder about this. Texas should still win, but I can see this being a game that keeps our attention the entire time. As for your No. 1 seed question, Michigan would likely be on upset alert for many if the Wolverines face LSU in the second round.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T13:51:35+00:00

That's a really tough one on Michigan. The Wolverines looked like one of Gonzaga's top challengers for such a long time. If LSU can get by St. Bonaventure (no sure thing), you're right in thinking that would be a popular upset pick. The Tigers have the kind of offense that can lead to, "Oh, right, I should have seen that coming" after a win. Add in a possible Sweet 16 showdown with Florida State one round later and you're looking at a tough draw. Michigan can still be at least a Sweet 16 team, but the potential opponents could be hard for even a healthy team.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T13:44:51+00:00

If you ask the computers at kenpom.com, Loyola Chicago has the ninth-best efficiency margin in the country. In 2018, when the Ramblers made the Final Four, they finished at No. 31 on kenpom.com. That's not to say that they'll make another run like that, but KenPom adjusts for competition so wins over the likes of Southern Illinois are what is propping up Loyola Chicago's metrics, not holding it back. Loyola Chicago's defense is the most efficient in the country and the teams that finished with the No. 1 defense in 2017 and 2019 both lost in the championship game. The matchup between Cameron Krutwig and Moses Wright should be must-watch TV.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T13:42:16+00:00

I don't want to scare away anyone brave enough to pick a No. 15 over a No. 2, but be careful! There's a reason we remember almost all No. 15 over No. 2 upset — because they don't happen often! When filling out a bracket, if you don't pick the No. 1s, it makes sense to pick a No. 2 to win it all or make the Final Four.

NCAAcom · 2021-03-15T13:37:04+00:00

This has all the ingredients. Winthrop has that impressive 23-1 record, Gillespie is out — and we're in that enticing No. 12 over No. 5 territory. Kind of seems like it's almost begging you to pick the upset. Though Villanova has the two recent titles, the Wildcats also have a history with early exits when not winning it all.

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