We’re only halfway through the first round, but there are very few perfect men’s NCAA tournaments left.
Furman and Princeton took care of that.
Just seven games into the first round of the NCAA tournament, only 0.06% of brackets made through Yahoo Sports were still perfect. By the end of the night, only 23 perfect brackets remained.
The drop off was also quite fast. No. 13 Furman stunned No. 4 Virginia, 68-67, on Thursday afternoon in the second game of the day after JP Pegues drilled a 3-pointer from the wing in the closing seconds. That just gave the Paladins their second-ever NCAA tournament win, and their first win since 1974.
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Only 13.5% of Yahoo fans chose Furman to win his first game. Only 42% of the brackets had No. 8 Maryland beating No. 9 West Virginia in the first game of the day.
That left only 5.4% of hooks perfect after the first two games.
No. 7 Missouri’s victory over No. 10 Utah State in the third game then left just 2.88% of the brackets perfect. Utah State was one of the most popular opponents heading into the tournament, and the Aggies were even favorites to win. However, Missouri led almost the whole way and then surged ahead near the end to take the 11-point win.
After that game, 20.8% of brackets were 0-3.
Princeton then cut the group of perfect brackets even further. The Tigers shocked No. 2 Arizona with a 59-55 victory later Thursday afternoon — which ruined many brackets, including one from President Joe Biden, who had the Wildcats as his national champions. Arizona was the sixth most popular pick to win the whole thing, and the most popular No. 2 seed. Only 2.94% of users chose Princeton to beat Arizona.
The rest of the first day was much quieter. Outside No. 9 Auburn beat No. 8 Iowa and No. 10 Penn State outright over No. 7 Texas A&M, the higher seeds winning the rest of the way.
Yet at the end of the day, only 23 brackets chose all 16 games correctly.
Actually completing a perfect streak is the ultimate NCAA tournament dream, even if the chances of doing so are astronomical. It usually takes more than a few hours to see so many broken brackets.