Viewer’s Guide Round one, Day 2 men’s NCAA tournament action
Mackenzie Salmon highlights the three games you should be watching on Friday, and what makes each of them exciting.
The first round of the NCAA Tournament isn’t even halfway complete yet. Chances are, your bracket is already busted.
Oakland is Thursday’s biggest bracket buster, the No. 14 Golden Grizzlies taking out the No. 3 Kentucky Wildcats.
Per the NCAA, Oakland’s upset left just 2,178 perfect brackets standing in its own bracket game. The NCAA said that’s a mere 0.06% of entrants.
As of 10 p.m. ET, ESPN pegs the number of perfect brackets left on its site at 12,833 … out of 22,114,647 entries.
Thursday’s other bracket busters to this point are Duquesne and Oregon, both No. 11 seeds. They’re the only other double-digit seeds besides Oakland to pull an upset so far, knocking off No. 6 seeds BYU and South Carolina, respectively.
After eight games, the NCAA said just 2.43% of brackets remained perfect, but that’s actually a big step up from last year, when just 0.124% of brackets were unblemished after eight games. Those brackets were decimated by early upsets of No. 4 Virginia and No. 2 Arizona — and saw upsets of No. 6 Iowa State and, most notably, No. 1 Purdue before the first round concluded.
Kentucky’s loss as a No. 3 seed — its second to a double-digit seed in three years — wiped a lot of people out, though. The NCAA said just 5.11% of entrants to its bracket game picked Oakland, with nearly 25% of brackets placing the Wildcats in the Final Four.
Sure, there’s never been a perfect bracket — but there’s still hope for thousands of you out there. If you’re one of the 2.43%, you could be the first to do it!
Christine Lake is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. With an extensive background in sports journalism, he covers everything from major league championships to grassroots sports events. When she’s not on the field or at the stadium, you’ll find Christine coaching youth sports teams.
