Well, the dream was fun while it lasted — all two-ish hours of it.
The bid for a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket disappeared for more than 25 million people by mid-afternoon on Thursday, fueled by 12th-seeded High Point's first-round stunner over fifth-seeded Wisconsin.
That was just the start. By the end of the first day of March Madness, fewer than 1% of entries in the ESPN bracket challenge were blemish-free.
High Point was one of four double-digit seeds to win. Following the Panthers were No. 11 seeds VCU and Texas and 10th-seeded Texas A&M.
Some of those upsets weren't that surprising.
North Carolina didn't have freshman sensation and leading scorer Caleb Williams (broken thumb) in its 82-78 overtime loss to VCU. Of course, that was no excuse for the Tar Heels blowing a 19-point lead in the second half.
BYU never really recovered from losing star Richie Saunders (torn ACL) two months ago, having lost five of nine entering the tournament, and it couldn't make it all the way back from a 17-point deficit before losing 79-71 to the Longhorns.
Saint Mary's leading scorer Paulius Murauskas didn't start because of an illness and was limited to four points in 23 minutes of a 63-50 loss to Texas A&M.
ESPN reported that just over 24,000 of its 26.5 million brackets remained perfect through the first 12 games.
Just think how many more would have been busted if 16th-seeded Siena could have held on to its double-digit lead against top-seeded Duke.
The odds of going 67 for 67 (or 63 for 63 if you don't pick the First Four) in the bracket are longer than one of those 3-pointers hoisted up by High Point's Chase Johnston. Way longer.
The NCAA estimates the chances of ending the tournament with a zero in the loss column range anywhere from one in 9.2 quintillion (if you flip a coin for every game). The odds drop a little if you make educated guesses — all the way to one in 120 billion.
The NCAA's own bracket challenge looked a lot like ESPN's, with only 0.09% of entries still having a shot at perfection after a dozen games.
But hey, maybe things are going better for you in the office pool. The NCAA estimates there are anywhere between 60 and 100 million brackets filled out each year, only a portion of which are done in online challenges.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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