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Jul 14, 2023

March Madness: How many perfect brackets remain?

FILE: NCAA bracket in 2019. by: Christopher Adams Posted: Mar 16, 2023 /

FILE: NCAA bracket in 2019.

by: Christopher Adams

Posted: Mar 16, 2023 / 04:26 PM CDT

Updated: Mar 17, 2023 / 08:19 PM CDT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — If you made a bracket in this year's NCAA Men's Tournament, you’re not alone!

More than 20 million brackets were made on ESPN, but just hours into the tournament, the vast majority were already busted.

And with #1 Purdue's loss to #16 Fairleigh Dickinson, all brackets are officially busted.

The first game of the tournament was brutal to brackets nationwide, with more than half busted. About 51% of brackets incorrectly predicted a Maryland win over West Virginia.

Furman's upset win over Virginia then dropped the number of perfect brackets to less than 10%. More than 8 million brackets were busted in that game alone.

The number of perfect brackets then dropped by half thanks to Missouri's win over Utah State. Almost 840,000 remained at that point, about 4.2% of all brackets.

Another 250,000 brackets busted as Charleston lost to San Diego State, then Arizona's loss to Princeton killed another 430,000 brackets. At that point, just 34,922 perfect brackets, 0.2%, remained.

Just 22 brackets remained before Purdue's loss.

With 63 games in total, how long does it usually take for all brackets to bust?

According to the NCAA, an Ohio man correctly predicted the outcomes of the first 49 games of the 2019 tournament, the current record. Gregg Nigl, of Columbus, picked the correct winner for every game through to the Sweet Sixteen.

Last year, perfect brackets only remained through the 28th game. This time, it took just 25 games for all brackets to bust.

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