In a standard 64-team NCAA basketball tournament bracket, what are the odds of picking every game correctly?
1 in 9.2 million
1 in 9.2 trillion
1 in 9.2 billion
1 in 9.2 quintillion
Fact: The odds of correctly predicting every single game in a 64-team NCAA basketball tournament bracket are astronomically low—1 in 9.2 quintillion (that’s 9,200,000,000,000,000,000). This assumes you’re picking each game completely at random, like flipping a coin. With 63 games in total, and two possible outcomes for each, the math works out to 26³ possible bracket combinations. Of course, using basketball knowledge can improve your chances slightly, but even the most informed analysts have never submitted a perfect bracket. That’s what makes March Madness so thrilling—and maddening!
Correct Answer: 1 in 9.2 quintillion