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 is halfway complete. 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 was a mere 0.06% of entrants. And that number dropped even further Thursday night when NC State became the third No. 11 seed to knock off a No. 6 seed.
ESPN pegs the number of perfect brackets left on its site after the first full day of play at 1,825 … out of 22,114,647 entries. The NCAA said after NC State’s upset that less than 200 perfect brackets remain in its own game — though improbably one of those belongs to Atlanta Falcons running back Bijan Robinson.
Thursday’s other bracket busters were Duquesne, Oregon and NC State, all No. 11 seeds. They knocked off No. 6 seeds BYU, South Carolina and Texas Tech, respectively.
After eight games, the NCAA said just 2.43% of brackets remained perfect, but that was 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 hundreds of you out there! You could be the first!
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
