Has there ever been a perfect March Madness bracket? Taking a look at history behind the rare event

The unpredictability of March Madness is one reason the annual college basketball tournament captivates millions of fans across the United States. Things gets even more interesting when one remembers that fans traditionally predict the bracket for the postseason tournament.

Every year, college basketball enthusiasts fill out brackets in an attempt to predict the outcome of each game of the tournament. The allure of crafting a perfect bracket, one that correctly forecasts every single game in the tournament, has become a tantalizing dream for many.

However, despite the millions of brackets submitted every year, there's never been a perfect bracket that correctly predicted the outcome of all 63 games in March Madness. The sheer number of possible combinations has made it an improbable feat for several decades.

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The likelihood of predicting a perfect March Madness bracket

The likelihood of predicting a perfect March Madness bracket is exceedingly slim irrespective of one's familiarity with college basketball. According to the NCAA, there is a one in 9.2 quintillion chance of correctly guessing a perfect bracket, showcasing how impossible the feat is.

Despite the advancement in analytics in modern days and increased accessibility to live games, the difficulty of predicting a perfect bracket has reached unprecedented levels. We’ve seen the No.1 seed teams getting eliminated in the first round in recent years.

Nonetheless, the difficulty involved in predicting a perfect March Madness bracket does not discourage millions of fans from participating annually. The NCAA announced in 2023 that over 20 million submissions were made by fans across the United States for the year's tournament.

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The closest anyone has been to a perfect bracket

In more than three decades of March Madness' bracket prediction, the closest anyone has ever been to crafting a perfect bracket came in 2019. Gregg Nigl, a neuropsychologist, gained fame for his "center road" bracket in the Capital One bracket challenge.

Remarkably, Nigl correctly predicted the outcomes of the first 49 games of the 2019 NCAA Tournament. His brilliant streak ended in the 50th game when No. 3 Purdue defeated No. 2 Tennessee 99-94 in overtime during the second game of the Sweet 16.

It's worth noting that the longest streak of correct picks before Nigl’s feat came in 2017. It correctly predicted the first 39 games of the tournament that year in the Yahoo bracket game, falling short in the 40th game when Iowa recorded a comeback against Purdue.