How many perfect brackets remain? March Madness leaves less than handful
How many perfect brackets remain? March Madness leaves less than handful
Ehsan Kassim, USA TODAY NETWORKSun, March 22, 2026 at 12:23 PM UTC
0
How many perfect brackets remain? March Madness leaves less than handful
Chances are, you no longer have a perfect bracket.
Well, scratch that: It's almost guaranteed you don't have a perfect bracket through three days of the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament with half the field set for the Sweet 16 through Saturday, March 21.
REQUIRED READING: March Madness games today: Breaking down Sunday's men's NCAA Tournament matchups
Fans already faced impossibly long odds of creating a perfect bracket. So having upsets on Day 1 took out a massive chunk of brackets. However, the chalkiness of the ensuing games — with just one double-digit seed headed to the Sweet 16 — likely also eliminated a bunch of brackets.
Blame Texas. Blame Gonzaga.
Advertisement
Here's a look at how many perfect brackets remain in March Madness, with plenty more opportunities for upsets on the horizon:
1 / 0See best of March Madness 2026, from mascots and fans to celebrities
A Texas Christian University Horned Frogs cheerleader practices before the game during a first round game of the men's 2026 NCAA Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 19, 2026 in Greenville, SC.
How many people still have perfect bracket in March Madness?
Last 8 a.m. ET on March 22
ESPN: 2 perfect brackets remain (beginning with 26,029,409)
NCAA: 2 perfect brackets remain
As of 8 a.m. ET on March 22, four perfect brackets remain in either the ESPN or NCAA bracket challenges. The NCAA did not provide the full number of brackets entered, but ESPN did. Only two of the 26,029,409 remain.
The biggest culprit on Saturday was No. 11 Texas' upset win over No. 3 Gonzaga. Before the game, 120 perfect brackets remained. Following the Longhorns' win, we were down to 27.
The four remaining perfect brackets
Here they are. The four smartest (or luckiest) bracketologists (of more than 26 million) of the 2026 NCAA Tournament, according to the NCAA:
"Cody underdog" on MBCG — Purdue, Kentucky, Kansas, Virginia, Florida, Arizona, UCLA, Texas Tech
"megs4525875" on MBCG — Purdue, Iowa State, Kansas, Virginia, Florida, Arizona, UConn, Alabama
"christienter" on ESPN — Purdue, Iowa State, St. John's, Virginia, Florida, Arizona, UConn, Texas Tech
"Mini-mi-2448's Picks 24" on ESPN — Purdue, Iowa State, Kansas, Tennessee, Florida, Arizona, UCLA, Texas Tech
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How many brackets are still perfect in March Madness? Tracking brackets
Source: “AOL Sports”
