March Madness

March Madness Mayhem: 99.999% of brackets busted by Friday’s action

Friday’s March Madness games saw another upset as No. 12 Colorado State upset No.5 Memphis, leaving almost no more perfect brackets early in the tournament.

STEPH CHAMBERS | AFP

Jennifer Bubel

Sports journalist who grew up in Dallas, TX. Lover of all things sports, she got her degree from Texas Tech University (Wreck ‘em Tech!) in 2011. Joined Diario AS USA in 2021 and now covers mostly American sports (primarily NFL, NBA, and MLB) as well as soccer from around the world.

Update: Mar 22nd, 2025 08:13 EDT

There have already been quite a few surprises in this year’s men’s March Madness tournament, including an upset by No. 12 Colorado State, who beat No. 5 Memphis on Friday.

The upsets have crushed millions of people’s hopes of a perfect bracket, as there are almost none left after Friday’s games.

The Great Bracket Bust

Through Friday’s first round of games, the number of perfect brackets in the tournament was down to 81 out of 34 million according to NCAA. That’s just 0.0000002% left with perfect brackets.

Anybody good at math? 👀#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/5R5ccdzcY9
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2025

Other trackers like ESPN, Yahoo Sports, and CBS also reported nearly zero perfect brackets left as well.

ESPN’s listed 121 out of 24 million. Yahoo Sports and CBS were both down to a mathematical zero, with CBS reporting just 0.0008% of untarnished brackets.

The biggest upset occurred on Thursday when McNeese beat Clemson 69-67, ruining 85% of Yahoo’s brackets and 6.6 million ESPN brackets.

The perfect bracket exists...almost

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The men’s second round begins today (Saturday) and continues on Sunday.

March Madness Men’s Second Round Schedule

Saturday, March 22

No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 BYU, 7:45 p.m. (CBS)
No. 2 St. John’s vs. No. 10 Arkansas, 2:40 p.m. (CBS)
No. 4 Texas A&M vs. No. 5 Michigan, 5:15 p.m. (CBS)
No. 3 Texas Tech vs. No. 11 Drake, 6:10 p.m. (TNT)
No. 1 Auburn vs. No. 9 Creighton, 7:10 p.m. (TBS)
No. 3 Wisconsin vs. No. 6 BYU, 7:45 p.m. (CBS)
No. 1 Houston vs. No. 8 Gonzaga, 8:40 p.m. (TNT)
No. 2 Tennessee vs. No. 7 UCLA, 9:40 p.m. (TBS)

Sunday, March 23

No. 1 Florida vs. No. 8 UConn, 12:10 p.m. (CBS)
No. 1 Duke vs. No. 9 Baylor, 2:40 p.m. (CBS)
No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 6 Illinois, 5:15 p.m. (CBS)
No. 2 Alabama vs. No. 7 Saint Mary’s, 6:10 p.m. (TNT)
No. 4 Maryland vs. No. 12 Colorado State, 7:10 p.m. (TBS)
No. 3 Iowa State vs. No. 6 Ole Miss, 7:45 p.m. (truTV)
No. 2 Michigan State vs. No. 10 New Mexico, 8:40 p.m. (TNT)
No. 4 Arizona vs. No. 5 Oregon, 9:40 p.m. (TBS)

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