March Madness has turned college basketball fans brackets upside down this year. The Sweet Sixteen is underway, but without many of the teams that millions had picked to make it this far. The #1 ranked team in the NCAA Tournament, Kansas was picked to win the title by 42% of the 4.78 million entries on ESPN.com, but was upset by #9 seed Northern Iowa in the second round. Cornell made an unlikely run for the title, and set “Big Red” fan’s hopes ablaze before being taken out by Kentucky last night. Upsets and heartbreaks have been felt all over the bracket grid, including first seed Syracuse’s loss to Butler in Salt Lake City Thursday night. Butler, and its star Shelvin Mack who scored 14 points in last night’s game will now have a shot at making it to the Final Four for the first time in the University’s history.
There are many methods to picking a winner, but sports experts agree all the analysis and basketball knowledge won’t help you 100% of the time. Whether you’re just guessing, or as some husbands do, let their wives chose for them for fun, the chance of getting a bracket right are nearly impossible. According to BookofOdds.com, heading into this week’s Sweet Sixteen, the odds of being perfect are one in just over 13- million. For the entire tournament, those odds drop to an astonishing one in 9.3 QUINTILLION. However, one whiz kid had it right up until last night. Alex Hermann, an autistic Chicago teenager, correctly predicted every game’s outcome before dropping a game. He picked Syracuse to beat Butler. The Sweet Sixteen continues tonight, with Northern Iowa trying to extend their unlikely run. Which team makes it to the Final Four is anyone’s guess.