According to USA Today, there is about a one in nine quintillion chance of accurately predicting all 63 games of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, better known as March Madness. The big tournament is set to begin on Tuesday, March 17.

As reported by CNBC, the March Madness tournament is one of the most watched sporting events of the year. In fact, 52 million people watched at least one game, and over 20 million tuned into the finals. There was also a record breaking 3 million brackets filled out on ESPN.com.

Many students enter tournaments either online or with their friends, filling out brackets and predicting who will win each game. It often gets very intense, and the winners usually receive a cash prize.

Maggie Fair ’15 is one of the fanatics excited for the tournament. Last year, Fair watched every game and filled out multiple brackets.

“The tournament is always so much fun to watch,” Fair said. “I fill out a bracket every year for my dad’s office. It’s a big pool and a lot of money is on the line.”

ESPN and company pools aren’t the only ones to host a bracket competition. In fact, students of Staples have organized a bracket pool with a cash prize of $1000.

Last year, Jacob Bonn ’17 won the competition known as the “Big Dance” and took home the grand prize.

“I chose UConn to win it all, and they did. I was the only one in the entire school to choose them,” Bonn said proudly. “The rest of my bracket was terrible, but I won, so I don’t really care.”

Bonn is planning to compete this year and hopes to win again. His bold prediction for this year is for Arizona to win it all. “Number 1 ranked Kentucky will not win,” Bonn said.

Some students may be surprised to hear that some of the teachers also create brackets and participate in challenges. Boys’ varsity basketball coach and gym teacher Colin Devine has been involved in filling out brackets for many years.
“I remember filling out brackets back in the 1970’s when UConn was on the rise,” Devine said. “I’ve been doing it ever since because it makes the tournament fun and unpredictable.”