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March Madness fans were hit hard at this year’s tournament as nearly 36 million brackets were eliminated Thursday following a series of early first-round upsets.
The NCAA reported Friday Of the more than 36 million brackets filled across major online sports platforms, there are approximately 14,000 perfect brackets remaining through the first 16 matches of the men’s tournament.
High Point Panthers fans watch before a game against the Wisconsin Badgers in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at the Moda Center in Portland, Ore., March 19, 2026. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)
At a minimum, that’s about 35,986,000 broken media.
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The biggest win was No. 9 seed TCU’s narrow 66-64 victory over No. 8 seed Ohio State that left just 14.5 million perfect brackets intact. Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA tournament win against Troy, which was a brutal 76-47 loss, cleared an additional 2.5 million brackets.
But it was the upheavals that brought that figure down to more than 14,000.
Siena Saints fans watch the first half of a game against the Duke Blue Devils in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina on March 19, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
High Point’s improbable 83-82 victory over No. 5 Wisconsin as a No. 12 seed did the most damage, bringing the total number of perfect predictions to just 2.3 million, and that figure was cut in half again when Louisville outlasted USF, 83-79.
UNC collapses late, blows 19-point lead in shocking overtime loss to VCU
As the day progressed, that number fell below the one million mark. But TCU’s historic win over UNC left just over 300,000 brackets perfect.
Saint Louis’ dominant win over Georgia and Gonzaga’s expected win over Kennesaw State rounded out the day for just over 14,000 brackets intact, leaving just 0.039% of the original brackets unblemished.
Nebraska Cornhuskers fans react during the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in a game against the Troy Trojans at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 19, 2026. (Shane Bevel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
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According to the NCAA, last year’s figure after the first day was 36,000. The lowest in recent memory was in 2021, when there were just 121 perfect brackets remaining.
