It’s that time of year when everyone becomes a college basketball expert, spending excessive hours filling out an NCAA Tournament bracket as national productivity takes a hit. Millions are participating in the ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge, with a record-setting 24.4 million brackets filled out for the 2025 contest, surpassing last year’s 22.6 million.
At the peak before the deadline, ESPN reported an astonishing 709 brackets being completed per second, aided by the network’s on-air personalities who actively promoted the challenge.
ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge – Make Picks – Sign up now to play the #1 Men’s bracket game for FREE! $135,000 in prizes.#MarchMadness https://t.co/f9k4LJS8GH
— Chris Mad Dog Russo (@MadDogUnleashed) March 20, 2025
Join me and other @ESPNRadio hosts in our annual NCAA Tournament Challenge. I did the anti-@PeterBurnsESPN and only submitted ONE bracket for our men’s and women’s pools.
Add your bracket here: https://t.co/BnxzCoiZNb pic.twitter.com/8MrN3xxpA4
— Courtney Cronin (@CourtneyRCronin) March 20, 2025
In terms of selections, Duke emerged as the frontrunner, winning 25% of all brackets, followed by Florida at 21%. As expected, more fans chose No. 1 seeds like Auburn, Duke, Florida, and Houston to make it to the Final Four than any other team combinations. However, for those hoping for a unicorn-like “perfect bracket,” the odds are stacked against you—by 5:30 p.m. Thursday, fewer than 8 million perfect brackets remained (you can track this number in real-time at ESPN’s Perfect Bracket Tracker). As noted by CBS Sports, the odds of completing a perfect bracket are approximately 1 in 9.22 quadrillion.
