The annual college basketball tournament, known as “March Madness”, is in full swing. Each year, people around the nation fill out tournament-brackets for who they think will advance through the madness, and who will go home.
This year, Warren Buffett, one of the richest people on the planet, offered $1 billion to whomever could fulfill the daunting challenge of completing the perfect March Madness bracket—the ‘Quicken Loans Billion Dollar Bracket Challenge’. Though 11 million people signed up to play, nobody will be taking home that money due to the crazy upsets of this tournament.
The majority of the population fell out of the race after the very first game, when the No. 11 seed Dayton Flyers took down the No. 6 seed Ohio State Buckeyes in a 60-59 contest. The day-one upsets continued with the No. 12 seed North Dakota State Bison defeating the No. 5 seed Oklahoma Sooners 80-75 in overtime, followed by a 61-57 contest from the No. 12 Harvard Crimson over the No. 5 Cincinnati Bearcats. By the end of the day, 83.7% of entrees were eliminated from winning the money.
Day two did no justice to anyone, either; there was no stopping the underdogs from beating the favorites. In the early afternoon, the No. 3 seed Duke Blue Devils were outplayed by the No. 14 seed Mercer Bears 78-71. Later on, No. 7 New Mexico Lobos were defeated 58-53 by the No. 10 Stanford Cardinal. At this point, not a single bracket was left in contention for the billion.
As shown by this round, alone, it is clear that no one is safe in the NCAA Tournament; hence, the name ‘March Madness’ is quite suitable for this event. Though one team will cut down the nets in Arlington Texas on Sunday, April 6, zero will walk home with Warren Buffett’s $1 billion for a perfect bracket.