So, how is your March Madness bracket looking? Pretty busted? Or are you still in the hunt?
One thing is for sure: it isn’t perfect. That’s because a 14-year-old 8th grader from suburban Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the only person left out of over 41 million with a perfect March Madness bracket.
That includes both the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments.
Who is this eighth grader with the perfect March Madness bracket?
His name is Otto Schellhammer. And get this. He claims to know nothing about basketball.
“I know people say this a lot about March Madness,” Schellhammer told The Associated Press, “but it was 100% luck. I know basically nothing about any type of basketball.” He added that he plays basketball with his friends, but doesn’t “really watch it.”
Of course, now that he is the only person out of 41.2 million to still have a perfect March Madness bracket left (it’s on the women’s side), he is becoming a fast learner.
“I think it’s absolutely hilarious,” his mother, Amy, told The AP. “It’s just so fun to see. It’s exciting. I’m excited he’s into women’s basketball now. He’s been watching and it’s making him more excited about it.”
So far, he is 48-for-48 in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge for the women’s NCAA basketball tournament. That means he just needs to get 15 more correct, including having Texas win the title over UConn on April 5 in Phoenix. (He has TCU beating South Carolina in the Elite 8.)
“TCU and South Carolina is definitely one I would probably go back, and not to knock Texas but I’d probably re-pick the championship, because UConn is a powerhouse,” he said. “You never know. If there’s ever going to be an upset it’s going to be in March Madness.”
What are the odds of picking a perfect NCAA tournament bracket?
By the way, that 41.2 million number comes from Mike Benzie, the senior director of content for NCAA Digital. He is the one who calculated the total number of entries for seven of the largest March Madness contests. Benzie says there are about 36 million men’s entries and 5.2 million on the women’s side. The numbers don’t include the millions of smaller pools.
Oh, the odds of picking a perfect March Madness bracket? It’s somewhere around 1 in 9.2 quintillion. That’s 9.2 with 17 zeroes behind it. Good luck, Otto.