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March Madness fans took an early hit in this year’s tournament as nearly 36 million brackets were busted Thursday following a series of early first-round upsets.
NCAA reported Friday that of the more than 36 million brackets completed across major online sports platforms, around 14,000 perfect brackets remain through the first 16 games 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, Oregon on March 19, 2026. (Soobum Im/Getty Images)
At least that’s about 35,986,000 burst mounts.
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The biggest bracket buster was No. 9 seed TCU’s narrow 66-64 win over No. 8 seed Ohio State, which left just 14.5 million perfect brackets intact. Nebraska’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win over Troy, a brutal 76-47 beatdown, eliminated another 2.5 million brackets.
But it was the disruptions that brought that number down to over 14,000.
Siena Saints fans watch during 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, March 19, 2026. (Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
High Point’s improbable 83-82 win over No. 5 Wisconsin as the No. 12 seed did the most damage, bringing the total number of flawless predictions down to just 2.3 million, and that number was cut in half again as Louisville outlasted USF, 83-79.
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As the day went on, that number dipped below the million mark. But TCU’s historic comeback win over UNC left just over 300,000 perfect brackets.
Saint Louis’ dominating win over Georgia and Gonzaga’s expected win over Kennesaw State rounded out the day with just over 14,000 brackets intact, leaving just 0.039% of the original brackets clear.
Nebraska Cornhuskers fans react during the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in a game against the Troy Trojans at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on March 19, 2026. (Shane Bevel/NCAA Images via Getty Images)
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According to the NCAA, last year’s number after the first day was 36,000. The lowest in recent memory was in 2021, when only 121 perfect brackets remained.
