The clock is ticking.
Do you have your NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament bracket filled out?
I hope you're felling lucky; you're going to need it.
There are 68 teams and 9.2 quintillion possible bracket combinations.
A Footnote: If you were to count one digit per second, it would take you 291,529,600,000 years to count to 9.2 quintillion.
Jeff Bergen, a mathematics professor at DePaul University told the Chicago Tribune the chances of filling out a perfect bracket would be the equivalent of flipping a coin and having it come up heads 63 times in a row.
Such daunting statistics, however, won't stop fans from plunking down money on the tournament.
According to the American Gaming Association (AGA), Americans will wager $9.2 billion on March Madness this year, up from $9 billion last year.
The 2016 NCAA Tournament begins Tuesday, March 15 with the first two games of the First Four in Dayton.
First round game coverage will begin Thursday, March 17, and Friday, March 18 (Noon-Midnight, both days) with all games available live in their entirety across four national television networks – TBS, CBS, TNT and truTV – and via NCAA March Madness Live.
So as tip-off quickly approaches, I compiled some stats and facts on the NCAA Tournament for your enjoyment.
Final Four Records
Most Points: Bill Bradley (Princeton) 58 points against Wichita St. on March 20, 1965.
Fewest Points at Halftime: 10: Villanova vs Ohio State (25) on March 18, 1939.
Fewest Points at Halftime (both teams) Pittsburgh (18) vs. Wisconsin (14) on March 22, 1941.
This and Stat
Most Points in a Championship Game-44 Bill Walton of UCLA vs Memphis on March 26, 1973
Most Championship Titles: UCLA-11 (1964-1995).
Most Final Four Appearances: North Carolina: 18: 1946-2009
Consecutive Final Four Appearances: UCLA-10: 1967-1976.
Most Final Four Wins: UCLA-25: 1962-2008
Best Final Four Winning Percentage UConn, 88.9 percent: 1999-2011.
Most Appearances in the Sweet 16: North Carolina-26: 1975-2015
Most Consecutive Appearances in the Sweet 16: North Carolina-13: 1981-1993
Most Appearances in the Elite Eight: Kentucky-32: 1951-2015
Most Consecutive Appearances in the Elite Eight: UCLA-10: 1967-1976
Most Tournament Appearances: Kentucky-54: 1942-2015
Consecutive Tournament Appearances: North Carolina-27: 1975-2001
Most Tournament Wins: Kentucky-168: 1942-2015
Consecutive Tournament Wins: UCLA-38: 1964-1974.
All-Time No. 1 Seeds-North Carolina-14: 1979-2012
Duke has knocked off a number 1 seed 9 times (1980-2015) a tournament record
Seven no. 15 seeds have won a tournament game.
There have been seven 15 seeds that have defeated 2 seeds (5.65%) in the first round.
How Did You Fare in the First Round?
Between 1985-2015, the number 1 seed is 104-0 in the first round, 111-12 in the second round, 16-4 in the third round, 85-22 in the regional semi-final: 51-34 in the regional final, 29-22 in the national semi-final, and 19-10 in the championship game.
No. 2 seeds are 100-4 in the first round
No. 3 seed are 88-16 in the first round
No. 15 seed are 4-100 in the first round
75 Years of March Madness Celebration
NOTE: Selected by fan voting before the 2014 tournament on NCAA.com and a panel of experts that included former committee members, the NABC and the USBWA
Top Team: 1976 Indiana (32-0)
Top Moment: Christian Laettner’s mesmerizing buzzer beater which gave Duke a 104-103 overtime win over Kentucky in the 1992 East Regional championship game.
Top 15 Players
Lew Alcindor, UCLA (1967-68-69)
Larry Bird, Indiana St. (1979)
Bill Bradley, Princeton (1965)
Patrick Ewing, Georgetown (1982-84-85)
Grant Hill, Duke (1991-92, 94)
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Michigan St. (1979)
Michael Jordan, North Carolina (1982)
Christian Laettner, Duke (1989-92)
Jerry Lucas, Ohio St. (1960-61)
Danny Manning, Kansas (1986)
Akeem Olajuwon, Houston (1983-84)
Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati (1959-60)
Bill Russell, San Francisco (1955-56)
Bill Walton, UCLA (1972-73-74)
Jerry West, West Virginia (1959)
Early Round Stunners
1985: In the Second Round, No. 8 seed Villanova upset no. 1 seed Michigan, 59-55.
1986: In the First Round, No. 14 seed Cleveland State University upset no. 3 seed Indiana, 83-79.
1996: In the First Round, No. 13 seed Princeton beat no. 4 seed UCLA, 43-41.
1997: In the First Round, No. 15 seed Coppin St. shocked no. 2 seed South Carolina, 78-65
2012: In the Second Round, No. 15 seed Lehigh knocked off no. 2 seed Duke, 75-70
2013: In the Second Round, No. 14 seed Harvard ends the season of no. 3 seed New Mexico, 68-62.
Most Schools from One State in One Tournament
California-7 schools: 2002 (California, UC Santa Barbara, Pepperdine, San Diego St., Southern California, Stanford, UCLA).
Texas-7 schools: 2010 (Baylor, Houston, North Texas, Sam Houston St., Texas, Texas A&M, UTEP)
Highest Rated Tournament Game
March 26, 1979: Michigan St. vs. Indiana St. CH NBC 17,950,000 homes; Rating Share: 38 percent.
Did you Know....?
1946: The championship game was televised locally for the first time in New York City by WCBS-TV as Oklahoma State defeated North Carolina, 43-40. The viewing audience was estimated to be 500,000.
1975: The term “Final Four” first appeared in an NCAA publication, the 1975 Official Collegiate Basketball Guide. On Page 5 in the National Preview-Review section written by Ed Chay of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Chay wrote, “Outspoken Al McGuire of Marquette, whose team was one of the final four in Greensboro, was among several coaches who said it was good for college basketball that UCLA was finally beaten.” The first time Final Four was capitalized was in the 1978 basketball guide.
The only independent team to win the NCAA title was Marquette in 1977
1985: The tournament bracket was expanded to include 64 teams, which eliminated all first-round byes.
1992: Duke won its second consecutive national championship, the first team to successfully defend its title since UCLA in 1973.
1994: President Bill Clinton became the first sitting president to attend the Final Four, where he watched his home state Arkansas team win the NCAA title.
2000: The NCAA and the Illinois High School Association formed the “March Madness Athletic Association” and applied for trademark registration for the term “March Madness.” The registration was granted in 2001.
2001: For the first time, the NCAA registered a trademark for the term “Big Dance,” with a stated first use of 2000.
In 2009, President Barack Obama became the first president to fill out the NCAA tournament bracket on television. Obama correctly picked the eventual champion North Carolina Tar Heels.
-Bill Lucey
March 14, 2016
Source: NCAA
