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March Madness Shocker: 36 Million Brackets Eliminated!

3/20/2026

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Summary

Story summary

March Madness experienced a major upset on March 20, 2026, with nearly 36 million brackets eliminated in the first round.
The NCAA reported only about 14,000 perfect brackets remained after 16 games.
Key upsets included No. 9 seed TCU defeating No. 8 seed Ohio State and Nebraska winning its first NCAA Tournament game against Troy.
High Point's victory over No. 5 Wisconsin significantly impacted predictions, leaving just 2.3 million perfect brackets.
By day's end, only 0.039% of brackets remained perfect, compared to 36,000 the previous year.

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Story summary

March Madness experienced a major upset on March 20, 2026, with nearly 36 million brackets eliminated in the first round.
The NCAA reported only about 14,000 perfect brackets remained after 16 games.
Key upsets included No. 9 seed TCU defeating No. 8 seed Ohio State and Nebraska winning its first NCAA Tournament game against Troy.
High Point's victory over No. 5 Wisconsin significantly impacted predictions, leaving just 2.3 million perfect brackets.
By day's end, only 0.039% of brackets remained perfect, compared to 36,000 the previous year.