Last Perfect 2019 March Madness Bracket Spoiled by Purdue's Win over Tennessee
The quest for the first completely perfect NCAA tournament bracket in history has been prolonged to 2020 as the last remaining perfect bracket was busted by No. 3 Purdue's overtime defeat of No. 2 Tennessee.
Gregg Nigl, a 40-year-old neuropsychologist, had correctly predicted the tournament's first two rounds and became the first person to own a clean bracket heading into the Sweet 16.
Nigl was in Anaheim, California, on Thursday to watch No. 1 Gonzaga defeat No. 4 Florida State—as he predicted—when his record-breaking run was spoiled across the country in Louisville:
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Daniel Wilco of NCAA.com outlined the improbability of Nigl's feat:
"For reference, if every game were a coin toss, the odds of predicting 49 in a row are 1 in 562,949,953,421,312. So, yeah, this was kinda impressive. When we reached Nigl Monday, he had absolutely no idea that he had a perfect bracket.
"'So wait, you’re saying I’m the first person to have ever done this?' Nigl asked when we told him the news. "This is wild. I can't even believe it. I had no idea that this was even happening.'"
Sometimes, being lucky is better than being good.
Even if Tennessee had completed its 18-point comeback, Nigl would have been busted later on Thursday night as No. 2 Michigan fell 63-44 to No. 3 Texas Tech.
Before Nigl, the most games a person had correctly selected was 39 in a row in 2017.
