The Wildest Stats About the Men's NCAA Tournament
The world doesn't stop when March Madness begins, but both passionate sports fans and casual observers alike are quick to embrace the NCAA tournament every year.
As a product of that immense engagement, we measure it all.
On the court, there are any number of records or noteworthy statistical trends to cover. Off the court, there's the bracket—the single largest driver of participation among the masses—and money, money, along with a whole lot more money.
Heading into the 2022 men's tournament, we're highlighting seven of the wildest numbers in March Madness.
The Odds of a Perfect Bracket
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No story of this nature is done without mentioning the preposterous odds of picking a perfect bracket. Yes, it's common to read, but that's probably numbed us to the near-impossibility. The odds of a 67-of-67 bracket are 1 in 9.2 quintillion.
For reference, here is 1 trillion: 1,000,000,000,000
And then, this is 9.2 quintillion: 9,200,000,000,000,000,000
From another perspective, consider that University of Hawaii researchers estimated there are 7.5 quintillion grains of sand on Earth. You have a better chance to correctly identify a single speck of sand on the planet than pick all 67 winners.
To date, the longest verifiable streak is 49 games—an incredible accomplishment that still ended before the Elite Eight.
The Single-Game Points Record
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Modern teams surpass the 100-point barrier once in a while. Since the 2011 tournament, a team has cracked triple digits just eight times. Plus, six of those performances happened in the first or second round against either a No. 15 or 16 seed.
Several decades ago, it was a regular sight. And no team has ever tested a scoreboard like Loyola-Marymount.
During the 1990 tournament, the 11th-seeded Lions shattered the previous record of 127 with 149 points to beat No. 3 seed Michigan. The wildest part is Loyola racked up that number in regulation; St. Joe's needed four overtimes to hit 127 in 1961.
The second-highest total belongs to UNLV, which scored 131 exactly one week later to eliminate Loyola from the 1990 tourney.
Austin Carr's Scoring Records
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In the history of the NCAA tournament, nobody has scored like Notre Dame star Austin Carr. He holds the record for points per game (52.7 in 1970) and ranks second (41.7 in 1971) as well.
Carr poured in 61 during a first-round matchup with Ohio in 1970, leading the Fighting Irish to a 112-82 victory.
Strictly for fun, compare that single-game tournament record to team performances in the 2021 edition of March Madness. Among the 132 point totals in 66 games, 36 teams scored fewer than 61 points—and each of UCLA (51), Drake (53), Abilene Christian (53), Norfolk State (54), Texas Southern (60) and Rutgers (60) won despite ending below the mark.
Carr is March's undisputed per-game scoring champion.
No. 6, 7 and 8 Seeds Have Won It All, but Never a No. 5
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Since the Big Dance expanded to 64 teams in 1985, almost every top-eight seed has secured a national title.
In this case, however, five is the loneliest number.
No. 8 Villanova shocked top-seeded Georgetown in 1985, and No. 6 Kansas upended top-seeded conference rival Oklahoma in 1988. Connecticut finally broke through for No. 7 seeds in 2014, defeating No. 8 Kentucky to win that championship.
Florida (2000), Indiana (2002) and Butler (2010) have represented the fifth seed in the championship. However, both Florida and Michigan State lost by double digits. Butler missed a title by inches—maybe even literally one—when Gordon Hayward's half-court prayer at the buzzer clanged off the backboard and rim against Duke.
Someday, No. 5s. Someday.
Place Your Bets
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The featured attraction is the bracket. Friends and coworkers who know absolutely nothing about and have little interest in college basketball are often open to joining a bracket pool, and some are even willing to commit a few dollars to the competition.
But the continued rise of legalized gambling means the majority of wagers are headed to non-bracket contests.
According to the American Gaming Association, an estimated 45 million Americans will place $3.1 billion on the line during the 2022 men's NCAA tournament. The group shared that survey respondents expect to place 76 percent of their wagers on non-bracket bets, which increased from 55 percent in 2021.
"There's no doubt this year will generate the highest legal handle in March Madness history," AGA president Bill Miller said.
Cost of Advertising
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If you're interested in the Super Bowl, you've probably heard the expensive rates for advertising during the game. This year, for example, companies spent $6.5 million for a 30-second spot, per NBC.
While the NCAA tournament isn't that costly, it's certainly one of the more high-priced events.
According to Jon Springer of Ad Age, a 30-second commercial during the 2022 championship game runs north of $2 million. As of early March, he noted the inventory is "essentially sold out."
Though viewership declined in 2021, the clash between Baylor and Gonzaga still reached an average of 16.9 million people, per CNBC's Jabari Young.
Money, Money, Money
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When the NCAA called off the 2020 tournament in response to the coronavirus pandemic, it lost out on approximately $530 million after accounting for a $270 million insurance policy.
It returned to immense cash flow in 2021, though.
CBS and Turner—which owns Bleacher Report—paid a combined $850 million for rights to televise the tournament. That number is scheduled to increase by $20 million in 2022, so TV rights alone account for nearly three-fourths of the NCAA's annual revenue (which was $1.15 billion in 2021).
We love the buzzer-beaters and captivating games, but money drives the NCAA tournament.
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