The NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament entered its first round on March 19, 2026, with 64 teams competing in 32 single-elimination games across four regionals.[1] The opening 16 games prompted a significant drop in perfect brackets submitted to major online platforms.
The NCAA reported on March 20 that of more than 36 million brackets tracked across partners including ESPN, Yahoo Sports and CBS Sports, roughly 14,000 remained perfect after Thursday's slate.[2] This equates to 0.039% of entries intact.
The figure marked a steeper decline than the previous year, when 36,000 perfect brackets survived the first day. In 2021, only 121 perfect brackets advanced past the opening games amid heavy upsets.[3]
Several lower seeds registered upsets, contributing to the reduction, including No. 12 High Point's win over No. 5 Wisconsin at Moda Center in Portland, Oregon, and No. 9 TCU's victory against No. 8 Ohio State. Nebraska secured its first-ever NCAA tournament win against Troy.[4][5]
Other results included VCU's comeback overtime victory over North Carolina after trailing by 19 points, Louisville's narrow win over South Florida, Saint Louis defeating Georgia, and Gonzaga beating Kennesaw State.[4]
The tournament continues with the remaining first-round games on March 20-21, followed by second-round matchups March 22-23. Regional semifinals are scheduled for March 26-27.[1]
Sources
- NCAA, "2026 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament", accessed March 20, 2026, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men-d1/article/2026-03-17/2026-ncaa-di-mens-basketball-bracket-march-madness
- NCAA, "Men's Bracket Challenge - Perfect Brackets Update", March 20, 2026, https://www.ncaa.com/bracket-challenge/mens/2026/updates
- NCAA Bracket Challenge Archive, "2021 Men's Bracket Challenge Final Stats", 2021, https://www.ncaa.com/news/basketball-men-d1/article/2021-04-05/2021-ncaa-bracket-challenge-121-perfect-brackets-left-after-championship
- ESPN, "2026 NCAA Tournament First Round Recap", March 20, 2026,