College sports analysts and bracketology experts who study the teams, coaches and players have the challenging task each year of trying to determine the outcome of 63 games. Experts weigh in with insight into March Madness and analysis even before teams are chosen and ranked for the tournament, which happens March 15 on Selection Sunday.
鈥淚t would be more likely for the next 16 World Series to be won by the Chicago Cubs and Chicago White Sox than it would be to pick a perfect bracket by guessing,鈥� said Bergen.
鈥淚t鈥檚 essentially impossible to guess a perfect bracket, but that鈥檚 no reason not to have fun with it,鈥� he said. 鈥淧eople still play to beat their friends or win their office pool. Just remember to enjoy yourself.鈥�
If you had basketball knowledge, would that help your odds?
Bergen said 鈥測es鈥� but it is still a long shot. 鈥淪uppose you know that a one seed has never lost to a 16 seed in the men鈥檚 tournament, that would help improve your odds. With additional knowledge of basketball and the history of the tournament, the odds of picking a perfect bracket would be approximately one in 128 billion,鈥� he said.
鈥淎s a math professor, I do enjoy having fun with this. But it is important to remember that although the numbers are astounding and far bigger than ones we come across in daily life, the math involved can be taught at the high school level,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nyone interested in math can understand where all these numbers come from.鈥�
Watch Bergen break down numbers at .
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