March Madness

How many perfect brackets are left after first day of March Madness?

The number of perfect brackets dwindled after a hectic Thursday

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We're just halfway through the first round of the men's NCAA Tournament, and the madness is in full swing.

Sixteen games were held on Thursday, and only a select few brackets made it through unscathed.

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More than 2,000 of the more than 29 million brackets submitted across major platforms (NCAA, ESPN, CBS and Yahoo) are still perfect entering Friday, according to the NCAA.

Only 13.89% of brackets even got the first two first-round games right, as No. 9 Michigan State beat No. 8 Mississippi State and No. 11 Duquesne upset No. 6 BYU. No. 11 Oregon's win over No. 6 South Carolina brought the percentage of perfect brackets to 5.66% just seven games into the first round.

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And then there was Oakland. Head coach Greg Kampe and the 14th-seeded Golden Grizzlies pulled off the most significant stunner on Thursday with their victory over No. 3 Kentucky, who was the sixth-most popular national champion pick among all submitted brackets.

No. 13 Samford nearly created further carnage, but No. 4 Kansas held on for a controversial first-round win.

The 2024 tourney saw more perfect brackets make it through the first day than last year, when only 787 entries were unblemished after the first 16 games.

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