Elevate your local knowledge

Sign up for the iNFOnews newsletter today!

Select Region

Selecting your primary region ensures you get the stories that matter to you first.

Still the 1. One perfect women’s March Madness bracket going into Sweet 16

Still the 1. One perfect women's March Madness bracket going into Sweet 16 | iNFOnews.ca
Tennessee's J.P. Estrella reacts after a basket during the second half against Virginia in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 22, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

And then there was one.

Going into the Sweet 16, there was one perfect bracket left on Monday night for the women’s NCAA Tournament among the millions of entries in the ESPN bracket challenge and in the contests tracked on the NCAA’s official website. There were no perfect brackets remaining on the men’s side.

The NCAA’s official website had 235 perfect women’s brackets at the beginning of the day. That number was trimmed to seven when No. 10 seed Virginia beat No. 2 Iowa in double overtime. There was only one left after No. 6 seed Notre Dame knocked off No. 3 Ohio State.

The quest for a perfect men’s bracket ended on Sunday night when No. 6 seed Tennessee beat No. 3 seed Virginia 79-72 in the 44th game of the tournament — and before No. 9 seed Iowa pulled the biggest stunner of the weekend by knocking off No. 1 seed and defending national champion Florida 73-72.

The day started with two perfect brackets left in the ESPN contest and four on the NCAA’s site, which tracks the ESPN challenge along with six contests run by other outlets. ESPN had 26.5 million entries, and 36 million were tracked by the NCAA.

After a pair of No. 2 seeds eliminated No. 7s on Sunday — Purdue beat Miami 79-69 and Iowa State topped Kentucky 82-63 — ESPN had two intact brackets and the NCAA had three.

When Dylan Darling’s buzzer-beating layup gave No. 5 seed St. John’s a 67-65 win over No. 4 seed Kansas, ESPN had one perfect bracket left.

The odds of going 63-0 in a bracket contest are somewhere between one in 9.2 quintillion (for totally random guesses) or one in 120 billion (semi-educated ones).

___

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Still the 1. One perfect women's March Madness bracket going into Sweet 16 | iNFOnews.ca
St. John’s guard Dylan Darling (0) celebrates with teammates after defeating Kansas a game in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament Sunday, March 22, 2026, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

News from © The Associated Press, . All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Join the Conversation!

Want to share your thoughts, add context, or connect with others in your community?

Create a free account

The Associated Press

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting. Founded in 1846, AP today remains the most trusted source of fast, accurate, unbiased news in all formats and the essential provider of the technology and services vital to the news business. More than half the world’s population sees AP journalism every day.

Related Articles