Surprising March Madness Facts All Fans Should Know

The NCAA men’s basketball tournament is one of the biggest events in U.S. sports and generates over a billion dollars in revenue at the end of each college basketball season. 67 games will be played in 14 cities over the tournament. There’s a good reason the match is nicknamed “March Madness,” with its history going far beyond the numbers and major upsets. 

The NCAA Tournament has many thrilling games featuring America’s best college basketball teams. It is also popular with fans who enjoy building their yearly brackets with their March Madness picks. 

But there’s also more to the tournament than just basketball. Here are some interesting and fun facts all March Madness fans should know before watching the nearly month-long game that ranks up there with the Super Bowl as one of the top sporting events. 

No One Has Ever Filled Out a Perfect Bracket

Of the millions of March Madness brackets that have been filled out, no record exists of anyone completing the perfect bracket. The odds of all picks in the tournament being correct are 1 in 128 billion. Those who think they’ve entered the ideal frame have a better chance of being struck by lightning or elected President of the United States. 

More Men Schedule Vasectomies During March Madness

March routinely sees an increase in vasectomies, with the spike in procedures directly related to March Madness. Many men who are prepared to get the system will schedule their appointments during the tournament and can recover without feeling any guilt. For many men, having an excuse to relax and watch the game during recovery makes it seem like a better idea if they are reluctant. 

March Madness Is A Nightmare For Employers

This year, lost productivity during the NCAA Tournament will cost employers more than $13 billion during the first week alone. Activities like completing brackets and streaming games at work drained productivity, as the tournament saw a record number of live streams during last year’s tournament. Also, 20% of American workers are predicted to join office pools this year. 

Only One School Has Men’s And Women’s Titles In The Same Year

In the history of NCAA basketball, only one school has won the championship for both men and women in the same season. The University of Connecticut won both competitions in 2004 and again in 2014. 

However, this isn’t surprising, as the women’s program is one of the most successful, with head coach Geno Auriemma having won ten national championships. The UConn men’s team has four titles in its history. 

UCLA Has The Most Championships

The UCLA Bruins haven’t won an NCAA championship since 1995 but hold the record with 11 national titles. Their 1995 championship was the first for the program in 20 seasons, as the school won ten of those championships under legendary coach John Wooden between 1964 and 1975. However, they’ve only made it back to the finals once since their last title, losing to Florida in 2006.

City College of New York Scandal

From the 1950s through the 1970s, teams could participate in the NIT and NCAA tournaments. City College of New York became the only school to win both titles in the same year in 1950. 

However, in the following season, four City College players were implicated in a massive point-shaving scandal involving players at seven different schools. As a result, the school was banned from playing in Madison Square Garden, and player Bill Spivey’s 1951 Outstanding Player award was stripped. 

NIT Tournament Was More Prestigious

The National Invitational Tournament (NIT) used to be bigger than the NCAA Tournament. It originally included six teams but gained more media attention because it was played at Madison Square Garden. However, the NIT started to decline once the NCAA added more schools and secured more TV coverage. 

The NCAA eventually purchased the NIT Tournament in 2005. It now serves as a consolation tournament for those programs that the NCAA didn’t select to attend the Big Dance.