So at this point, you're probably looking at your NCAA Tournament bracket and thinking it is already busted. Don't worry, so is everyone else's bracket.
ESPN announced early Friday afternoon that all 13 million of the brackets posted on its website have at least one blemish. Many saw their hopes of a perfect bracket end after No. 2 seed Michigan State lost to No. 15 Middle Tennessee State in what many consider the biggest upset in NCAA Tournament history.
According to ESPN figures, 97.8 percent of brackets had Michigan State defeating Middle Tennessee State. MSU was also the second-most popular choice to win the national title. Nearly 22 percent of all brackets had the Spartans winning a national title (this writer included). By contrast, just .1 percent had MTSU winning a national championship.
Other big first-round upsets include No. 14 seed Stephen F. Austin defeating West Virginia, No. 13 seed Hawaii topping No. 4 seed California, No. 12 seed Yale besting No. 5 seed Baylor and No. 12 seed Little Rock beating No. 5 Purdue.
In case you were wondering, the picking a perfect bracket is one in 128 billion, according to DePaul professor Jeff Bergen. By comparison, the odds of winning the Powerball is one in 292 million.
Justin Boggs is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @jjboggs or on Facebook.
