53.1% of brackets predicted Connecticut vs. Notre Dame in ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge

ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge

Brackets in ESPN.com’s Men’s Tournament Challenge presented by Acura and Allstate revealed that only 0.3% of more than 11.01 million brackets correctly picked Connecticut to win the title.  Additionally, just 1,780 brackets predicted Connecticut vs. Kentucky to meet for the national championship.  Of those 1,780 brackets, Kentucky was the slight favorite predicted to win with 51.8%.  Other highlights:

• The Huskies and Wildcats were the most popular 7-seed and 8-seed teams picked to win it all
• Connecticut knocked off the most popular pick in the Final Four, as no. 1 Florida was predicted to reach the title game in 41.1% of brackets and to win it all in 27.1% of all brackets
• Kentucky took out 5.7% of brackets that had no. 2 Wisconsin in the championship game, but only busted 2% of all brackets that picked the Badgers to win it all

Fans submitted more than 11.01 million brackets to ESPN.com’s Men’s Tournament Challenge, an all-time record high surpassing last year’s record of nearly 8.15 million brackets by 35.1 percent.  At the peak period, fans registered 11,983 brackets per minute (199 brackets per second).  Among them was President Barack Obama, who finished in the 72.9th percentile with a rank of 2,987,736 in the men’s tournament.  The president’s bracket was officially busted during the Elite Eight after Connecticut knocked off Michigan State, the team he predicted to win it all.

A full round-by-round breakdown of picks can be found under “Who Picked Whom” on ESPN.com, listing the percentage of participants who selected each team to win in each respective round.  At the end of the tournament, all Men’s Tournament Challenge entries that finished in the top 1% were entered in a random drawing for the $10,000 Best Buy Gift Card prize.

ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge

53.1% of brackets in ESPN.com’s Women’s Tournament Challenge chose a Connecticut vs. Notre Dame championship game, including President Barack Obama, whose women’s bracket currently sits in the 97.9th percentile.  An analysis of all women’s brackets reveals:

• 56.9% of all brackets picked Connecticut to win the Championship, by far the most popular pick
• 19.8% predicted Notre Dame to win the title, the second most popular pick

Entries that finish in the top 1% of the Women’s Tournament Challenge are entered in a random drawing for a $5,000 Best Buy Gift Card.

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