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.

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.

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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