March Madness Facts to Ponder!

1. The odds of filling out a perfect bracket are very rare at 1 in a quintillion. You have a better chance of being struck by lightning or being President of the United States.

2. Only one bottom seed has ever unseated a top seed in the first round. 16th seeded University of Maryland–Baltimore County Retrievers toppled top-seeded University of Virginia in the first round of the 2018 tournament.

3. The lowest seed ever to win the tournament was the #8-ranked Villanova. The Wildcats won the title in 1985. The very next year, 11th seeded LSU became the lowest seed to crack the Final Four. That feat was repeated by George Mason in 2006 and VCU in 2011.

4. 2008 has been the only year all four #1 seeds made it to the Final Four.

The University of Oregon won the first NCAA tournament in 1939.

6. The phrase “March Madness” was first coined in connection with the NCAA in 1982 when sportscaster Brent Musburger uttered it during his tournament coverage.

7. Notre Dame’s Austin Carr set a tournament game record in 1970 by sinking 61 points in a first round match-up with Ohio. Navy center David Robinson is in the runner up spot with 50 points during a 1987 contest.

8. University of Michigan’s all-time scoring leader, Glen Rice holds the record for points scored in a single tournament at 184, a mark he set in 1989. Duke power forward Christian Laettner owns the career record for 407 points scored across 23 tournament games.

9. The oldest coach to win a national title was Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun in 2011 at the age of 68.