No. 11 seed Texas' upset of Gonzaga leaves only a handful of perfect March Madness brackets

Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) celebrates with forward Nic Codie after the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Gonzaga, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Portland, Ore.(AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Texas center Matas Vokietaitis (8) celebrates with forward Nic Codie after the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against Gonzaga, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Portland, Ore.(AP Photo/Amanda Loman)
Duke center Patrick Ngongba (21) reacts after he releases the ball during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against TCU, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Duke center Patrick Ngongba (21) reacts after he releases the ball during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against TCU, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) goes to the net in front of Saint Louis guard Dion Brown (13) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Michigan forward Yaxel Lendeborg (23) goes to the net in front of Saint Louis guard Dion Brown (13) during the first half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo celebrates during the second half against Louisville in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo celebrates during the second half against Louisville in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Buffalo, N.Y. (AP Photo/Jeffrey T. Barnes)
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The pursuit of the perfect NCAA Tournament bracket continues, but only for a few people.

No. 11 seed Texas all but wiped out the remaining unblemished entries in the annual March Madness contests with its 74-68 upset of No. 3 Gonzaga on Saturday night.

After the win by the Longhorns, who started in the First Four, there were 22 perfect entries in ESPN's bracket challenge and 27 in the NCAA's contest.

Favored teams went 16-0 on Friday, and they started 4-0 on Saturday, leaving more than 100 brackets intact. No. 1 seed Duke dominated No. 9 seed TCU in the second half and won 81-58. No. 1 Michigan dispatched No. 9 seed Saint Louis 95-72. No. 2 seed Houston hammered No. 10 seed Texas A&M 88-57. No. 3 Michigan State beat sixth-seeded Louisville 77-69.

Texas sent the remaining perfect brackets down to the double digits with its takedown of the Zags.

There was also a sharp drop-off in perfect brackets in the women's tournament Saturday. The day started with 675,000 in the ESPN contest. After 14 games, there were 1,500 left.

Two lower seeds won, with No. 10 seed Virginia knocking out No. 7 seed Georgia 82-73, No. 9 seed Southern California beating No. 8 seed Clemson 71-67 and No. 9 seed Syracuse eliminating No. 8 seed Iowa State 72-63. Many more brackets would have been in a shambles had 15th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, which was in a one-possession game with No. 2 seed Iowa midway through the fourth quarter, been able to pull an upset. Iowa won 58-48.

The odds of going 63-0 in a bracket contest are somewhere between one in 9.2 quintillion (for totally random guesses) or one in 120 billion (semi-educated ones).

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AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

 

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