My Bracket is still perfect...

[Political Hack]

the billion is mine!!!

Who all threw a penny into the well? I filled one out even though I know it's virtually impossible.

Also, what's the longest you think any bracket survives? I'm going to say that I think everyone is out by the sweet 16.

[dawg21]

Its not impossible...the odds are 1 in 9.2 Quintillion. (9,223,372,036,854,775,808)...there's still a chance.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think some computer/SABR geek will get through to the Elite 8 before it breaks down - the odds are just too long.
However, 2 years ago my daughter (who was 12 at the time - and knows nothing about basketball) was #32 on ESPN after the Sweet 16 - so someone is bound to get lucky.

I have zero confidence in my bracket - so by Sunday I'll be done paying close attention....

[TheRef]

the billion is mine!!!

Who all threw a penny into the well? I filled one out even though I know it's virtually impossible.

Also, what's the longest you think any bracket survives? I'm going to say that I think everyone is out by the sweet 16.

No bracket in 7 years has even gotten the first round correct.

[Political Hack]

No bracket in 7 years has even gotten the first round correct.

yeah, but I expect some real crazy attempts to get fill out a lot of probably scenarios to at least get some people through the first round. I'm willing to be there are some people who filled out 100+ brackets. Based on the sheer number of entries resulting from the billion dollar offer, I'd anticipate this year being the furthest anyone's ever gotten.

[BrunswickDawg]

I think some computer/SABR geek will get through to the Elite 8 before it breaks down - the odds are just too long.
However, 2 years ago my daughter (who was 12 at the time - and knows nothing about basketball) was #32 on ESPN after the Sweet 16 - so someone is bound to get lucky.

I have zero confidence in my bracket - so by Sunday I'll be done paying close attention....

Dayton just ruined a bunch of brackets. Of course, my daughter picked them - I need to take her to Vegas.

[7dawg]

If you read the fine print on the $billion dollar challenge, only the first 15 million entries will be qualified for the challenge.

[smootness]

I think some computer/SABR geek will get through to the Elite 8 before it breaks down - the odds are just too long.

No. It is almost impossible to make it through the first round, as TheRef pointed out. Making it to the Elite 8 without any losses would be a ridiculously amazing accomplishment.

And using computers isn't going to help you. It's why people who have no clue what they're doing often end up with better brackets than those who do - because if you know a lot about basketball, you're usually going to go with the better team, which will lead to a very chalk bracket...which will inevitably be terrible.

[bully99]

19.7 % out of 11 million on espn bracket picked Dayton. That billion dollar contest is a scam.

[C222]

19.7 % out of 11 million on espn bracket picked Dayton. That billion dollar contest is a scam.

You're being negative about something?? I am shocked.

[smootness]

You're being negative about something?? I am shocked.

He's pretty right on this one, though. I think 'scam' is going a little far, but they've basically decided that 2 million is enough to spend to be able to gather that much information on people. Because they will pay $100,000 to the top 20 people. But nobody is winning the billion.

[BrunswickDawg]

19.7 % out of 11 million on espn bracket picked Dayton. That billion dollar contest is a scam.

It's called damn smart product branding. Let's get a billionaire to "sponsor" an un-winnable contest, hosted on our website, and rake in ad-click revenue. No different than that Farm Bureau sign - just better placement

[bully99]

222 shut the hell up idiot .

[smootness]

It's called damn smart product branding. Let's get a billionaire to "sponsor" an un-winnable contest, hosted on our website, and rake in ad-click revenue. No different than that Farm Bureau sign - just better placement

They're not doing it for the branding or ad revenue. They're doing it for the information.

[BrunswickDawg]

You are probably right smoot.