One out of 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. These are the odds of guessing a perfect March Madness bracket. Here are some things that are more likely to happen than filling out a perfect bracket:
- Getting struck by lightning
The odds of getting struck by lightning are one in 500,000. Lightning might be rare, but at least it has better aim than you do at picking winning teams.
- Getting into an Ivy League college (Thank you, Ms. Tudge and Ms. Joos!)
The odds of getting into Harvard are 1 in 28. With those odds, I’ll be seeing you at Harvard!
- Winning the lottery
The chances are low at one in 292,201,338, but it’s not as unlikely as the bracket. Why stress over your bracket when you could just buy a lottery ticket and solve all your problems?
- Winning the lottery twice
Surprisingly, the odds of winning the Powerball twice, one in 414,469,336,590,400, are still better than getting a perfect bracket.
- Getting a 45 on the IB
In 2022, less than 1% of IB students globally (about 900 out of 180,000) received a 45. Still wildly more achievable than a perfect bracket. So if you’re deciding which impossible goal to chase—you might as well go for the 45.
So, before you get stressed over upsets and brackets, just remember: your chances of being struck by lightning while winning the lottery and getting into Harvard on the same day, are better than creating a perfect bracket. Good luck out there!
By Zoya Zwart
