March Madness kicked off with a bang, and if you think your brackets are safe, think again! After a heart-pounding first day, 16 games filled with drama, dubious calls, and some serious upsets, only the brave (and perhaps the delusional) remain in the quest for that perfect bracket.

Imagine the scene: McNeese State (a No. 12 seed, no less) made waves by stunning the No. 5 seed Clemson in a gripping finish that saw the final score read 69-67. Talk about a Cinderella moment! The day didn’t stop there. No. 11 Drake managed to outshine No. 6 Missouri, and No. 10 Arkansas wiped the floor with No. 7 Kansas. If you had any of those teams advancing in your bracket, congratulations! You’re officially on our radar for your questionable judgment.

So, how many perfect brackets are left standing after this chaotic kickoff? Drumroll, please! Approximately 36,000 out of over 34 million bracket entries across platforms like ESPN and CBS made it through Thursday without a hitch. This is actually the highest number of perfect brackets since 2019, when around 60,000 lived to bask in the glory of their predictions.

Prior years? A horror show. Last year, only 2,100 brackets survived the first day, and things got even scarier in the years before that, with a mere 121 brave souls making it through day one in 2021. So if you’re left feeling like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster of despair watching your picks crumble, just know you’re not alone.

Now let’s talk odds. The probability of clinching a perfect bracket? A staggering 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808. That’s a lot of zeros to digest, my friends. Las Vegas might want to rethink its betting lines.

And let’s not forget the record holder! Greg Nigl, who set the bar sky-high by predicting the first 49 games back in 2019. So if you’re looking for a cosmic sign of your chances? You’re better off finding a mythical unicorn.

So as the madness unfolds, keep your fingers crossed for those brackets, and remember: Nothing’s final until the last buzzer rings. Let the games continue!