Madness Begins This Week - Award for a Perfection in Bracket: Trip to Mars
Bracket Down: Every Major March Madness Challenge Explored
- Share your picks for the NCAA tournament on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn
- Millions are jumping in to win big (💸)
March Madness Hoops Frenzy
It's that time of year again! The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, also known as March Madness, is (🔥)! With millions of Americans grabbing their brackets to predict the tournament winner, we've rounded up the top contests offering hefty prizes for those outsmarting the odds.
The Challenges
ESPN's Men's Bracket Challenge gives contestants a shot at 20 grand prizes of $5,000 for correctly selecting the national champion, 25 prizes of $1,000 for those who fill out at least 25 brackets, and a $10,000 prize for entrants who create a groups of 10 or more winners.
USA Today Sports' bracket battle promises $1 million to the participant with a perfect bracket (meaning they nail all 67 games), and a $25,000 prize for the best bracket overall.
Yahoo Sports offers $25,000 to the entrant who nails every tournament game.
NCAA also has its own Bracket Challenge Sweepstakes with 2026 Men's and Women's Final Four tickets and cash prizes for the best bracket.
Over the Moon: Mars Awaits
Want a trip to Mars? SpaceX's Elon Musk has you covered. If you can snag a perfect bracket, you could win a journey to the Red Planet! The lucky winner may choose to decline the ticket for several other intriguing rewards such as $250,000, an astronaut training day, or a front-row seat to a SpaceX launch. If there's no perfect bracket, a $100,000 prize will be awarded to the best non-perfect entry.
Berkshire Brackets
Some sweeter stakes come from billionaire Warren Buffett, who announced this year's Berkshire Hathaway challenge: $1 million will go to any employee who guesses at least 30 of the first-round games correctly, with runners-up pocketing $100,000. Previously, Buffett offered $1 billion for a perfect bracket, but adjusted the rules due to the massive difficulty of achieving it.
Crazy Odds and Favorite Picks
Predicting a perfect bracket is a longshot, with odds astronomically way over the Powerball jackpot at 1 in 9.2 quintillion, according to the NCAA. Even with some basketball knowledge, the chances are a mind-boggling 1 in 120.2 billion. But hey, who doesn't love a good gamble?
DraftKings has Duke as tournament frontrunners (+320), followed closely by Florida, Auburn, and the University of Houston. ESPN's bracket providers have shown a fair majority backing Duke to take the title.
Tip-Off Times
Get ready to rewind your DVR! First March Madness action kicks off on Tuesday with the First Four matchup starting at 6:40 p.m. EDT, followed by the official first round starting Thursday, 12:15 p.m. EDT with Louisville vs. Creighton. The Women's tournament fires up on Friday at 11:30 a.m. EDT.
Happy bracketing, and may the best bracket win!
[1] [Enrichment Data Source 1 for SpaceX Challenge][2] [Enrichment Data Source 2 for Berkshire Hathaway Challenge][3] [Enrichment Data Source 3 for General Bracketing Details][4] [Enrichment Data Source 4 for Odds and Statistics]
- The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship, widely known as March Madness, is an absurdly popular tournament.
- Americans are grabbing their brackets to predict the winner and potentially win Fortune in various contests offering hefty prizes.
- SpaceX's Elon Musk is offering a trip to Mars as a reward for a perfect bracket in March Madness.
