- Women’s Tournament Challenge grows 103% YOY, sets new all-time record
- ESPN Second Chance game allows fans to restart with the Men’s Sweet 16
- Open now, accepting entries until Saturday 3/27 at 2:40 p.m. ET
The 2021 ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge presented by Allstate, Acura and McDonald’s has been full of bracket-busting upsets in its first two rounds. But that doesn’t mean your chance at winning bragging rights and a grand prize is over, thanks to the ESPN Tournament Challenge Second Chance game. Any fan seeking a fresh start can choose the winners for the remaining 15 men’s tournament games and have a chance to win a $5,000 Amazon Gift Card.
Meanwhile, participation in the ESPN Women’s Tournament Challenge presented by Capital One more than doubled since 2019, growing by +103%. At the conclusion of the women’s first round last night, only two perfect 32-0 brackets remained. The women’s tournament continues this afternoon with second-round games across ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU beginning with Mercado Region No. 1 seed NC State versus No. 8 South Florida at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Fans can submit Tournament Challenge Second Chance brackets until Saturday, March 27, at 2:40 p.m. ET, before the start of the first Sweet 16 game between No. 8 Loyola Chicago and No. 12 Oregon State in the Midwest Regional.
Following are a few highlights among the millions of brackets in the ESPN Men’s Tournament Challenge heading into the Sweet 16:
- A minuscule 2,920 brackets correctly predicted the four double-digit seeds who made it to the Sweet 16: No. 15 Oral Roberts, No. 12 Oregon St., No. 11 Syracuse, No. 11 UCLA.
- 6 USC was projected to reach the Sweet 16 in 28.2% of entries, and only 9.0% have the Trojans moving on to the Elite 8.
- Of the 4.4% of brackets that predicted No. 6 USC and No. 7 Oregon would meet in the Sweet 16, 51.2% pick USC to win.
- Not surprisingly, of the 29.4% of brackets pitting No. 1 Gonzaga against No. 5 Creighton in the Sweet 16, 91.1% predict Gonzaga will advance to the Elite 8.
- 4 Florida St. advanced to the Sweet 16 by taking down No. 5 Colorado, as predicted in 58.8% of entries. The only teams to be picked in more brackets than No. 4 FSU (8.9%) to get to the Final 4 are the 1- and 2-seeds and No. 3 Texas.
- 4% of entries correctly predicted that No. 1 Michigan would face No. 4 Florida St. in the Sweet 16. Of those brackets, 70.1% pick the Wolverines to win.
- About 250,000 brackets (1.7%) predicted No. 11-seeds UCLAand Syracuse in the Sweet 16.
- The only teams picked to make the Sweet 16 in more brackets than No. 2 Iowa (77.3%): the four 1-seeds, and 2-seeds Ohio St. (79.2%) and Houston (77.9%).
Percentage of brackets that correctly picked teams to advance to the Sweet 16:
No. 15 Oral Roberts (4.7%)
No. 12 Oregon St. (4.8%)
No. 8 Loyola Chicago (7.5%)No. 11 UCLA (8.2%)
No. 11 Syracuse (13.1%)
No. 7 Oregon (14.6%)
No. 6 USC (28.2%)
No. 5 Creighton (31.7%)
No. 5 Villanova (38.6%)
No. 3 Arkansas (51.8%)
No. 4 Florida St. (58.8%)
No. 2 Alabama (73.9%)
No. 2 Houston (78.0%)
No. 1 Michigan (80.9%)
No. 1 Baylor (81.4%)
No. 1 Gonzaga (91.0%)
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