There’s no method to this Madness

Buzzer beaters, epic comebacks, historic upsets, and dominating performances – March Madness is officially back🥳. The first round of the men’s tournament officially tipped off yesterday, and wouldn’t ya know it, each of the previously mentioned examples ended up happening irl.

• No. 13-seed Furman secured its first tourney win in almost 50 years thanks to a last-second shot, narrowly upsetting fourth-seeded Virginia by a score of 68-67.
• Princeton (#15-seed) scored the final nine points of the game to upset No. 2-seeded Arizona 59-55; it was Princeton’s first NCAA tourney win since 1998, and the Ivy League’s first since 2016.
• No. 1 Alabama, No. 1 Kansas, and No. 5 Duke (the tallest team in this year’s tournament, with an average height of 6 feet and 7.3 inches) all cruised to more than 20-point victories. See the rest of the results.

👀 Looking ahead… The second round of the Men’s NCAA tournament takes place tomorrow and Sunday. On the women’s side, the first round will be held today and tomorrow, while the second round is on Sunday and Monday (full bracket).

+BONUS: Three March Madness fun facts that’ll make your friends think you actually care about basketball:

1. US companies will lose an estimated $16.3 billion this year due to their employees being distracted by March Madness, per new data from Wallethub. On a related note, 37% of US employees are willing to call in sick or skip work to watch the tournament.
2. It’s easier to win back-to-back Powerball lotteries with a single ticket than it is to predict a perfect bracket (assuming each game is a coin flip).
3. Americans will wager a collective $10+ billion on March Madness this year, with ~40% of that total comprised of illegal bets – a category that technically includes bracket pools.