It’s about that time

Get ready for buzzer beaters, Cinderella stories, and Gus Johnson screaming through the TV – March Madness is officially back. Brackets for the angrily named biggest tournament in college basketball were revealed yesterday.

On the men’s side: Auburn edged out Duke to capture the #1 overall seed. And from there, the SEC kept on winning. The conference, which has 16 total teams, secured 14 bids – an NCAA all-time record.

On the women’s side: Lauren Betts and UCLA snagged the #1 overall seed – a school first – over the top of defending-champ South Carolina. Snubs include Stanford, which failed to make the tournament for the first time since 1987.

Filling out a bracket?

A fun fact to help properly set expectations: The odds of filling out a perfect March Madness bracket are 1 in ~9.2 quintillion (for context, it’s easier to win back-to-back Powerball lotteries). But if you know a little something about basketball, the odds improve to 1 in ~120 billion.

Speaking of odds…~$3.1 billion is expected to be legally wagered on this year’s men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, according to the American Gaming Association. That’s a 12% year-over-year increase and more than double the $1.39 billion bet on this year’s Super Bowl.

Looking ahead: The men’s tourney tips off with the First Four tomorrow, while the women’s begins on Wednesday.