March Madness Tidbits

For those that cannot get enough of the NCAA basketball tournament, we have compiled a few "interesting" tidbits for you this week.

Information about picking your brackets that will not help you

• According to DePaul University math professor Jeff Bergen, your chances of getting every single pick correct are roughly one in 9.2 quintillions.
• Put another way, your chances of getting every game right is 1 in 9,223,322,036,854,775,808.
• Only once have all #1 seeds made the final four (2008)
• Only once in the past 16 years have all 4 of the #2 seeds survived the first weekend  (2009)
• At least one #4 seed has lost a first-round game each of the last 5 years
• While #6 and #8 seeds have won the title in the 1980s, a #5 seed has never won the title. The #7 seeds have never reached the finals, reaching the final four only once
• A #16 seed has NEVER upset a #1 seed
• Only once have the numbers 13, 14, and 15 seeds won a round of 64 games in the same tournament, which was in 1991, according to ESPN
• According to ESPN, 27.3 percent of tournament games have been decided by three points or fewer (or went to OT), in the past three years.

Does DNA Help?

• Shane Larkin, Miami’s leading scorer and a John Wooden Award candidate for national player of the year, is the son of 1995 NL MVP and baseball Hall of Famer Barry Larkin.
• Gonzaga Junior guard David Stockton is the son of Gonzaga’s most famous basketball alum, John Stockton — but John never reached the NCAA postseason.
• Southern Senior 6-9 center Madut Bol, son of the late Manute Bol is a role player for the Jaguars.
• Notre Dame Junior G Jerian Grant is the older brother of Syracuse freshman Jerami. The two are sons of former NBAer Harvey Grant.
• Michigan junior guard Tim Hardaway Jr and freshman forward Glenn Robinson III are sons of former NBA All-Stars with the same names. And sophomore forward Jon Horford is the son of former NBAer Tito Horford and brother of Atlanta Hawk Al.

NCAA Student-Athletes

Kansas State’s media notes call it “a tremendous semester in the classroom” — the Wildcats’ cumulative 2.839 GPA during the 2012 fall semester was the team’s highest in 12 years.

Harvard's trip to the NCAAs may be more gratifying to Amaker and the Crimson after a major academic scandal involving cheating forced this season’s senior co-captains to withdraw from the school.

Foreshadowing?

Wichita State nickname – Shockers

Feel free to post any of your own useful or useless facts about the tournament.