The last perfect bracket among NCAA Tournament fans was busted Thursday.Gregg Nigl, a 40-year-old neuropsychologist from Ohio, created the bracket on NCAA.com.Nigl didn't even realize his bracket was still in tact on Tuesday, having correctly predicted the outcome of all 48 games that had been played so far. "It's really unbelievable. I didn't expect this at all. It was the fourth bracket I filled out. I almost didn't fill it out. It's kind of a fluke," Nigl said.Nigl even changed his Twitter name to "Gregg 'Perfect Bracket' Nigl. "Well, Mr. Perfect is no more after Purdue's overtime win over Tennessee.Nigl's is the only bracket to ever enter the Sweet 16 unblemished in the five years the NCAA began tracking online brackets from its own site, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, Fox, and Sports Illustrated.Nigl has Gonzaga winning the tournament over Kentucky.<doc-sep>When did your bracket get busted? Was it Thursday afternoon, or did you make it into the evening? Was it when Murray State beat Marquette or when Liberty beat Mississippi State? Gregg Nigl’s bracket is doing O.K. In fact, 48 games in, it’s still perfect. Yeah, he had Oregon. Yeah, he had Central Florida. Yeah, he even had the University of California, Irvine. Nigl, a 40-year-old neuropsychologist from Columbus, Ohio, entered his picks in an online game at NCAA.com, which reported that as the round of 16 begins, he has the only remaining perfect bracket. And not just in that pool. NCAA.com also checked the brackets at Yahoo, ESPN and other sites, tens of millions of brackets in all. Nigl’s bracket is the last perfect one, 48 for 48. The site has tracked brackets for four years, and this is the furthest anyone has gone without a mistake.<doc-sep>After 50 games of the 2019 NCAA tournament, the streak is over. There are no more perfect brackets. The briefly famous “center road" bracket, which had correctly predicted the first 49 games of March Madness, suffered its first loss in the second game of the Sweet 16 when 3-seed Purdue beat 2-seed Tennessee in overtime. The bracket was entered in our Capital One NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge game by 40-year-old neuropsychologist Gregg Nigl, who wasn't even aware of the record-breaking streak until NCAA.com called him Monday, after the second round of the tournament. Check out our full interview with Nigl here. Before this year, the longest we had ever seen a bracket go unblemished was 39 straight games, which happened in 2017 (we explain why we're so sure of that number below). Nigl's "center road" bracket shattered that record. Here's a look at the bracket: This is the fourth year that we have tracked tens of millions of brackets from the largest online bracket games across the country, including our Bracket Challenge Game, ESPN, CBS, Yahoo, Fox, and Sports Illustrated, to see when the last perfect bracket busts. Usually, that tracking ends on Friday, or sometimes — if we're lucky — Saturday. This year it continued until the second Thursday of the tournament, through 50 games. For reference, if every game were a coin toss, the odds of predicting 49 in a row are 1 in 562,949,953,421,312. So, yeah, this was kinda impressive. A PERFECT BRACKET: Breaking down the absurd odds of the March Madness dream When we reached Nigl Monday, he had absolutely no idea that he had a perfect bracket. "So wait, you’re saying I’m the first person to have ever done this?" Nigl asked when we told him the news. "This is wild. I can't even believe it. "I had no idea that this was even happening." Sadly, he was only able to cherish one victory — Gonzaga's win over Florida State in the first game Thursday — before the bracket became like every other one of the millions we tracked: busted. Read on below for our game-by-game tracker from the start of the tournament to see exactly how we got from tens of millions of brackets to just one, and then none. It was a wild ride. THE PERFECT NCAA BRACKET TRACKER: THURSDAY, MARCH 28 10:01 PM: Wow. In one of the best games of the tournament, Tennessee rallied from a double-digit deficit to force overtime against Purdue, but the Boilermakers ran away with the game in overtime. And that was that. Nigl had picked Tennessee, his first incorrect prediction in the 50 games of the tournament. With the loss, Nigl's famous bracket was finally, and forever, imperfect. Wow. In one of the best games of the tournament, Tennessee rallied from a double-digit deficit to force overtime against Purdue, but the Boilermakers ran away with the game in overtime. And that was that. Nigl had picked Tennessee, his first incorrect prediction in the 50 games of the tournament. With the loss, Nigl's famous bracket was finally, and forever, imperfect. 9:18 PM : In the first game since Sunday, Gonzaga held off Florida State for a double-digit win, and Nigl's streak is churning once again. We're at 49 games in a row now. : In the first game since Sunday, Gonzaga held off Florida State for a double-digit win, and Nigl's streak is churning once again. We're at 49 games in a row now. 6:04 PM: Some people, including the Associated Press, have fallen for a fake Twitter account posing as Nigl. Earlier in the week, there was a fake Instagram account as well. We confirmed with Nigl that those are not his accounts. Some people, including the Associated Press, have fallen for a fake Twitter account posing as Nigl. Earlier in the week, there was a fake Instagram account as well. We confirmed with Nigl that those are not his accounts. 5:38 PM: We got word today that Nigl cut his Vermont vacation short to head out to Anaheim and watch his Michigan Wolverines play in the Sweet 16 in person with his son, thanks to Buick. TUESDAY, MARCH 26 4:38 PM: NCAA.com's Andy Katz caught up with Nigl for a Skype interview to break down his upset picks: Gregg Nigl talks about his perfect bracket and predictions ahead of the Sweet 16 MONDAY, MARCH 25 9:05 PM: We found the man behind "center road": 40-year-old neuropsychologist Gregg Nigl. Nigl hadn't been tracking the bracket himself, and had no idea that it was perfect until we called him. Read our full interview with Nigl here. SUNDAY, MARCH 24 Recap: What a day. We started the day with just two perfect brackets left. They had the exact same predictions aside from one: Texas Tech vs. Buffalo. "center road", the bracket in our Bracket Challenge Game, correctly predicted the Red Raiders, and thus became the last perfect bracket left. Four games later, after Oregon beat UC Irvine, "center road" was still a flawless 48-for-48, a ridiculous feat. The tournament starts again Thursday with the Sweet 16. How long can "center road" survive? The unthinkable, a complete 63-for-63, is just 15 games away now. Stay tuned. 11:43 PM : UC Irvine went on a 14-0 run to take the lead against Oregon in the second half, but the Ducks went on a tear late, and ran away for a double-digit win. With that game, "Center Road" became the first bracket ever to pick 48 straight games, staying perfect through to the Sweet 16. : UC Irvine went on a 14-0 run to take the lead against Oregon in the second half, but the Ducks went on a tear late, and ran away for a double-digit win. With that game, "Center Road" became the first bracket ever to pick 48 straight games, staying perfect through to the Sweet 16. 11:06 PM: Ohio State kept it close against Houston for the first half, but the Cougars pulled out the win to advance to the Sweet 16 and advance "center road" to 47 correct picks in a row. Ohio State kept it close against Houston for the first half, but the Cougars pulled out the win to advance to the Sweet 16 and advance "center road" to 47 correct picks in a row. 9:57 PM: 1-seed Virginia had a much easier time in the second round, knocking off 9-seed Oklahoma. "Center Road" called that one too. We're at 46 correct picks now. 1-seed Virginia had a much easier time in the second round, knocking off 9-seed Oklahoma. "Center Road" called that one too. We're at 46 correct picks now. 9:09 PM: 4-seed Virginia Tech held off 12-seed Liberty, just as "center road" predicted. The bracket is still perfect through 45 games. 4-seed Virginia Tech held off 12-seed Liberty, just as "center road" predicted. The bracket is still perfect through 45 games. 8:28 PM: And then there was one. Texas Tech blew out 6-seed Buffalo, which was the only game today that the two brackets differed on. With that result, Yahoo's "Court Stormers" bows out of the race, leaving "center road" as the last perfect bracket in the world. Four more games to go before the Sweet 16. And then there was one. Texas Tech blew out 6-seed Buffalo, which was the only game today that the two brackets differed on. With that result, Yahoo's "Court Stormers" bows out of the race, leaving "center road" as the last perfect bracket in the world. Four more games to go before the Sweet 16. 7:34 PM: Wow. In perhaps the best game of the tournament, 1-seed Duke barely survived against 9-seed UCF. As a result, both brackets are still alive through 43 games. Wow. In perhaps the best game of the tournament, 1-seed Duke barely survived against 9-seed UCF. As a result, both brackets are still alive through 43 games. 5:05 PM: UNC blew past Washington 81-59 to reach the Sweet 16 and push both brackets to 42 correct picks in a row. Next up, Duke vs. UCF. Both brackets picked the Blue Devils there.<doc-sep>
This year, tens of millions of brackets were entered into major online NCAA tournament bracket games. Midway through Sunday's second-round action, all but one of them had gotten at least one game wrong. The exception: "center road," a bracket entered into our Capital One NCAA March Madness Bracket Challenge game that has gone an astounding 48-for-48 so far, correctly predicting every single game through two rounds of the 2019 NCAA tournament. That’s worth repeating: the center road bracket has not missed a single game yet. We've been tracking brackets for years and, before this tournament, the longest streak we'd ever seen was 39 games in a row. That was an incredible feat. This shattered it. Monday, we tracked down the owner of the record-breaking "center road" bracket. His name is Gregg Nigl, and he's a 40-year-old neuropsychologist who lives in Columbus, Ohio. When we called Nigl, he had no idea that his bracket was perfect, let alone that it was the best verifiable bracket filled out in the history of March Madness. For more detail on how we got here, head over to our Perfect Bracket Tracker, where we show in real time how we got from tens of millions of brackets to one. We'll be tracking "center road" the rest of the tournament there as well. Here is an abridged version of the conversation with Nigl: Gregg Nigl: This seems kind of unreal. How do I know that this is, you know, real? NCAA.com: Are you near a computer now? (The lead story on NCAA.com when we called was about Nigl's bracket) GN: Yeah. NCAA: If you go to NCAA.com, you’ll see- GN: I thought I remembered a news story about a kid… NCAA: Yes, there was a news story from 2010 about a kid who picked a perfect Sweet 16, but that was on CBS’s bracket game, which allowed you to alter your picks after the tournament started, so there’s no way to verify that it was truly perfect. GN: Okay. (Nigl has the call on speakerphone, and you can hear his wife in the background: "Is that your bracket?") Yeah, that’s my bracket. Okay, I’m on… yeah, I see it. (His wife is laughing in background.) NCAA: Yeah, congratulations! POWER RANKINGS: The 16 teams in the Sweet 16, ranked by Andy Katz GN: Yeah, this is my friend’s bracket [group] that he invited me to, and I almost didn’t fill it out because we were just doing it for fun and I’m in a couple other ones at work and stuff. Almost didn’t even fill it out. NCAA: That’s amazing. Have you been filling out brackets for a while? GN: Oh yeah, yeah. I do it every year. I'd probably say 10 to 15 years now. Above: Gregg NIgl's bracket NCAA: How many brackets did you fill out this year? GN: Four. NCAA: Do you have any strategy for it? GN: I always watch bracketology, I listen to them, take into account what they say. And then, honestly, sometimes it’s which teams I like better. Some cities I like better, some teams I like better, some coaches I like better. I do look at the rankings too. It’s a combination of things. Don’t get me wrong, a bunch of this is luck. I know that. I’m not going to say I knew every matchup by any means. NCAA: So, it’s hard to actually calculate the exact odds of a perfect bracket, but if every game were a coin flip, the odds would be about 1 in 9.2 quintillion. GN: *Laughing* Wow. NCAA: So, you’ve got 15 games to go for that. We’re all rooting for you. GN: So wait, you’re saying I’m the first person to have ever done this? *Laughing* NCAA: Correct. As far as we can tell, you’re the first person in the history of the tournament to have ever done this. (Nigl's wife can be heard in the background again: "He already said that.") GN: I know, but it’s unbelievable. NCAA: We track tens of millions of brackets every single year [we started in 2016] so you’re looking at hundreds of millions of brackets. None of them have ever done this well. GN: Wow. Wow. NCAA: Have you been watching the games? GN: Yeah, we’re on vacation right now. We’re driving from Ohio to Vermont, which is a pretty long road trip. We stopped in New York so I could watch my Michigan Wolverines play.