UPDATED – The perfect one: “Malaquias4394” entry remains unblemished
Editor’s Note: This post was updated on March 21 at 6 p.m. ET to include a SportsCenter interview with the entry’s creator. Also, as of Arizona’s win over Ohio State on Saturday, there now remains zero perfect brackets.
There is but one perfect bracket remaining in “ESPN’s Men’s Tournament Challenge presented by Acura.” An entry from the user name “Malaquias4394” carries the distinction of being the lone, un-Sharpied sheet in a pool of over 11.5 million submissions. It is entered in the “hueyd14” group made up of seven entries and the group ranks 36,387th.
Until the Masked Bracketer reveals him or herself, the social world marvels at the incredible feat (actual bracket can be viewed here):
UPDATE, March 21, 6 p.m. ET – Interview conducted by SportsCenter anchor Randy Scott:
For 1st time since '07, a bracket went 32-0 in ESPN Tournament Challenge. Congrats Malaquias4394. (FWIW -Has Duke over Kansas in final.)
— Paul Melvin (@PaulESPNPR) March 21, 2015
I have a feeling #Malaquias4394 wishes it was powerball & not #MarchMadness but I wish them well! #FinishTheFight pic.twitter.com/32IYo5p0Wh
— Jeff Lampkin (@lampdizl) March 21, 2015
There is 1 perfect bracket left in the ESPN Tournament Challenge. ONE! Here it is: http://t.co/aYVeqXzt5Q Malaquias4394 is a genius!
— ESPNU (@ESPNU) March 21, 2015
This always fascinates me. MT @bhofheimer_espn There's only 1 perfect bracket left on http://t.co/rfb4zVQ0G6: http://t.co/2xsPKqjbHQ
— John Ourand (@Ourand_SBJ) March 21, 2015
@ESPNFantasy @MattSpiegel670 Props to #malaquias4394 but he and his magic pencil going down today. #MarchMadness
— JohnnyLaw (@BossHook) March 21, 2015
#malaquias4394 is the GOAT
— Pelican_Lugia (@drewrosso12) March 21, 2015
Good news! #Malaquias4394 picked the #Buckeyes to take down Arizona! #PerfectBracket #BuckeyeNation
— Matthew Baird (@MatthewABaird) March 21, 2015
And then there’s this valid point:
I'm actually more surprised there were 4393 other people named Malaquias. #Malaquias4394
— Steve Kt (@SteveintheKT) March 21, 2015
Here’s a bit more related to this piece from yesterday’s fivethrityeight.com about how the number of perfect brackets dwindled down on Thursday, here’s the dwindle rate for Friday’s game:
Day starts with 273 perfectos. After. . . :
. . . Kansas over New Mexico State, 253
. . . Michigan State over Georgia: 171
. . . Northern Iowa over Wyoming: 95
. . . West Virginia over Buffalo: 72
. . . Wichita State over Indiana: 33
. . . Virginia over Belmont: 32
. . . Louisville over UC Irvine: 32
. . . Maryland over Valparaiso: 24
. . . Oregon over Oklahoma State: 19
. . . Duke over Robert Morris: 19
. . . Iowa over Davidson: 12
. . . Oklahoma over Albany: 10
. . . Wisconsin over Coastal Carolina: 10
. . . San Diego State over St. John’s: 7
. . . Gonzaga over North Dakota State : 6
. . . Dayton over Providence: 1
Stay with Front Row and ESPN as we await the reveal on the Person with the #PerfectBracket.
Kevin Ota contributed to this post