March Madness Statistics & Probability Article for Students | Scholastic Math Magazine (2024)

Teaching Resources

March is all about basketball. This month, the 68 top men’s and women’s college teams compete in the Division 1 championship. Of those, 64 make it to what’s known as the March Madness bracket. Fans fill out their brackets to predict which team will win each match-up—and the whole event.

But predicting winners is trickier than it sounds. A loss in any one of the 63 total games can bust your bracket. That’s why you’re more likely to pick a specific grain of sand out from all the beaches on Earth than you are to pick a perfect March Madness bracket. At least, that’s what the math says! There are 263—or 9.2 quintillion—unique combinations possible for each bracket!

Luckily, you don’t need to pick a perfect bracket to enjoy the event. The term March Madness was first used in 1939 to describe high school basketball’s popularity in the Midwest. But it graduated to college ball in 1985, when a CBS commentator started using it on air during the tournament.

Although the women’s Division 1 championship has been played since 1982, it wasn’t officially part of March Madness until 2022. And last year women made March Madness history! Caitlin Clark of the Iowa Hawkeyes broke the record for most points scored in the tournament, racking up 191 points. She broke the previous women’s record by 22 points—and the men’s record by 7 points!

The “Final Four” is the nickname given to the last four teams in each championship. Here are some stats from last year.

The men’s Division 1 championships have been held since 1939, and the women’s since 1982. Here are the colleges with the most wins for each.

Answer the questions using the information in the infographic and graphs. Want to dig deeper? Go to scholastic.com/math for
5 more questions!Record your work and answers on our answer sheet.

Which men’s team has won more Division 1 championships than Indiana?

How many more women’s championships has UConn won than Stanford?

What is the ratio of seats at NRG Stadium to seats at American Airlines Center in simplest form?

During the 2023 Division 1 championships, Caitlin Clark played a total of 6 games. What’s the average number of points she scored per game?

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