Even with no. 1 seed University of Connecticut somewhat predictably winning the men’s NCAA tournament, this tumultuous bracket season has ended with many winners and losers alike. In the women’s tournament, however, the women’s UConn team lost a close game to Caitlin Clark and the University of Iowa, who then ended up losing in the championship game to the University of South Carolina.

As always, there were many surprising upsets throughout the tournament that led to the shattering of brackets for both casual and competitive players. One of these shattered brackets belongs to freshman Ryan Wilensky who scored a measly 530 out of 1920 points in the men’s challenge.

“I went back and forth between Purdue and UNC, but then I [decided] to pick a random team. Auburn I knew was a pretty solid team, [and] I wasn’t sure if they had a chance, but I knew anything could happen in March Madness,” Wilensky said.

Out of the 22.6 million ESPN brackets made this year, Wilensky’s bracket placed around the 32nd percentile. He picked Auburn to not only beat UConn but win the entire tournament. Unfortunately, Auburn lost unexpectedly in the first round to Yale.

“I am not happy about how my bracket turned out,” Wilensky said.

Wilensky ended up losing the WJ Track and Field 2024 tournament challenge, coming in last place behind sophomore Grant Levens, junior Gideon Gotiangco, sophomore John Snow and junior Josh Hananel (myself). Snow had mixed feelings about his performance and UConn winning the tournament, even though he did pick them winning.

“I’m not surprised [UConn] won, but I’m not happy about it. My performance was poor in the bracket,” Snow said.

For the Pitch’s group itself, I ended up winning our 2024 challenge with ease. The prize entailed a high-five from co-worker Joshua Singer, the Print Editor-in-Chief of the Pitch, which I received. My bracket placed 17,168th out of the 22.6 million ESPN brackets, ending up in the 99th percentile.

No. 11 seed North Carolina State University was also an exhilarating team to watch. DJ Burns Jr. and the rest of the team pierced through teams ranked higher than them, until losing to no. 1 ranked Purdue in the Final Four.

Senior Eliot Rudd had one of the highest-scoring brackets globally until a crushing Sweet Sixteen game. His bracket was perfect until that point, aside from a few missed Round of 64 and 32 games.

“[My bracket] was good until Purdue beat Gonzaga, and it was still top [1%] until Purdue made the finals,” Rudd said.