Your Brain On Brackets: The Science Of March Madness
Risk, reward, dopamine surges. Packaged into 130 games. Although the odds of a perfect NCAA bracket are about 1 in 9.
2 quintillion, our brains love March Madness anyway.
A Lehigh Mountain Hawks fan holds up a sign reading ''MADNESS LIVES HERE'' at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, United States, on March 10, 2026 (Photo by Dan Squicciarini/NurPhoto via Getty Images). NurPhoto via Getty Images Risk, reward, dopamine surges. It’s all there.
Packaged into three weeks across 130 college basketball games. There’s a reason it’s called March Madness. Watching the highs, lows, and bewildering moments of the annual NCAA Division 1 Tournament can drive you crazy.
Not to mention the emotional investment tens of millions of people place in brackets. In the 2026 tournament, 26. 6 million March Madness brackets were submitted to ESPN's Tournament Challenge alone.
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