Duke is the clear favorite team to win it all among users in this year's March Madness.
The Blue Devils are picked to win the national championship on 30.97 percent of Men's BCG brackets, well ahead of the team picked the second-most: Florida (17.51). Duke is 31-3 and received a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament after sweeping the ACC regular season and tournament titles. But the Blue Devils are also dealing with injuries, most notably to star freshman Cooper Flagg.
Duke's percentage stands out in that it tops defending champion UConn going into last year's tournament (26.09). That Huskies team did in fact run it back, becoming the first repeat champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007. UConn also became the first team to be the first most-picked Men's BCG champion to also win the title since 2018 Villanova. But Duke's percentage is behind its 2019 mark of 39.12 percent with Zion Williamson and the lofty 46.57 percent undefeated Kentucky received in 2015.
FOLLOWING PERFECTION:
Here are some other notable data to know:
- The eight most-picked champions are the four No. 1 seeds (Duke, Florida, Auburn, Houston) followed by the four No. 2 seeds (Michigan State, St. John's, Tennessee, Alabama)
- No. 3 Kentucky is the first non-top-2 seed, coming in ninth as the champ on 1.81 percent of brackets
- No. 8 Gonzaga, however, is the 10th-most pick. The Bulldogs win the title on 1.52 percent of brackets — ahead of three No. 3 seeds, all No. 4s, all No. 5s, all No. 6s and all No. 7s.
- No. 5 Michigan at 1.02 percent ranks 13th, ahead of all No. 4 seeds.
- Two-time defending champion UConn? The No. 8 Huskies are the winners on 0.91 percent of brackets. If those entries are correct, that would be the sport's first back-to-back-to-back champion since UCLA won seven in a row from 1967-1973. UConn did win it all in 2014 when being picked on only 0.23 percent of brackets.
Here are all teams picked to win it all by at least 1 percent of Men's Bracket Challenge Game entries:
| Team | % Picked to win the title |
|---|---|
| No. 1 Duke | 30.97 |
| No. 1 Florida | 17.51 |
| No. 1 Auburn | 8.85 |
| No. 1 Houston | 7.29 |
| No. 2 Michigan State | 4.99 |
| No. 2 St. John's | 4.38 |
| No. 2 Tennessee | 3.56 |
| No. 2 Alabama | 3.34 |
| No. 3 Kentucky | 1.81 |
| No. 8 Gonzaga | 1.52 |
| No. 3 Texas Tech | 1.24 |
| No. 3 Wisconsin | 1.26 |
| No. 3 Iowa State | 1.05 |
| No. 5 Michigan | 1.02 |
