Well, it's the most wonderful time of year: March! It's that special time when 65 teams vie for hard-court supremacy in tournament style play in the greatest sporting event on earth. It's when workplace productivity plummets and millions of man-hours are lost to online basketball viewing. It's when water-cooler discussions shift from politics to scores and greetings shift from "good morning" to "have you filled out your bracket yet?" Yes, the economy stinks, and tax season is just around the corner; but for now, it's March and all is right with the world.
In filling out my bracket, I became curious as to just how many bracket possibilities there were. Suppose that any team is just as likely to beat any other team.
How many scenarios could there be?
After some organization, and a little figuring, I came up with the formula: 2^(x-1). Simply put, in a 64 team playoff (eliminating the play-in game), there are 2^(64-1) scenarios. So, for those of you who haven't filled out your brackets just yet, just be aware that there are
9,223,372,036,854,770,000
(nine quintillion, two-hundred twenty-three quadrillion, three-hundred seventy-two trillion, thirty six billion, eight hundred fifty-four million, seven-hundred seventy thousand)
bracket possibilities.
How many scenarios could there be?
After some organization, and a little figuring, I came up with the formula: 2^(x-1). Simply put, in a 64 team playoff (eliminating the play-in game), there are 2^(64-1) scenarios. So, for those of you who haven't filled out your brackets just yet, just be aware that there are
9,223,372,036,854,770,000
(nine quintillion, two-hundred twenty-three quadrillion, three-hundred seventy-two trillion, thirty six billion, eight hundred fifty-four million, seven-hundred seventy thousand)
bracket possibilities.
Choose wisely.
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