NCAA Tournament Bracket Challenge - Elite 8, Day 1 Update

Half of the 2025 Final Four is now set after the first two games of the Elite Eight were played on Saturday.  Following the trend we've seen so far this tournament, there were no upsets, with both 1 seeds advancing.

It didn't appear as if that would be the case as we neared the end of (1) Florida's game against (3) Texas Tech.  Two days after the Red Raiders pulled off a magical 16-point late comeback victory over Arkansas, they received a taste of their own medicine this time around.  Texas Tech led 71-61 with 5:30 to play before Florida went on a three-point shooting tear.  The Gators ended on an 23-8 run to erase all doubt and emphatically punch their ticket to San Antonio.

The other game was much less dramatic, as (1) Duke did what they've done all year.  The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead on (2) Alabama and never give it up, running away with a 20-point win to claim the second seat in the Final Four.

As the two most heavily selected champions in the Mega March Madness Matchup Monstrosity, the majority of our brackets picked at least one of tonight's two winners to advance to the Final Four, and a lot of people correctly picked both.  Here's how the leaderboard is looking with two more Elite Eight games to be played Sunday.

We've now advanced far enough to begin to mathematically eliminate applicants based on the possible remaining outcomes.  If our calculations are correct, there are 15 brackets that are still alive.  The eliminated contenders are listed in red in the graphic below, as they are either blocked out by duplicate bracket picks currently ahead of them or by simply being too far behind or without enough teams left in the hunt.

Check back Monday for the final update before the Final Four tips off next weekend.  We should have an even better idea for who our contest's front runners are after the last two Elite Eight matchups are decided.

Written by Nick Swatson