March Madness is now over. The Florida Gators beat Houston to win the boys’s NCAA championship sport, whereas UConn defeated South Carolina to take the ladies’s championship. And whereas I did not get my very own championship within the March Madness pool I used to be in, I acquired second place.
That’s as a result of I did not choose them myself. AI did, and would not , it went 28 for 32 within the first spherical and 14 for 16 within the second spherical. ChatGPT went undefeated within the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight, going 8 for 8 and 4 for 4, respectively. And ultimately, it did not accomplish that effectively, going 0 for two within the Final Four and dropping within the Championship sport. Which is the one motive I did not win my pool.
You can try all the outcomes under.
I do not know a lot in any respect concerning the groups that performed on this yr’s NCAA males’s basketball event (or ladies’s), however I nonetheless wished to win my bracket pool. It’s a bit embarrassing as a result of I went to UCLA and attended many school basketball video games. I additionally comply with the NBA obsessively (go, Lakers!), however I’ve been completely out of it with regards to school basketball this yr.
Nevertheless, I signed up for a March Madness bracket pool, and naturally, I did not wish to lose. I did not suppose I’d win first place, however I undoubtedly wasn’t anticipating to get second place, which I’m actually completely happy about. Also, simply to notice, all my buddy and household within the pool knew I used ChatGPT for my picks, and so I forfeited any prizes.
Here’s the way it all went down.
How I requested ChatGPT to fill out my March Madness bracket
There are some ways to ask ChatGPT to fill out a March Madness bracket. Here are a couple of completely different eventualities that might have labored, plus the eventual choice that I selected.
You can play it protected and keep on with principally favorites.
“Fill out my March Madness bracket with a statistically sound and low-risk strategy, prioritizing favorites whereas together with a couple of traditionally affordable upsets.”
You also can go a little bit riskier in case you suppose that there could be extra upsets than regular.
“Fill out my March Madness bracket with a mixture of sturdy favorites, a couple of calculated upsets and at the very least one darkish horse staff making a deep run.”
You also can go actually excessive threat, which could result in excessive reward (however most certainly not).
“Fill out my March Madness bracket with a daring, upset-heavy strategy — prioritizing massive Cinderella runs, main early spherical upsets and at the very least one shock Final Four staff.”
Now that is daring!
Whatever immediate you utilize, you may tweak it as you see match. You’ll in all probability be requested follow-up questions anyway, which you’ll be able to reply to get a extra tailor-made bracket. You can go along with sturdy analytics-based picks or embody scorching groups with momentum. You can select traditionally confirmed upset tendencies or go along with gut-feeling wild card groups. And there’s at all times a Cinderella staff, so you may push ChatGPT to incorporate one.
These are all questions that ChatGPT could ask you in subsequent responses, so select correctly.
I personally did not wish to go too dangerous with my NCAA bracket, so I opted for a medium-risk immediate.
Here’s the NCAA bracket that ChatGPT selected for me
Using the immediate “Fill out a whole March Madness bracket for me, with a mixture of sturdy favorites, a couple of calculated upsets and at the very least one darkish horse staff making a deep run. Make certain to incorporate the First Four. Use this as a information: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/bracket,” that is the bracket that ChatGPT (model ChatGPT 4o) generated for me:
Note: ChatGPT initially wasn’t giving me the right groups, so I needed to inform it to make use of the official NCAA web site with the bracket on it as a information. And I additionally needed to point out to incorporate the First Four groups, which it saved lacking. Depending on what model of ChatGPT you are utilizing, you’ll have to mess around together with your immediate to get an accurate reply.
Here’s the entire 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket with the First Four, sturdy favorites, calculated upsets, and a darkish horse making a deep run. I’ve additionally added in whether or not ChatGPT accurately picked the winner within the first 52 video games which were performed thus far.
First Four
(16) Alabama State defeats (16) Saint Francis (PA) ✅
(16) Mount St. Mary’s defeats (16) American ✅
(11) North Carolina defeats (11) San Diego State ✅
(11) Texas defeats (11) Xavier ❌
South Region
First Round
(1) Auburn defeats (16) Alabama State ✅
(8) Louisville defeats (9) Creighton ❌
(5) Michigan defeats (12) UC San Diego ✅
(4) Texas A&M defeats (13) Yale ✅
(6) Ole Miss defeats (11) North Carolina ✅
(3) Iowa State defeats (14) Lipscomb ✅
(7) Marquette defeats (10) New Mexico ❌
(2) Michigan State defeats (15) Bryant ✅
Second Round
(1) Auburn defeats (8) Louisville Creighton ✅
(5) Michigan defeats (4) Texas A&M ✅
(3) Iowa State defeats (6) Ole Miss ❌
(2) Michigan State defeats (7) Marquette New Mexico ✅
Sweet 16
(1) Auburn defeats (5) Michigan ✅
(2) Michigan State defeats (3) Iowa State ✅
Elite 8
(1) Auburn defeats (2) Michigan State ✅
East Region
First Round
(1) Duke defeats (16) Mount St. Mary’s ✅
(8) Mississippi State defeats (9) Baylor ❌
(5) Oregon defeats (12) Liberty ✅
(4) Arizona defeats (13) Akron ✅
(6) BYU defeats (11) VCU ✅
(3) Wisconsin defeats (14) Montana ✅
(7) Saint Mary’s defeats (10) Vanderbilt ✅
(2) Alabama defeats (15) Robert Morris ✅
Second Round
(1) Duke defeats (8) Mississippi State Baylor ✅
(4) Arizona defeats (5) Oregon ✅
(3) Wisconsin defeats (6) BYU ❌
(2) Alabama defeats (7) Saint Mary’s ✅
Sweet 16
(1) Duke defeats (4) Arizona ✅
(2) Alabama defeats (3) Wisconsin ✅
Elite 8
(1) Duke defeats (2) Alabama ✅
Midwest Region
First Round
(1) Houston defeats (16) SIU Edwardsville ✅
(8) Gonzaga defeats (9) Georgia ✅
(5) Clemson defeats (12) McNeese ❌
(4) Purdue defeats (13) High Point ✅
(6) Illinois defeats (11) Texas ✅
(3) Kentucky defeats (14) Troy ✅
(7) UCLA defeats (10) Utah State ✅
(2) Tennessee defeats (15) Wofford ✅
Second Round
(1) Houston defeats (8) Gonzaga ✅
(4) Purdue defeats (5) Clemson McNeese ✅
(3) Kentucky defeats (6) Illinois ✅
(2) Tennessee defeats (7) UCLA ✅
Sweet 16
(1) Houston defeats (4) Purdue ✅
(2) Tennessee defeats (3) Kentucky ✅
Elite 8
(1) Houston defeats (2) Tennessee ✅
West Region
First Round
(1) Florida defeats (16) Norfolk State ✅
(8) UConn defeats (9) Oklahoma ✅
(12) Colorado State upsets (5) Memphis ✅
(4) Maryland defeats (13) Grand Canyon ✅
(11) Drake upsets (6) Missouri ✅
(3) Texas Tech defeats (14) UNC Wilmington ✅
(10) Arkansas upsets (7) Kansas ✅
(2) Tennessee defeats (15) Wofford ✅
Second Round
(1) Florida defeats (8) UConn ✅
(12) Colorado State upsets (4) Maryland ❌
(3) Texas Tech defeats (11) Drake ✅
(10) Arkansas upsets (2) Tennessee ✅
Sweet 16
(1) Florida defeats (12) Colorado State ✅
(3) Texas Tech defeats (10) Arkansas ✅
Elite 8
(1) Florida defeats (3) Texas Tech ✅
Final Four
(1S) Auburn defeats (1W) Florida ❌
(1E) Duke defeats (1MW) Houston ❌
National Championship
(1E) Duke defeats (1S) Auburn (74-69) ❌
—
In the primary spherical, ChatGPT went 28 for 32 and picked a number of the massive upsets, together with all three within the West area. ChatGPT had success within the second spherical too, going 14 for 16 and accurately choosing the shock Cinderella staff for the Sweet 16 in Tenth-seeded Arkansas. In the Sweet Sixteen, ChatGPT went undefeated, going 8 for 8, and 4 for 4 within the Elite Eight. Down the stretch, ChatGPT faltered, going 0 for two within the Final Four and dropping the Championship.
Overall it went 86%, getting 54 of the 63 video games proper, which is means higher than what I’d’ve acquired had I stuffed out the bracket myself.
These are some closing ideas that ChatGPT had for me.
Here’s the schedule for the 2025 NCAA males’s basketball event:
- First Four: March 18-19
- First spherical: March 20-21
- Second spherical: March 22-23
- Sweet 16: March 27-28
- Elite Eight: March 29-30
- Final Four: April 5
- NCAA championship sport: April 7
I used the same ChatGPT immediate for the NCAA ladies’s basketball event
The NCAA ladies’s basketball event is probably not as standard as the boys’s, however there are undoubtedly swimming pools on the market, and should you’re in a single, you need to use ChatGPT, and the same immediate to the one within the earlier part, to fill out your bracket. Although I’m not in a pool, I requested ChatGPT only for the hell of it, and that is what it gave me for the ladies’s event:
My immediate: “Fill out a whole ladies’s March Madness bracket for me, with a mixture of sturdy favorites, a couple of calculated upsets and at the very least one darkish horse staff making a deep run. Make certain to incorporate the First Four. Use this as a information:
ChatGPT’s reply:
Note: Shortened to simply closing ideas.
“This bracket incorporates:
- Favorites: South Carolina, UCLA, South Carolina, UConn, Texas
- Calculated Upsets: Louisville over Arizona, UConn over Texas
- A Dark Horse: Louisville’s deep run
UCLA wins the title in a West Coast showdown towards South Carolina.”
Although UCLA did make it to the Final Four, it was UConn and South Carolina within the National Championship sport (which ChatGPT did have as favorites), with the Huskies taking the win.
