Importance Score: 25 / 100 🔵
The excitement of March Madness has concluded, with the Florida Gators triumphing over Houston in the men’s NCAA championship game. In women’s college basketball, UConn secured the championship title against South Carolina. While personal victory eluded the author in their March Madness bracket pool, a surprising second-place finish was achieved, owing to AI-driven predictions despite limited personal knowledge of college basketball.
The success stemmed from artificial intelligence, which remarkably predicted 28 out of 32 first-round games and 14 out of 16 games in the second round. ChatGPT maintained a perfect record during the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight rounds, achieving 8 for 8 and 4 for 4, respectively. Ultimately, the AI’s bracket predictions faltered in the Final Four, going 0 for 2, and missed the championship game outcome, preventing a pool victory.
Detailed results are provided below.
Despite a lack of in-depth knowledge about the teams participating in this year’s NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournaments, the desire to excel in a bracket pool remained. This is somewhat ironic, given attendance at numerous college basketball games during time at UCLA and an avid following of the NBA (go Lakers!). However, college basketball engagement has been limited this year.
Nevertheless, participation in a March Madness bracket contest was undertaken, with no intention of losing. While anticipating a first-place finish was unrealistic, achieving second place was an unexpected and welcome outcome. It is important to note that all participants were aware of the use of ChatGPT for bracket selections, and therefore, any potential prizes were forfeited.
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Using ChatGPT for March Madness Bracket Creation
Numerous approaches can be employed when utilizing ChatGPT to generate a March Madness bracket. Several potential scenarios, including the chosen method, are outlined.
Playing it Safe: Favoring Top Seeds
Prompt Example: “Generate a March Madness bracket using a statistically sound, low-risk strategy, mainly selecting favorites while incorporating a few historically plausible upsets.”
Taking Calculated Risks: Balancing Favorites and Upsets
Prompt Example: “Construct a March Madness bracket with a blend of strong favorites, several carefully considered upsets, and at least one longshot team advancing deep into the tournament.”
High-Risk, High-Reward Approach: Embracing Upsets
Prompt Example: “Develop a March Madness bracket adopting a bold, upset-heavy strategy — prioritizing significant Cinderella runs, major upsets in early rounds, and at least one unexpected Final Four contender.”
This represents a daring strategy.
Regardless of the chosen prompt, adjustments can be made to tailor the bracket. Follow-up questions are likely and can be used to refine the bracket predictions. Options include emphasizing data-driven picks or incorporating teams with current momentum. Consideration can be given to historical upset trends or selecting wildcard teams based on intuition. The inclusion of a Cinderella team is always a possibility to suggest to ChatGPT.
These factors may be explored by ChatGPT in subsequent responses, so strategic choices are advisable.
For this NCAA bracket, a medium-risk prompt was employed to avoid excessive unpredictability.
ChatGPT’s NCAA Bracket Predictions
The prompt utilized was: “Create a complete March Madness bracket for me, incorporating a mix of strong favorites, a few calculated upsets, and at least one dark horse team making a deep run. Ensure inclusion of the First Four. Use this guide: https://www.ncaa.com/march-madness-live/bracket.” This generated the following bracket via ChatGPT 4o:
Note: Initially, ChatGPT provided inaccurate team selections, necessitating a directive to utilize the official NCAA website’s bracket as a reference. The inclusion of the First Four teams also required specific prompting. Depending on the ChatGPT version, prompt adjustments might be needed to achieve accurate results.
Presented below is the complete 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament bracket, featuring the First Four, projected favorites, anticipated upsets, and a dark horse poised for a deep tournament run. The accuracy of ChatGPT’s predictions for the initial 52 games is also indicated.
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)
LouisvilleCreighton ✅ - (5) Michigan defeats (4) Texas A&M ✅
- (3) Iowa State defeats (6) Ole Miss ❌
- (2) Michigan State defeats (7)
MarquetteNew 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 StateBaylor ✅ - (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)
ClemsonMcNeese ✅ - (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 opening round, ChatGPT achieved 28 out of 32 correct predictions, accurately identifying notable upsets, including all three in the West region. The second round also proved successful for ChatGPT, with 14 out of 16 correct picks and the accurate selection of 10th-seeded Arkansas as a surprise Sweet 16 contender. During the Sweet Sixteen, ChatGPT maintained a perfect score, going 8 for 8, and continued this streak in the Elite Eight with 4 for 4. However, ChatGPT’s bracket performance declined in the later stages, with 0 for 2 in the Final Four and an incorrect Championship prediction.
Overall, the AI-generated bracket achieved an 86% accuracy rate, correctly predicting 54 out of 63 games, significantly surpassing potential human performance.
Final reflections from ChatGPT are provided.
The 2025 NCAA men’s basketball tournament schedule is as follows:
- First Four: March 18-19
- First Round: March 20-21
- Second Round: March 22-23
- Sweet 16: March 27-28
- Elite Eight: March 29-30
- Final Four: April 5
- NCAA Championship Game: April 7
Utilizing ChatGPT for the NCAA Women’s Tournament
While the NCAA women’s basketball tournament may have less widespread popularity compared to the men’s, bracket pools exist, and ChatGPT can be employed with a similar prompt (as previously described) to generate a women’s bracket. Although not participating in a women’s pool, a bracket was generated via ChatGPT for illustrative purposes, yielding the following:
Prompt Used: “Create a complete women’s March Madness bracket for me, incorporating a mix of strong favorites, a few calculated upsets, and at least one dark horse team making a deep run. Ensure inclusion of the First Four. Use this guide: https://www.ncaa.com/brackets/basketball-women/d1/2025”
ChatGPT Response:
Note: Abbreviated to final analysis.
“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 is predicted to win the title in a West Coast final against South Carolina.”
UCLA did reach the Final Four; however, the National Championship game featured UConn and South Carolina (both correctly identified as favorites by ChatGPT), with the Huskies ultimately securing the victory.