Duke is the people's choice — again.
For the second year in a row, the Blue Devils are the most popular national championship team in the Men's Bracket Challenge Game. For this year's March Madness, No. 1 Duke wins the title on 25.15 percent of brackets. That's down slightly from last year's Cooper Flagg-led team of 30.97 percent, but it's still well ahead of the competition.
The other three No. 1 seeds follow Duke in popularity, with Arizona (18.08 percent), Michigan (12.82 percent) and defending champion Florida (6.62 percent). Houston is next as the top No. 2 seed at 5.88 percent.
Since we've been tracking brackets for the 2014 tournament, three of the most-picked teams ended up winning the crown: 2017 North Carolina, 2018 Villanova and 2024 UConn.
Some other fun data to know:
- The four No. 1 seeds — Duke, Arizona, Michigan and Florida — combine to be the champions on 62.64 percent of brackets. Last year, all four top seeds made the Final Four for only the second time ever.
- No. 3 Gonzaga at 3.35 percent is more popular than two of the No. 2 seeds (Purdue and Iowa State).
- No. 4 Arkansas (2.60) is more picked than three of the No. 3 seeds (Michigan State, Illinois, Virginia).
- Saint Louis is a No. 9 seed but is the 16th-most popular title pick at 0.81 percent.
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 | 25.12 |
| No. 1 Arizona | 18.08 |
| No. 1 Michigan | 12.82 |
| No. 1 Florida | 6.62 |
| No. 2 Houston | 5.88 |
| No. 2 UConn | 3.43 |
| No. 3 Gonzaga | 3.35 |
| No. 2 Purdue | 2.96 |
| No. 2 Iowa State | 2.65 |
| No. 4 Arkansas | 2.60 |
| No. 3 Michigan State | 1.87 |
| No. 3 Illinois | 1.38 |
| No. 3 Virginia | 1.05 |
| No. 4 Kansas | 1.00 |
| No. 5 St. John's | 1.00 |
