What are the odds that a class of 2nd graders filled out a better March Madness bracket than you?
Surprisingly good, actually.
Like more than 23 million other people, the 18 2nd grade students in Matt Falcone鈥檚 class at Olive Chapel Elementary School in Apex, N.C., filled out an NCAA basketball tournament bracket in early March. But while millions of people watched their picks lose and their brackets get busted, Falcone鈥檚 students spent the next three weeks watching rise in the rankings鈥攁ll the way up to .
鈥淚t really was a shock for all of us,鈥� Falcone said Wednesday in an interview with Education Week. 鈥淭his thing that I thought was just going to be a little fun turned out to be super duper amazing鈥攎ore than I ever expected.鈥�
Of the 61 matchups in the bracket, the class picked 49 right, and nearly all of the games they got wrong were in the tournament鈥檚 opening round.
There was no science or trick to the kid鈥檚 picks, Falcone said. It was much the opposite, actually.
For each game, Falcone asked the group to, with a show of hands, choose between the two teams. Whichever one received the majority of the votes advanced in the bracket.
Usually, students picked local teams, like Duke and North Carolina State, or their parents鈥� alma maters. Sometimes, they chose the team with the better mascot. To break the few ties that happened, Falcone simply flipped a coin.
鈥淚t really came down to just a vibe check, like, what is everyone feeling like going with, and when we were done, I looked at it and was like, 鈥楾his is definitely a bracket made by 2nd graders,鈥� but it didn鈥檛 matter, it will still be fun,鈥� Falcone said. 鈥淭hen, it just kept being right and moving up and up in the rankings.鈥�
Olive Chapel is a year-round elementary school in the Wake County public school system, so instead of one long summer break, students are dismissed for shorter breaks more frequently. One of those breaks came as the tournament progressed, and, rather than unplugging completely from work, Falcone was excited to post updates on the bracket鈥檚 progress for families and students.
The bracket exercise was just intended to be fun and wasn鈥檛 tied to lessons. Truthfully, Falcone said he never expected his class to have so much success.
But it just goes to show that even when the odds are slim鈥攖he NCAA of choosing a perfect bracket as 鈥減ractically zero"鈥攕ometimes they鈥檙e in your favor.
The experience has also reinforced for the students that there鈥檚 no harm in trying something new, Falcone said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like, whatever happens, happens, and if it鈥檚 something good, that鈥檚 fantastic and if it鈥檚 something bad, at least we tried,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 taught them a little bit about never giving up because you never know what can happen.鈥�
Although the class won鈥檛 get any official rewards from the NCAA for its fifth-place finish, Falcone said he plans to celebrate with his students when they return from break next week, perhaps with a pizza party, or maybe ice cream sundaes.
As for Falcone鈥檚 bracket that he filled out individually, without his students?
鈥淚t was garbage,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 definitely needed the class.鈥�
