The probability of completing a perfect NCAA tournament bracket is less than the combined odds of landing a hole-in-one, winning the Powerball and being struck by lightning multiple times. So how did Sam Holtz, the 2015 winner of ESPN's March Madness Bracket Challenge, beat out almost 12 million other entries and score a near-perfect bracket? For one: he didn’t watch any college basketball before the tournament. A Great Big Story told with our friends at Bleacher Report.
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#SamHoltz #MarchMadness #BracketChallenge #GreatBigStory
I've said this for years that the only person who is going to fill out a perfect bracket is someone who knows absolutely nothing about college basketball
Kyle Klimek I watch every game of every season and right now I only have 5 right predictions. 5!!!!!
Case and point
Kyle Klimek Yep
Kyle Klimek because people will over think... Who knows may I be the next one? Yeah right Im to lazy to make one
Kyle Klimek Shannon said it on Undisputed. The more you know about college basketball, the worse your picks are going to be
I play baseball with him. He wasn't lying about not watching basketabll
Do u really?
Thekingpat B I go to school with him everyday.
Nick Brian WOW GOOD LYING *CLAPS LOUDLY*
Nick Brian no one watches basketabll... cuz it's BASKETBALL !!!! Not basketabLL
How am I lying? I am making a statement that I don't believe is true from some kid that supposedly knows this kid 7th grader
Wise words from this guy, "Pick who you think is gonna win." bravo
Micah Smith so obvious
Micah Smith I mean what was he supposed to say? Its like asking a lottery winner how they won, well by buying the ticket of course
@@eeeesyywuwiz2836 yeah I know it's just funny
No way I became the one thousandth like on this comment.
@@rhysfairall2562 How does this have 1k likes? Lol
This is like passing a test you didn’t study for
Acing you mean😆
@@hastaar2161 well he didnt actually have a perfect bracket he just won the competition.
Fr getting an A on a test I didn’t even know was happening that day is always the best (unless it’s a free class like literature, because I don’t study for that class either way)
More like getting into Harvard when you never studied your whole life
This is like acing the LSAT with no studying lol
Producers: Bracketology Prodogy! Sammy: "It's just pick whoever you want to win, there is no science"
Sarcasm.exe not_found
@3026 Zi it worked for him
then they show him dunking on 8 foot rim
Gage Brooker with a sick backboard
Gage Brooker 6 foot
It was higher than 6 foot probably 7 or 7'6
ShnugFlug if it was 7 foot then he’s easily 5 foot 10 so no
Gage Brooker with no back baord
He lived a perfect series of events that lead him to his bracket.
Slumdog Bracketology
It's like who wants to be a millionaire, the movie
@@rafa57games slumdog millionaire
I love how the only advice he had was “pick you think is gonna win.” Proves how he defiantly doesn’t watch basketball, makes the better.
Definitely*
@@jickleton-5653 Thank you
I really thought the way he does this is look through articles of each team, look at the stats, of team and player,look at the history between each matchup, look at the advantages and disadvantages, ask people who watch college ball for some more information But hell nah he’s just like, I like this college, therefore they win the match up
"I'm not going to watch basketball; you can't make me!" he said as he stomped his foot defiantly
LOL IS THIS REAL LIFE SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE
e8kowala lol
e8kowala 😂😂😂
Hi
Lol he is a billionaire cuz of Warren Buffett
Calvin Johnson yeah he didn’t have a perfect bracket not a billionaire hahaha
Mark Cuban: You didn't choose the Mavericks to win, and for that reason I'm out.
Ty 27 lmao
Ty 27 the mavs are in the nba
Xzafex r/whoosh
Ty 27 shark tank reference
Lol
Who else it watching this because March Madness is coming back?
Colin Newton yes I went back to watch this to get his advice for the bracket😤
Me
Yep
I am
Me
Didn’t know lostnunbound had the winning bracket
hah tru
Michael Pham he did?
Lol he looks like him
Eh sorta
More like TD
This guy's a sixth grader?
he was at the time, in seventh grade now
B Witt big difference.
Mr. Panda. It is actually
david otuwa, lol did somebody just graduate sixth grade
Alexander Ketcham so was I man I gave him the pencil and I was sitting next to him fanning him so he could concentrate
Or maybe someone from the future told him so.
Arewhyand Music This isn't Back to the future
Cygnus727 or is it
He stole the almanac!
It’s was the book he stole from Biff.
Think about it if he talked to someone from the future wouldn’t he have a perfect bracket
This is like the perfect example of how unpredictable march madness is
some people be trying their whole lives to win this and this kid doesnt even watch college basketball and won LMFAO
He got lucky
you don't say
Kenneth Wung he goes to my school. M8.
Kenneth Wung no shit.
Shawn Birkholz 😂😂😂😂
No fuckin shit
their coach is Italian and I'm somewhat Italian so they win his logic
TheWarriorMonkey it’s funny cuz his last name isn’t even Italian
@@CTS1661 his moms side could of been Italian
I’m crying 🤣
Literally every College Basketball coach is an Italian Jew 💀💀💀
@@greenbean5085 what about his dad’s side?
I started doing brackets the year before this guy's near perfecto. I had two terrible brackets in a row, then with 0 knowledge predicted Villanova over UNC and Michigan State losing to Middle Tennessee. The less knowledge you have, the better you do. It's been a slow, painful decline since I started getting more into college basketball.
Now I know who’s lunch money to steal
Lol I watch your videos btw I'm subbed too
He has no vids
warren buffet offered 1 billion for this
Here in my garage
HJMadventures My bwand new bwackets
He didn't have a perfect bracket. You needed it to have everything correct.
Yeah that was for a perfect bracket which has never happened and probably never will
charron except it just did
why do they keep saying perfect, his bracket wasn't perfect
Galaxy S7 in the beginning it says “near perfect”
This the galaxy I know?
Jayvian Coulter in the video it says he filled out a perfect bracket
Sports Talk no one has ever filled a perfect bracket, longest lasting bracket was 37 straight picks
first name last name I thought it was 39 straight? Anyway, no one is getting far this year lmao
'The man who broke the lottery' "Yeah I picked my favorite numbers I guess I like how 3 looks"
Sammy’s mom: I think he was lucky. Everyone watching: No waaaayyyy!!!!
He knew Michigan state coach is Italian? Makes complete sense he doesn't watch much..
he doesn't watch before the tournament.
saje cowell not much doesn’t mean not at all
Google exisst
He doesn't seem too excited about this. You know what I think? I think he time travelled.
Isaiah Mitchell your profile pic is cancer 💀💀
Isaiah Mitchell dang it. I tried to wipe it off
I know I'm late, but he wasn't excited because he was too young to get the prize. I know you're joking, just saying. If he did get the prize, he would be stoked.
He was too young to get the prize so its a big slap in the face.
Fucking no. Time travelling isn’t possible u fucking idiot and this doesn’t prove anything. He didn’t ace it, not 100%. He was ”near” perfect score. Moron
Time to watch this video once again. Wonder if Sam is filling out a bracket for 2022.
i got a question can’t you just fill the bracket after each game ends and get a perfect one or do you have to fill out a certain bracket before the ncaa starts online and it shuts off after ncaa tournament starts so no one can cheat
@@dandachliboxing6513 It stops allowing you to when it starts
lol this is like my 7 year old cousin who watches no basketball at all and picked UMBC to upset Virginia last year
tkennedy 301 bullshit no one predicted that
@thatbeast73 _ He’s 7 years old he probably picked the teams based on their logos
tkennedy 301 Dylan?
I remember I picked Mercer to upset Duke when I was a freshman in high school. Best part is I picked Mercer by doing a simple random number generator in my computer science class.
So true
He ended up getting a trip to Maui (Hawaii) for one week 2 Xbox Ones (which one he donated to Make-A-Wish Foundation) A $20,000 College Scholarship He also predicted Villanova to win it all last year as I read in one of his recent articles
Holy fuck why is this a video? "How did you pick the winning number" "I dunno I just picked it" Headline: Boy who solved the lottery
Garden Gnome exactly
There’s a lesson to be had from it but it seems you weren’t ready for it yet
Interviewer: What’s your advice for people filling out their brackets? Him: just pick who you think is gonna win Me: Oh ok I usually choose who I think will lose 🤦♂️
I mean it’s better than staying silent and making it awkward 🫠
When the interviews started I had to go back and verify that this wasn't an Onion satire piece.
Sam, who entered ESPN's tournament challenge with his father's email address and consent, wasn't old enough to qualify for the grand prize of a $20,000 Best Buy gift card and trip to the 2015 Maui Invitational. He needed to be 18 years or older to enter the random drawing that will include the top 1 percent of entrants
sfjohn5 can't hus dad be the representative or something?
sfjohn5 That's freakin stupid
sfjohn5 u
TheGreatestDuck who the fuck says fricken lmao ur probably 8 yrs old
Bbl_BrynR Troll alert
I learned so much from this video. It really helped me out
Don't let this kid fool you. He's a time traveler.
100%
Definitely
This gets recommended to everyone every march.
Facts.
Same lol
fr
Ok so he said he doesn't watch college basketball but he knew Kentucky won every year...ok cmon Man U must watch a bit...lollllll
Mate everyone knows Kentucky always wins.
He said he doesn't watch before the tournament
You don't need to know ncaamb to know Kentucky wins all the time
Scottie he said before the tournament. kinda like me , I don't watch NBA games really until the playoffs
if this is the same guy who was in the news last year for a new perfect bracket, then his dad helped him. there was a kid who had made the news for his bracket and admitted his father was obsessed with basketball and helped him make brackets
i wonder what he does in the SAT's.
Vaansh Lakhwara yeah lol
He said he guessed everything, why would he do well on the SATs?...
Vaansh Lakhwara well he picks his favorite answer and aces it
Go with his guts
Don’t study at all, don’t listen to teachers, and fill you’re scantron out in a weird shape and get a perfect score
I love it he just picks who he likes and where he’s been it’s hilarious
I love his enthusiasm
Dude I'm same way! I don't even watch much basketball and last years tourney, I just solely went off of my gut feeling vs people who live and breath basketball, and I had the best bracket.
8 years later, no one made it past the first round
I have to say I usually don’t get a chance to watch much ball, but the beat bracket I ever had was my junior year of high school when I watched a ton of basketball. And it actually did help to not guess a lot. My bracket was one of the best in Baton Rouge.
This is a very useful video... sure will use the strat
This guy knows something we don't know.. I can see it in his eyes.
Gematria
Boy: Breaks March Madness Corona: Hold my beer
I’ve watched this video four times and it’s still on my suggested after like 2 years
McGuire Hiscock same lmao
“How did u pick who to win each game?” “I just picked who I thought would win”😂😂
Anyone else notice that he went to colleges and is flippin 12 Edit:THIS IS THE MOST LIKES I HAVE EVER GOTTEN!!!
trap master 50 I went on a college campus tour to washing state university as a freshman. Lots of high schools do stuff like that it’s pretty much a field trip
Kameron Hill yeah but 6th grade is not high school
Kameron Hill he’s in the 6th grade
Andrew Keating ok well then it was a middle school field trip Jesus
He could have a older sibling he was and visited with them
POV: this video comes across your For you page/ Reccomended every year lol
Wow real good advice bud!
I come back to this every year
Did he win anything??
+Jason ok Espn was going to give him 20k but at the last min they didn't. They pulled back. If you get a perfect bracket you can win up yo 1 billion dollars.
OmgItsSoup they p pulled back because he was too young
Everything Tech Review that's stupid they could've just gave the money to his parents
LagiNaLangAko23 yes. I won a red bull contest , was under 18, but app it was was an iPad so they just had my parents sign. anything bigger, they aren't legally bound to do anything.
*Y O U G R E E D Y D I R T B A G* LagiNaLangAko23 yes. I won a red bull contest , was under 18, but app it was was an iPad so they just had my parents sign. anything bigger, they aren't legally bound to do anything.
Quality basketball backboard he has at the end
The end though is frickin hilarious 😆
Why does this 6th grader have a lower voice then me and I’m 28 lmao
Now u r 30 :) (hopefully)
*dunks on basket 5 feet off ground*
Why do I love the fact that they roll with how FRICKIN LUCKY this child is
Ayy I know that merch!!! That’s from Professor Live (the merch at the end)
It’s fun to watch my team Kentucky to win every year also love that other dude had a CINCY bearcats jacket on
When explaining it he said he picked who he wanted to win then at the end said pick who you think will win Makes sense
He probably lost his league the next year 💀
niiiice 4 inch vert bro!!!
I watch this every year
They tried to get this guy to make some scientific formula on how to make correct predictions. He had the right answer though - “just pick who you think is gonna win”
0:34 LEFTY DETECTED
Great job.
His explenations to his bracket was just too funny xDDD
Did anyone else notice the broken backboard at the end?
He probably broke it with his baseball. Lol lol
Who is here after all of the brackets are wrong one week in March madness.
*Damn!!! 3 years later!*
This is like me studying for Hours for a test and then failing And then the kid that doesn’t study’s passes
doesn't know or watch college basketball yet knows who Tom Izzo is wtf
The fact that he owns a Griffey sweatshirt is respectable. Dudes a legend
"You must really love basketball" *shows baseball stuff all over his wall*
Cool slides
Still famous huh Sam?
Reminds me of the time I won my school’s March madness bracket by searching up “March madness bracket” and copying the first one that showed up. I had never watched a college basketball before that besides going to see URI play at home a couple times.
He don’t want us to tell us his secret method 🧐
I remember watching this years ago
He sounds like FaZe Adapt
Julian Fernandez 1018 looks like him too
you got me laughing so hard and adapt is my favorite youtuber
Yes yes yea
March sadness bracket 2020
Carolina Panthers Shirt, Random Basketball in his room, shelves decked with baseball stuff, what?!
Wow someone with a panthers shirt did something good
I JUST WANNA SAY GO CUBS, THIS KID KNOWS HIS BASEBALL :D
Yessir
His gut took him from level 1 crook to level 100 boss
Aye he had the professor hoodie on
”Just pick who you think is gonna win” - Sam Holtz 2016
Who's here after seeing him on TikTok?
Me. He’s not an expert it was luck so idk why people listened to him
lmao fuck tiktok
This kid has no clue It’s like asking a middle-schooler what they did at school and expecting them to remember
"Pick who you thinks gonna win" -thanks for the tip man
nice shirt bro
Actually, based on previous March Madnesses, if you pick the higher seed to win every time (with the favorites being picked in the final four), there’s a 1-in-some 10s of millions that you get a perfect bracket.
No because Gonzaga exists
Well yes but there will always be upsets so it’s better to get lucky picking the upsets instead of having every favorite win
@@owennielsen9792 this is based on how games have gone in the past and not mathematical analyses. So you’re right.
I'd put it at somewhere between a billion to one and a trillion to one. That number in the quintillions is the number of possible brackets, but obviously some are more likely that others. Some will say you have to pick upsets because there are always upsets, but to know WHICH upsets to pick you'd have to be a time traveler.
If he didn’t go research why does he now the coach is itilian
Glo Sepnu it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out someone with the name “Izzo” is Italian....
And he said Kentucky wins all the time...
Jordan Phillips How would he know the name of a coach?
He said he doesn’t watch much college basketball. That doesn’t mean he doesn’t turn on ESPN now and then. Izzo is already in the hall of fame and still an active coach. Not like you need deep research to hear the name. My gf hates sports and knows exactly who big names in random sports are. If you truly think the kid is lying and did tons of research, that’s your opinion. To me, it doesn’t matter if he did or didn’t. Because obviously research doesn’t translate into bracket success. “Experts” get it wrong every year
Great Big Story: how did you win? The kid: idk I just picked the teams Great big story: maybe if we ask him again. He will give another answer...
i watch this vid every march i swear😂
@ 0:57 Iowa st lost first round
His bracket wasn't perfect
Jeremy Stein hi
Jeremy Stein Booooooooo let’s go cyclones
Xavier beat zona
william anderson oh yeah
Child prodigy? He literally just guessed.
sarcasm.exe not found
And its just started starting this year