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News Tip: Expert Available to Comment on Odds of Winning $1 Billion NCAA Bracket Prize

Odds of winning are roughly 1 in 10 pentillion, says mathematician Ezra Miller

With Selection Sunday at the end of this week, millions of Americans will be filling out NCAA Men's Basketball brackets in the hopes of winning the Quicken Loans $1 billion bracket challenge.

Ezra MillerProfessor, Mathematics Department, Duke Universityezra@math.duke.eduhttps://fds.duke.edu/db/aas/math/ezra

Miller is a mathematician with a wide-ranging interest in geometry, algebra, mathematical biology and topology, among other topics. He is the associate director of the Statistical and Mathematical Applies Sciences Institute (SAMSI) and teaches a popular course each year called "Math Everywhere," which touches on sports-related statistical theory.

Quote:"Warren Buffett agreed to insure Quicken Loans Chairman Dan Gilbert's $1 billion prize for a perfect NCAA Men's Basketball bracket for an undisclosed sum. The odds of randomly guessing all 63 games' outcomes correctly, with no additional information, are roughly 1 in 10 pentillion, which equals 1 in 10 billion billion. The odds of intelligently guessing all 63 outcomes correctly are in the vicinity of 1 in 1 billion, even for an expert basketball odds maker."

"With those odds, and 15 million entrants allowed, the price paid by Quicken Loans for Buffett's insurance policy should exceed $15 million."