8th grader has the only remaining perfect NCAA women's basketball bracket

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1. Eighth-grader's perfect women's NCAA bracket lasts until Sweet 16 before finally missing a game

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Eighth-grader’s perfect women’s NCAA bracket lasts until Sweet 16 before finally missing a game

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Otto Schellhamer, an eighth-grader who has the only perfect bracket after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s NCAA college basketball tournaments, poses in his backyard in Plum Borough, Pa., Wednesday, March 25, 2026. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Updated 8:57 PM EDT, March 27, 2026

It took Pittsburgh eighth-grader Otto Schellhammer until the Sweet 16 to finally miss one of his women’s picks for March Madness.

No. 6 seed Notre Dame beat second-seeded Vanderbilt on Friday in Fort Worth, Texas, to open the regional rounds of the women’s NCAA Tournament. That ended the 14-year-old’s run as the last perfect bracket after the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s tournaments from more than 40 million entries across all the major contests.

Schellhammer previously told The Associated Press it was “100% luck” and that he didn’t know anything about basketball despite that perfect start through 48 games. His mother, Amy, called it “absolutely hilarious” and said her son had been getting more excited about watching the games because of the perfect start.

He has Texas winning the title in his bracket.

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