The last remaining perfect March Madness bracket is no more.
Otto Schellhammer’s predictions held until the first game of the NCAA Women’s Sweet 16 on Friday, when Notre Dame defeated Vanderbilt, 67-64.
Otto, 14, of Plum, made 48 correct predictions through the opening weekend of the men’s and women’s tournament, beating more than 40 million entries, prior to his bracket falling.
Otto last week told TribLive his picks were completely random and that he doesn’t really know much about basketball.
He created two brackets — one for the men’s tournament and one for the women’s as part of his family’s annual pool. He hasn’t enjoyed nearly as much success with his men’s bracket.
The Plum Middle School student made appearances on national television and in major media publications after the news of his until-then perfect bracket broke. His mother, Amy Schellhammer called the ordeal a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
“This is never going to happen again,” she last week about all the attention her family was receiving.
As the tournament continues Monday night with the final two Elite 8 games, Otto could still end up with his entire predicted Final Four alive if Texas beats Michigan, and TCU knocks off South Carolina.
He correctly predicted Connecticut and UCLA, both No. 1 seeds, to win their Elite 8 games Sunday and advance to the Final Four.
He chose Texas to beat Connecticut in the national championship April 5 in Phoenix.
