14-Year-Old Picks Perfect Women's NCAA Tournament Bracket

Otto Schellhammer has correctly picked the first 48 women's games in ESPN's Tournament Challenge.

Mar. 27, 2026 at 11:30am

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

A 14-year-old from suburban Pittsburgh named Otto Schellhammer has the only perfect women's NCAA Tournament bracket remaining out of more than 40 million entries across major contests. Schellhammer, who admits to knowing little about basketball, has correctly picked the first 48 games in ESPN's Tournament Challenge, leaving him just 15 away from perfection.

Why it matters

Picking a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket is considered one of the hardest feats in sports, with odds estimated at 1 in 9.2 quintillion. For a 14-year-old with little basketball knowledge to be the only one remaining with a perfect women's bracket is an incredible accomplishment that has captured national attention.

The details

Schellhammer has Texas winning the women's national championship on April 5 in his bracket. The NCAA has tracked seven of the largest tournament contests, which totaled about 36 million men's entries and 5.2 million on the women's side this year. This means Schellhammer's perfect women's bracket is better than one-in-a-million, at one in 41.2 million.

  • Schellhammer correctly picked the first 48 women's games in ESPN's Tournament Challenge.
  • The NCAA women's tournament Final Four is scheduled for April 5 in Phoenix.

The players

Otto Schellhammer

A 14-year-old from suburban Pittsburgh who has the only perfect women's NCAA Tournament bracket remaining out of more than 40 million entries.

Amy Schellhammer

The mother of Otto Schellhammer.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“I know people say this a lot about March Madness, but it was 100% luck. I know basically nothing about any type of basketball. I play with my friends, but I don't really watch it.”

— Otto Schellhammer

What’s next

Schellhammer will need to correctly pick the remaining 15 games in the women's tournament to have a perfect bracket.

The takeaway

Schellhammer's improbable feat as a 14-year-old with little basketball knowledge highlights the incredible difficulty of picking a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket, which is estimated to be nearly 100 times harder than winning the Powerball jackpot.