Why would Warren Buffett award a billion dollars to anyone who can fill out a perfect NCAA bracket? Because he can? TechCrunch is trying to answer that question. It suggests the altruistic purpose is buried in the crowd-sourcing nature of the potential algorithms: the more people who think about a problem, the more likely it is to be solved. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway company is partnering with Quicken Loans to fund the gargantuan endeavor.

Not only will perfect-predictors get a billion, Business Insider reports, the project will award $100,000 each to the contest’s 20 most accurate “imperfect” brackets submitted by qualified entrants in the contest to use toward buying, refinancing or remodeling a home.

If you’re over 21, you could participate – and potentially receive $25 million a year. However, as USA Today reports, the odds are not in your favor.  The odds of predicting 63 perfect games is 1 in 9.2 quintillion (that’s 18 zeros).

Rebecca Webb
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