March Madness play officially began on Thursday at 12:15 p.m., with many people submitting their brackets in hopes of winning their pools and even having a “perfect” or “unbroken” bracket.

No one has had a verified perfect bracket in the history of the tournament according to the NCAA. Breaking it down statistically, if you guess or flip a coin, you have a 1 in 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 chance or a 1 in 120.2 billion chance if you have some knowledge about basketball, according to the NCAA.

Pietruszkiewicz has spent part of his career working with Joe Lunardi, the original bracketologist, tackling the challenge of trying to understand bracketology and all of the factors that come with it.

“It’s trying to predict how the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee will determine the 68 teams in the men’s and women’s tournament. There are so many factors,” said Pietruszkiewicz. “Bracketology is a year-round endeavor and I got to work with and watch Joe Lunardi navigate it all. He was one of the best teammates a person could ever have. I’m still friends with him and always will be.”

Before he oversaw college basketball for ESPN.com, Pietruszkiewicz covered Major League Baseball as a reporter for a newspaper outside of Chicago, later overseeing the coverage at ESPN and oversaw golf coverage as a member of the audience engagement team. Spending a total of 14 years at ESPN before coming to Quinnipiac.

Using his time as an editor and reporter, Pietruszkiewicz is able to translate his experience into teaching his students.

“I think that experience is what translates into the classroom. I did the job. I was a reporter. I was an editor. I understand content, and I also understand the business of it. I did it at the highest level with ESPN. I got to work with the best reporters the industry has to offer. I try to recreate that environment in the classroom,” said Pietruszkiewicz. “Make it as real-world at possible while still in school so you are prepared the day you leave our classrooms.”

During his time at ESPN, Pietruszkiewicz found that there was nothing more fun than the NCAA Tournament. Though it is only a small window when all eyes are on college basketball, he discovered how much people do care about the sport and their loyalty to their brackets.

Everyone has their strategy and method when it comes to making a bracket. When Pietruszkiewicz makes his bracket, he chooses to analyze the data and not lead by emotions.

“I went to the University of Maryland. I love Maryland. I hate Duke. But when filling out a bracket, I throw my feelings out the window. It’s about filling out the bracket the best I can. But the more thought I put into it, the worse I do,” said Pietruszkiewicz.

Currently hosting a contest in the School of Communications, challenging students, faculty and staff to beat his brackets in the men’s and women’s tournaments, Pietruszkiewicz's strategy encourages everyone to have fun with it.

“Have fun. I break down numbers. My wife, Dana, picks by mascots or the coaches she knows that she likes. I’ve been filling out a bracket since I was 5 years old. I’m not sure her strategy isn’t better than mine,” said Pietruszkiewicz.

When the madness ends, prizes and bragging rights will be awarded all across the country to those who have the top bracket in their groups and pools.