LEHI, Utah – The NCAA Men’s Tournament has been a rollercoaster of emotions for many people, but perhaps no longer one lucky Utah man.
Chris Jacobsen, a dentist in Lehi, beat more than 14 million other people and walked away with the winning spot in ESPN’s 2021 tournament challenge.
Jacobsen said there was a bit of strategy, but mostly luck when he completed his almost perfect Mad Madness series.
After the second round, Jacobsen (whose username for the competition is ‘chrizzlybear’) remarked that he was in 400th place.
But from then on he did not miss a single winner.
Saturday night’s Final Four thriller between Gonzaga and 11 in first placedeseed seed UCLA, however, was quite a nail-biter for Jacobsen.
‘UCLA has made the even setback and I want’ I can not take double overtime. I can not take a double overtime mentally or physically! ” He said. ‘Then Suggs drives off, makes the unlikely shot, and my wife and I just look at each other wide-eyed. I screamed a little, and she reminded me that our one-year-old was sleeping. ‘
READ: Suggs beat the winner, Zags top UCLA 93-90
The feeling was surreal.
“I’m not kidding you – I stunned,” he laughed. “And it’s like, ‘Why do I care so much? ‘I was reevaluating my life – why do I care so much? ‘
Jacobsen’s premonitions were so near perfect that his prediction for the final of the championship game was down by only eight points.
Although he was the clear winner, he is not guaranteed a prize. Instead, he and the rest of the top 1% owners will hit a draw for a single grand prize: an all-inclusive trip for two to Hawaii for the Maui Jim Maui Invitational Basketball Tournament in 2021, as well as $ 10,000 in Amazon gift cards.