Depending on what source you look at, about 70 million March Madness brackets get filled out each year, but you won't find a single bracket with Luke Fickell's name on it.
To end a press conference recently, the 47-year old Cincinnati head coach shared that he has never - not once - filled out a bracket for the NCAA men's basketball tournament.
However, he does fill out a different bracket for March that is aimed at "the toughest three days in sports."
If you're wondering what the heck that is, i'm right there with you, so allow Fickell the opportunity to explain.
Asked about filling out a March Madness bracket, Fickell joked with the reporter by sharing, "Yeah, the wrestling brackets, I fill out every year" without missing a beat.
"You're talking about the three most difficult days in sports, right?" he asked. "You don't even know what that is do you? The three most difficult days in sports is Thursday, Friday, Saturday of college's NCAA wrestling tournament."
"Every year, I take a look at the brackets and fill in the picks. But in my 40-some years of existence, I have never filled out an NCAA....March Madness basketball bracket," Fickell shared, having to search for the words "March Madness" a bit before adding that it's not because it's an NCAA rule for college coaches.
In all seriousness, it does sound like Fickell takes the time to fill out a wrestling bracket each year, which should really come as no surprise for those that know that he was a standout wrestler in high school at DeSales HS (OH), where he captured three state titles in addition to being a two-time all state selection in football as well before starring at noseguard for the Buckeyes.
While most have seen the Iowa wrestler who won a national title without any ACL's in his knees, the team wrestling national champions go a bit more under the radar - but Iowa captured the 2021 national title, robbing Penn State (the 2021 runner up) the chance at a five-peat. Penn State has won eight of the last ten national wrestling titles.
Hear Fickell's comments below.