9 Year Old's Bracket Kicks “Butt”

A Deep River girl's ESPN bracket beat out millions.

Caroline Baldwin, a 9-year-old girl from Deep River, was one of the top finishers in ESPN's Men's Tournament Challenge, and it's all because she found humor in one of the team's names.

She picked UConn and Butler to be the final two and for UConn to win.

"She picked Butler because she thought it was funny that they had the word 'butt' in their name,' her mother, Jennifer Baldwin, said. "And she chose BCU because she said the 'C' stood for Caroline."

UConn was her obvious choice because she is from Connecticut.

Caroline finished 14th in the overall standings and picked three out of the four teams that actually made it to the Final Four. More than 5.9 million brackets were entered into the challenge and only 881 people, including Caroline, chose UConn vs. Butler for the final game.

Mike Baldwin, Caroline's father, said he was surprised she did so well.

"I kind-of laughed at her picks. I'm very proud of her, but very surprised," he said.

Caroline, who does not play basketball but enjoys dancing competitively and playing soccer, seems to have a knack for choosing the right teams. She also won her family pool for the World Cup.

"She's been e-mailing her uncles, wanting to know what her prize is," Jennifer said.

Perhaps knowing that she beat out 5.9 million people, many of whom spent hours trying to figure out the best way to choose the winning teams, is enough.

For a complete list of the final standings you can visit the ESPN website.
 

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