As usual, brackets get fouled up

NCAA bracketology may be an inexact science, but the math is pretty straightforward.

After analyzing the 3.3 million-plus entries in its Men’s Tournament Challenge through the first two rounds, ESPN.com released the following data:

* Duke leaves a mark: No doubt because of Duke’s first-round loss to Virginia Commonwealth, not one entry had every game picked correctly.

* Few Durant doubters: Only 45 entries correctly picked all 16 remaining teams, including the one that prematurely ended Kevin Durant’s college career, USC.

* Easier to be wrong than right: A total of 5,404 entries picked none of the 16 remaining teams.

* Football taught them nothing: Arkansas’ football defeat by USC last season was expected, but 980,253 contestants expected the basketball Razorbacks to beat the Trojans.

* What the heck, it’s free: Among those willing to risk nothing on a lark, 211 entries picked Belmont to win the national championship, 312 picked Weber State to win the title and 6,356 had Butler or Southern Illinois winning it all.

Trivia time

Which school has won the most NCAA tournament games without winning the national title?

Phoning it in

For college basketball fans who spend so much time talking on their cellphones that they forget what team they’re rooting for, downloading the wallpaper and ring tone of their favorite schools is now an option.

Thumbplay.com, which provides such a service, reports that “students at UCLA are kicking Pittsburgh’s [behind] in ring tone and wallpaper downloads for their schools” by a margin of 85% to 15%.

This proves that either UCLA fans have more school spirit than Pittsburgh fans or, more likely, UCLA fans have more cellphones than Pittsburgh fans.

(For those wondering: North Carolina leads USC, 80% to 20%.)

Landlord, fill the flowing bowl

More shenanigans in the cricket world.

Kevin Shine and Jeremy Snape, assistant coaches for England, have been fined for their involvement in a late-night drinking session with players.

Shine and Snape were “invited to make a donation” to a cricket charity, the same punishment meted out to six players who partied into the early morning after a six-wicket loss to New Zealand in their World Cup opener.

And Andrew Flintoff was stripped of the vice captaincy after newspapers reported he’d fallen off a pedal boat at 4 a.m.

The latest indiscretion follows hard on the heels of the England and Wales Cricket Board ordering a panel to examine the national team setup after a 5-0 loss to Australia in the Ashes.

Trivia answer

Illinois, which has 38 tournament victories and no championships.

And finally

From David Letterman’s “Top 10 signs you’ve been watching too much college basketball”:

* “To get in the mood, you ask your wife to dress like Billy Packer.”

* “Human resources asks you to stop hand-checking co-workers.”

* “When announcer says Butler guard A.J. Graves averages 2.4 rebounds per game, you mutter, ‘It’s 2.3, moron.’ ”

* “Your kids are seeded according to how much you love them.”

* “In honor of Texas A&M;, you name your triplets A, M and Ampersand.”

* “In a pinch, you ask, ‘What would UNLV assistant coach Greg Grensing do?’ ”

* “The nagging voice in your head saying, ‘Cheney and I should really be focusing on Iraq.’ ”

mike.penner@latimes.com