Filling In The Largest March Madness Bracket Is No Small Effort

One of the most challenging jobs of this year's NCAA tournament involves updating the world's largest March Madness bracket on the side of the J.W. Marriott in downtown Indianapolis.

The bracket is 190-feet tall so it takes a team to update it with the latest winners.

“We enjoy it. We take pride in it. It’s kind of our baby,” said Sports Graphic Install Manager Austin Denney told FOX 59.

The job takes patience, a steady hand, and not being afraid of heights.  

Because the NCAA is keeping teams in a tightly controlled "bubble," the guys updating the big bracket can't actually enter the hotel. Instead, they ride a cherry picker up to a third floor balcony, the New York Times reported.

From there, the team boards a swing stage. After moving to the right spot on the bracket, the team unrolls 4 foot by 25 foot vinyl panels. The backing paper is removed and a squeegee is used to make sure the panels stick.

It sounds easy enough, but a lot of the job is out of these guys' control. They can't start too early in the morning to avoid waking up hotel guests, and their job mostly depends on the weather.

“Rain is one of those things that shuts us down because what we’re putting up is actually a giant decal. It’s a giant bumper sticker actually. And if we get rain, it doesn’t stick in the wet. Wind is more critical for us because that’s more of a safety issue," Denney said.

It took about 2 hours a day to put up the winners of the first round, but it's been getting faster and easier as teams get knocked out.

Photo: Getty Images