In Mega Millions under the 5/75 + 1/15 · Oct 2013 – Oct 2017 rules — 420 draws, 5 from 1–75 (an earlier era).
20times drawn · chance expected 28 −1.56σ
15draws waiting · a wait this long: 38% for any number
19.5average wait between appearances · chance says 15.0
61longest completed wait · 26% chance of one at least that long
72 is drawn as often as chance explains
Drawn 20 times in 420 draws against 28.0 expected, −1.56σ. Each draw is independent: after 15 draws away it is exactly as likely tonight as a number drawn yesterday.
72
Number 72, draw by draw
Drawn 20 times in 420 draws · average wait 19.5 draws · longest completed wait 61 · waiting 15 draws now
a completed wait — darker is longer the wait still running — a lower bound, not a finished gap
Where it lands in a sorted draw
Sort a draw and 72 has a favourite seat — chance gives a large number the high positions more often. That is the shape of sorting, not of the machine.
Never drawn alongside 18 of the other 74 numbers; chance expects about 25 such strangers by now. Every pair →
How many people play it
Under the crowd model, 72 is picked about 0.86× as often as an indifferent choice — 36th most popular of 75. That changes nothing about whether it comes up, and everything about how many ways a jackpot on it would be shared.
Nothing here predicts the next draw. A number’s history is a record of a fair machine’s past, and the machine keeps none of it: 72 is drawn with probability 5/75 tonight whatever it did last week.