Computer pinpoints March Madness winner

March 21, 2013
Those rambling wrecks from Georgia Tech are doing bettors a favor: They’ve run their Logistics Regression/Markov chain, a computerized college basketball ranking program, and it predicts Florida will win this year’s Final Four. The program has picked the ...

Those rambling wrecks from Georgia Tech are doing bettors a favor: They’ve run their Logistics Regression/Markov chain, a computerized college basketball ranking program, and it predicts Florida will win this year’s Final Four. The program has picked the men’s basketball national champ in three of the last five years, but this is the first year the 10-yeara old program didn’t spit out the number one seed as the eventual winner. Florida is seeded third. The program further predicts that the Final Four dance card up will be: Florida, Louisville, Indiana, and Gonzaga.

The program uses scoreboard data to create weekly rankings of all 347 Div I teams. It also looks at every game to factor in margins of victory and where each game is played. Georgia Tech’s program has been shows to be the most accurate ranking system over the last decade, outperforming 80 others, including the NCAA’s own Rating Performing Index, which is used to decide what teams get into the tournament.

If you’re headed to Vegas with this information, you might also want to put some “long-shot” money on Bucknell, Davidson, Belmont, and St. Mary’s, a bevy of small schools the program indicated could be this year’s Cinderella teams that make the Sweet Sixteen. And if you’re looking for losers, the program says Memphis, UCLA, and Butler are teams most in danger of going home early. Each of these teams is seeded sixth. (For more information, click here.)

I’ll be coming back to this entry after the winner is decided to tally up GiT's success.

About the Author

Stephen Mraz Blog | Senior Editor

Steve serves as Senior Editor of Machine Design.  He has 23 years of service and has a B.S. Biomedical Engineering from CWRU. Steve was a E-2C Hawkeye Naval Flight Officer in the U.S. Navy. He is currently responsible for areas such as aerospace, defense, and medical.

Like him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter.

Sponsored Recommendations

April 16, 2025
Clean. Compact. Less heat.
April 16, 2025
SEW-EURODRIVE Introduces DR2C motor, IE5 Ultra-Premium Efficiency Motor
March 31, 2025
Unlike passive products - made of simple carbon springs - the bionic prostheses developed by Revival Bionics are propulsive, equipped with a motor and an artificial Achilles tendon...
March 31, 2025
Electric drives are a key technology for the performance of machines, robots, and power tools. Download this guide for an introduction to high-quality mechatronic drive systems...

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Machine Design, create an account today!