March Madness... brackets? Predictions?

[maryannette]

HOW MANY POSSIBILITIES FOR THE PERFECT BRACKET?

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Here's a neat tool to help fill out your bracket:

http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/march-madness-predictions/

 

[maryannette]

We were talking about it at work. What would the calculation be for the number of possibilities? 68! ? or (2**68)! ?

I think it is a number with a lot of places.

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

There are 64 possible outcomes for just the 1st round (2 options for 32 games). Then you have 4 options for each of the 16 2nd round games, and on...

I'm not a statistic guy, but I do know there a metric $hit - ton of possibilities.

 

[wilheldp_PE]

Yeah, but for a Billion dollars, it is worth spending the time to make every single possibility in order to have a 100% chance of winning. I guess that is why they limited the perfect bracket competition to the first 15 million entries.

 

[mudpuppy]

I hate probability so I had to look it up. The odds are 5.2 quintillion (5.2 billion billion) to one if the brackets are assigned randomly. To use wilheldp's strategy would take several million years.

 

[ktulu]

Saw this on Twitter - "If 1 bracket was filled out per second, it would take 292 Billion years to fill out all possible brackets."

 

[NJmike PE]

In honor of our late friend, I have selected #12 North Dakota St. to upset #5 Oklahoma in the second round.

 

[knight1fox3]

Found this to be pretty funny: http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/style-points/201403/fan-buys-suit-walmart-sneaks-court-acc-championship-celebration

ust as unbelievable as Virginia's ascent from fifth place to its first conference championship since 1976 is the story of how one fan celebrated with the Cavaliers on the court after they beat Duke in the ACC tournament final.

The young man, a college sophomore named Danny, detailed his story on Barstool Sports. And while it sounds like an elaborate farce, he's got the pictures and video evidence to back up his story.

Danny says he went to Virginia's ACC semifinal matchup against Pitt and realized all the Cavalier assistant coaches were wearing the same thing -- a suit with an orange tie. After the game he went to Walmart and bought the same ensemble.

The next day he returned for Virginia's game against Duke, wearing his newly acquired clothes (all photos via Barstool).

 

[goodal]

Great. Now there will be even more courtside security.

 

[Weavs33]

well I had Ohio State over Dayton..... so much for my perfect bracket

 

[NJmike PE]

well I had Ohio State over Dayton..... so much for my perfect bracket

I'm still perfect, but I need Cinci to continue to climb back into this game

 

[Weavs33]

well I had Ohio State over Dayton..... so much for my perfect bracket

I'm still perfect, but I need Cinci to continue to climb back into this game

That was my big upset pick in this round, Harvard over Cincy..... I don't care any more, Goooo Cal Poly!!!!!

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

Most of my brackets lost the ability to claim perfection after that first game as well.

They will forever be known as THE Dayton University...

 

[NJmike PE]

I was the only one in my office to pick Dayton, so I hold an early lead. Seeing how similar the final few rounds are amongst everyone here, I am hoping to really do well today and tomorrow

 

[Supe]

I didn't fill out a bracket, but am not surprised in the least to hear that OSU lost first round. Aaron Craft was the only person playing for that team this year, with Thompson on rare occasion. They were just a shell of last year.

ND over OK is supposed to be the big bracket buster. If ND makes it past the first round, they may even win a few more based on the rest of their bracket.

 

[MetsFan]

2 for 4. There go my dreams of being a billionaire...

 

[Weavs33]

In honor of our late friend, I have selected #12 North Dakota St. to upset #5 Oklahoma in the second round.

went 12-4 yesterday...... Mike, great call on this pick

 

[NJmike PE]

In honor of our late friend, I have selected #12 North Dakota St. to upset #5 Oklahoma in the second round.

went 12-4 yesterday...... Mike, great call on this pick

I went 14-2. I didn't pick Harvard and Arizona St couldn't pull it out at the end, otherwise 16-0

 

[envirotex]

Buzzer beater! Michigan is up next...