(CAPITOL CITY NOW) – While the Illini have a couple of days off to think about their future, a University of Illinois professor has something for you to think about as you consider your bracket: math.
“Start near the end – Final Four or Elite Eight,” said computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson, “build around it, and you’ll find out that your bracket is a little easier to put together. It may not be the best bracket, but it’s actually a more sensible way to put together brackets.”
It’s likely that a seed as low as twelfth or thirteenth will win a game or two in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. But which ones? “If you look at the upsets in terms of the 6-11 (pairings), the 10-7, the 12-5 upsets, they actually behave very similarly,” said Jacobson, “and those tens, elevens, and twelves are winning a lot of games over the last several tournaments. You don’t want to discount them, but it’s always hard to predict which ones it’s going to be. That’s the challenge.”
Jacobson has also created a site, BracketOdds, to hold all this together and potentially help you with your bracket.
He does not guarantee, though, that you will do any better than the non-fan who uses, say, the uniform colors to determine who advances.
