Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Mathematically Marginal March Madness

Which of these circumstances is more remarkable, in a year in which the Final Four consists of a third-seeded team (Connecticut), a fourth-seeded team (Kentucky), an eighth-seeded team (Butler's Pitt-killers) and an eleventh-seeded-but-only-because -it-won-a-preliminary-game team (Virginia Commonwealth):
1. Nearly 6 million entries were submitted in a single pick-the-winners contest (ESPN's).

2. More than 70 percent of the entries failed to predict a single Final Four team.

3. Roughly one in fifty entrants correctly chose two Final Four teams.

4. Two entrants -- among nearly six million -- correctly predicted all Final Four participants.

5. One of those entrants has refrained from taking credit for his selections (perhaps because, despite incredible precision with respect to the improbable Final Four, that entrant is in 6,343rd place).
Infinonytune: She's A Beauty, The Tubes

1 comment:

JenEngland said...

Nice choice on the music. Takes me back to High School.