With NCAA March madness capturing the attention of college basketball fans, operations researchers have applied their forecasting and mathematical talents to handicapping the competition.
The Rankings
Operations researchers at the University of North Florida and Mercer University in Georgia are making reliable estimates, as shown in a study http://www2.informs.org/Press/marchmadness04d.htm
Current NCAA rankings based on this research, which originally appeared in the INFORMS journal Interfaces, is at http://www.unf.edu/%7Ejcoleman/dance
A summary of the study is at NCAA Dance Card
Office Pools
Two Yale University operations researchers’ approach to winning office pools is discussed at http://www2.informs.org/Press/Marchmadness03a.html
A summary of the study is at March Madness and the Office Pool
An article in the INFORMS membership magazine is at ORMS Today
If you’re mathematically minded, try your own hand at handicapping by visiting http://home.nc.rr.com/wtadams/poologic/pchelp.htm#theory
In the News
Read more about operations research and March Madness in recent articles at
Atlanta Journal Constitution
USA Today
If you're a reporter and want to speak with the authors, contact INFORMS Public Relations Director Barry List at 1-800-4INFORMS, ext. 852 or [email protected]