Wall Street Journal Blindfold Bracket

32 posts / 0 new
Login or register to post comments
Last post
March 13th, 2012 at 3:29 PM
#1
Skiptoomylou22
Skiptoomylou22's picture
Joined: 11/29/2008
MGoPoints: 1302
Wall Street Journal Blindfold Bracket

My brother sent me this link earlier, found it very cool. It shows you the matchups for March Madness but gives the teams alias' and shows the matchups based on the teams: 

-Seed range

-RPI Range

-Conference Profile (low-major, Mid-, High, etc.)

-Hot streak level of team (out of 5)

-Experience (out of 5)

-Size (out of 5)

-Offense (out of 5)

-Defense (out of 5)

-Three point shooting (out of five) 

A very interesting way to pick teams and analyze the matchups. Suprisingly my blindfold bracket was eerily similar to the one I chose aside from IU being in my final four ( like what?) 

 

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200252914852590.html

Bo' Money Bo' Problems

Top
Tags:

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
March 13th, 2012 at 3:34 PM | Ya, I made a comment on (Score:2 Insightful)
Son of Lloyd Brady
Son of Lloyd Brady's picture
Joined: 07/15/2011
MGoPoints: 743

Ya, I made a comment on another thread about this, I think its a really neat way to avoid bias. I still ended up with a very reasonable bracket, and I'll definitely consider using most of the games from it in my real bracket.

University of Dayton Class of '13 // The Twitterz

Dual QB Statistical Analysis

March 13th, 2012 at 3:47 PM | Didn't mean to step on toes! (Score:2 Normal)
Skiptoomylou22
Skiptoomylou22's picture
Joined: 11/29/2008
MGoPoints: 1302

I searched 'Blindfold Bracket' in the site searchbar trying to see if someone had made a prior post about it before myself. I agree, its a very good way not to pick on bias. However, its also important knowing a teams history (tradition and in big games and tournys) as well as the coach. Some aspects the BlindFold bracket doesn't cover.

Bo' Money Bo' Problems

March 13th, 2012 at 4:37 PM | Nahh (Score:1)
Son of Lloyd Brady
Son of Lloyd Brady's picture
Joined: 07/15/2011
MGoPoints: 743

Don't worry, I didn't even think to make a thread, you got me there.

University of Dayton Class of '13 // The Twitterz

Dual QB Statistical Analysis

March 13th, 2012 at 3:44 PM | Wow, this is actually (Score:2)
DIABEETUS
DIABEETUS's picture
Joined: 09/29/2009
MGoPoints: 2311

Wow, this is actually fascinating. My bracket came out about the same as well. Looks like I'm awesomely unbiased.

Michigan: 903–315–36 (Best in NCAA)
vs Ohio State: 58-44-6
vs Notre Dame: 23-16-1
vs MSU:  68-32-5
vs B1G: 522-197-24
vs SEC:  20-8-1
vs PAC 12: 48-24-1
vs Big 12: 10-5-1<

March 13th, 2012 at 3:48 PM | Bias in the ratings (Score:1)
El Tigre
El Tigre's picture
Joined: 03/14/2011
MGoPoints: 552

I had Witchita St, Murray St, Syracuse, and Kansas with Kansas beating Witchita St for the Championship.

I was valuing defense, 3-point shooting, and experience and it led to some strange results.

Colorado over Duke in sweet 16, Belmont to the sweet 16, and temple over michigan and then over unc in the sweet 16.

 

I have concluded that defense, 3-point shooting, and experience are no way to evaluate a basketball squad.

March 13th, 2012 at 4:06 PM | WSU (Score:2)
Mitch Cumstein
Mitch Cumstein's picture
Joined: 10/02/2009
MGoPoints: 9641

I also had them winning it all.  I really had to go back and take a closer look at a few things after doing this exercise.  Also, I'm not sure they updated those projections to include Cuse losing Melo. 

"A flute with no holes is not a flute. A donut with no hole is a danish"

March 13th, 2012 at 4:07 PM | I had very similar results, (Score:2)
unWavering
unWavering's picture
Joined: 01/13/2011
MGoPoints: 1766

I had very similar results, except with Murray st losing to MSU in the Elite 8.  I also had Gonzaga going to the Elite 8 but losing to Syracuse.  

I ended up with a strange, but not that unbelievable bracket.  I suppose that is what they end up looking like by the end of the tournament anyway.  So do you think if I win a million dollars on ESPN do I owe the WSJ some of that?

March 13th, 2012 at 4:09 PM | Because we had some issues (Score:1)
ken725
ken725's picture
Joined: 10/26/2008
MGoPoints: 4570

Because we had some issues with rebounding, I valued size, experience and defense.

I kind of figured out which team Michigan was based on having only two seniors, so I had them go past North Carolina just for fun.

My final 4 ended up being: New Mexico, Missouri, Syracuse and Kansas

I'm going to have to change the Syracuse part because of Fab Melo.

Greetings from Bolivia.

"It's special how the real true people hang together. And if you don't support the program you're not a true Michigan guy. It's that simple."  - Gary Moeller

March 13th, 2012 at 3:52 PM | It would be great if it (Score:1)
MGoCombs
MGoCombs's picture
Joined: 08/13/2009
MGoPoints: 601

It would be great if it offered some stats along with the "out of # of basketballs" metric. Like average height for size, or more importantly 3PT% or something. How much bigger is a 3 rating than a 2? It was difficult to balance importance without knowing the scale.

"And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know, it's gonna be Michigan again, Michigan."

March 13th, 2012 at 4:01 PM | How much bigger is a 3 than a 2? (Score:5 Normal)
Blazefire
Blazefire's picture
Joined: 04/17/2009
MGoPoints: 15742

On a scale of 5? Oh, about 20%.

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."
March 13th, 2012 at 4:10 PM | I assume you are being (Score:1)
MGoCombs
MGoCombs's picture
Joined: 08/13/2009
MGoPoints: 601

I assume you are being sarcastic, but I see how my wording set me up for that. I really question whether they use this linear model. So for 3PT, does a team with 0 shoot 20% and a team with 5 shoot 40%, meaning a team with 2 shoots 28%? What is the difference between 3 and 2 in terms of %.

"And when we play as a team, when the old season is over, you and I know, it's gonna be Michigan again, Michigan."

March 13th, 2012 at 3:57 PM | It matched my Midwest Region (Score:1)
Wolverine MD
Joined: 08/24/2011
MGoPoints: 236

It matched my Midwest Region exactly. Cool stuff.

March 13th, 2012 at 4:18 PM | Whoa (Score:2)
Tshimanga Cowabunga
Tshimanga Cowabunga's picture
Joined: 08/09/2009
MGoPoints: 818

Came up with Kansas winning it all over Wichita st with Memphis and Syracuse in the final four. That was fun

March 13th, 2012 at 5:09 PM | Samesies (Score:1)
TMS-Mr. Ace
TMS-Mr. Ace's picture
Joined: 05/06/2010
MGoPoints: 67

I, too, had Kansas over Wichita State, but had Syracuse and Sparty as the others in the Final Four.

...and I thought I hated Kansas.

The_Money_Shot_

March 13th, 2012 at 4:29 PM | I had a final four of (Score:1)
timhoops
timhoops's picture
Joined: 12/06/2009
MGoPoints: 240

I had a final four of Memphis, Duke, Kansas and Ohio State with Kansas winning the whole thing. Two of my No. 1 seeds last in the second round (UNC and MSU). I like how this bracket turned out.

March 13th, 2012 at 4:30 PM | Unbiased Semi-Random Bracket (Score:2)
WolverineBlue
WolverineBlue's picture
Joined: 01/09/2010
MGoPoints: 551

Just for the heck of it, I entered a bracket where I assigned a probability to each game based solely on historical records of seed posiitions, then generated a random number (flipped a lopsided virtual coin) to determine each winner. The outcome had Michigan, Ohio State, and Michigan State all in the final four. No way that happens, but weird it came out that way (I swear I didn't cheat).

March 13th, 2012 at 4:46 PM | I wasn't surprised in some (Score:2)
rtsannes62992
rtsannes62992's picture
Joined: 11/22/2009
MGoPoints: 327

I wasn't surprised in some areas but in both runs I did of it I saw that Kansas would be hard to beat (no duh) and Vanderbilt was in both of my final fours. 2 championship games were Kansas over Kentucky and then Duke over Vanderbilt. Michigan won one game in my first one and two in my second.

March 13th, 2012 at 5:04 PM | Had Kansas winning (Score:1)
A2GoBlue
A2GoBlue's picture
Joined: 05/18/2011
MGoPoints: 98

also Michigan to the Elite Eight!

March 13th, 2012 at 5:16 PM | Second run through. (Score:1)
El Tigre
El Tigre's picture
Joined: 03/14/2011
MGoPoints: 552

It isn't that hard to figure out who the teams are when  you look at seed range, rpi range, and conference profile. 

Go Mice!

March 13th, 2012 at 5:24 PM | I had Kansas winning the (Score:1)
Rather be on BA
Rather be on BA's picture
Joined: 08/29/2010
MGoPoints: 699

I had Kansas winning the whole thing.  A final Four of Kansas, Kentucky, Vandy and MSU. 

 

Strangest part of my bracket: S.Dakota St. in the Sweet 16.  I entered it in some generic "Fans of Michigan" bracket on ESPN to see how it does compare dot my regular bracket lol.

March 13th, 2012 at 5:33 PM | Thanks for posting. (Score:1)
littlebrownjug
Joined: 06/30/2008
MGoPoints: 301

I ended up with a final four of Michigan State, Kansas, Vanderbilt and Wichita State. Kansas beats MSU in my final, and Michigan was in the Elite 8.

Oh how I hate Ohio State!

March 13th, 2012 at 5:44 PM | This is cool (Score:2)
Medic
Medic's picture
Joined: 10/24/2008
MGoPoints: 290

Indiana, Michigan State, Vanderbilt, Kansas - Kansas all the way

Didn't see that coming. Great link.

March 13th, 2012 at 6:12 PM | UK over KU, MSU and Wisco as (Score:2)
Sambojangles
Sambojangles's picture
Joined: 12/15/2008
MGoPoints: 1318

UK over KU, MSU and Wisco as my other Final Four teams. I have Cal beating Michigan, Long Beach State in the Sweet 16, and Cincinnati over Ohio, but other than that mostly chalk.

Somebody should do one just based on the fake names they give teams--who is would win, a lobster or a honey bee?

"The trouble with quotes on the internet, is that it is often difficult to discern whether or not they are genuine" --Abraham Lincoln

@Sambojangles

March 13th, 2012 at 6:55 PM | It was probably just my Big (Score:1)
duelThreat
duelThreat's picture
Joined: 07/06/2009
MGoPoints: 166

It was probably just my Big Ten bias, but I ended up with Indiana, Michigan State, Ohio State and Kansas in the Final Four with Kansas beating Indiana in the championship.

March 13th, 2012 at 7:30 PM | Niiiice (Score:1)
B-Nut-GoBlue
Joined: 09/30/2011
MGoPoints: 1684

Pretty damn close to what a few of my brackets look like.  Only one small problem: I had South Florida beating Michigan in 2nd (3rd) Round to play UNC in Sweet 16.  How does that happen?! I actually thought I knew which one was Michigan and even tried to get them to advance to play UNC!

March 13th, 2012 at 7:24 PM | that was very cool (Score:1)
goblueva
Joined: 04/06/2011
MGoPoints: 106

I tended to favor size and defense. Ended up with Kansas, 'Cuse, UK and Louisville with Kansas winning over Kentucky.

"Some people say soccer is America's sport. I say 'BULLSHIT"!! Football's America's sport!"- Bo Schembechler, Football Camp 1995

March 13th, 2012 at 8:35 PM | Watch out (Score:2)
Lebowski
Lebowski's picture
Joined: 11/21/2009
MGoPoints: 612

They might be using season-long statistics. Indiana just beat Kentucky in my bracket.

March 13th, 2012 at 11:46 PM | About what I would have put (Score:2)
Blazefire
Blazefire's picture
Joined: 04/17/2009
MGoPoints: 15742

Though I would have picked Michigan over Temple, of course. Though for what it's worth, I had Temple over UNC in the next round.

Final four of Kansas, Kentucky, MSU and OSU. Kansas to win it all.

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."
March 14th, 2012 at 1:50 AM | Final 4 Duke, New Mexico, (Score:1)
Boomer519
Boomer519's picture
Joined: 01/02/2011
MGoPoints: 364

Final 4 Duke, New Mexico, Vandy, and Kansas with Vandy over Duke for the championship. Michigan to the Sweet 16. Pretty cool way of looking at it. I will be looking over my submission for some possible changes after this.

"This is MICHIGAN ferGODsakes"

March 14th, 2012 at 2:46 AM | IU (Score:1)
mocomber
Joined: 07/14/2010
MGoPoints: 121

Seems like a lot of people had Indiana deep. I had them winning it all. 

 

Hell, I left it for one bracket. That's the whole point right?

March 14th, 2012 at 10:43 AM | I had some weird results, as (Score:1)
Maize_in_spartyland
Maize_in_spartyland's picture
Joined: 04/06/2011
MGoPoints: 738

I had some weird results, as you can see.

Mine resulted in Kentucky out in the Elite 8. South Dakota State, Colorado State and South Florida were in my Sweet 16.

But it did have three of my four Final Four that I had - Michigan State, Kansas, and Ohio State.

For more on college football, college basketball, baseball, hockey, and more, visit Before Visiting the Sportsbook.

Follow BVTSB

Theme provided by Roopletheme; sidebars adapted from Chris Murphy.