March Madness

64 teams play 63 total games

Round:
1 --> 32 games
2 --> 16
3 --> 8
4 --> 4
5 --> 2
6 --> 1

32 + 16 + 8 + 4 + 2 + 1 = 63

There are 2^63 different ways to fill out the bracket.

The current and commonly used formula for determining the RPI of a team at any given time is as follows.
RPI = (WP * 0.25) + (OWP * 0.50) + (OOWP * 0.25)
where WP is Winning Percentage, OWP is Opponents' Winning Percentage and OOWP is Opponents' Opponents' Winning Percentage.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ratings_Percentage_Index

Is it a good model?

Is March Madness always the same?

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-madness.html

March Madness: Statisticians quantify entry biases
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-madness-statisticians-quantify-entry-biases.html

Odds are, seedings don't matter after Sweet 16, professor says

http://www.physorg.com/news156425607.html

Computer system consistently makes most accurate NCAA picks

http://www.physorg.com/news126450502.html

Sports Leagues Not Efficiently Structured, Scientists Say

http://www.physorg.com/news107699973.html

'Match' Madness: Picking upsets a losing strategy

http://www.physorg.com/news186901682.html

NCAA Tournament Pool: Leveling The Brackets

http://www.physorg.com/news187982176.html

Physics Explains Why University Rankings Won't Change

http://www.physorg.com/news122142450.html

http://nrich.maths.org/1443

New Algorithm Ranks Sports Teams like Google's PageRank

http://www.physorg.com/news180094320.html

Discrepencies between actual and percieved probabilities

http://dehn.slu.edu/sports/tournament/index.html

Behavior Changes Linked to March Madness

http://www.physorg.com/news187380499.html

All bets are off: Office pools lead to unhappiness

http://www.physorg.com/news131371821.html