Can Villanova repeat as national champs? Is this finally Gonzaga’s year? How far will Northwestern go? Don’t ask us. If you really want help with your NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship bracket, go ask Bing.
The folks at the Microsoft search engine say they use “intelligent machine-learning technology to analyze social and search signals” in making their March Madness bracket a better bet than the one filled out by your kid.
After not watching a single college basketball game this season (guilty — Syracuse fan!) I’m a little apprehensive about filling out a bracket in the next several hours. But Bing sure does remove the guesswork, at least when using the autofill option.
Bing predicts the winning potential for each team all the way to the championship. Congrats again, Villanova! The Wildcats will reach the Final Four along with Arizona, Kentucky and Louisville, Bing says. And Villanova is a 73-percent favorite to beat Kentucky for the title on April 3.
Here’s some more bracket insight shared by Microsoft:
- Bing models pick all four No. 12 seeds to pull off upsets in Round 1.
- Louisville will upset Kansas in the Midwest finals; Kentucky will dispatch North Carolina in a repeat outcome of their Dec. 17 game in Las Vegas; Arizona will avenge its Dec. 3 loss in L.A. to Gonzaga.
- Teams playing games in their home state were 13-2 in the past two tournaments.
- Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is 21-4 in the so-called “turnaround games” (second game from a given weekend with less than 48 hours of prep).
- Louisville’s Rick Pitino is 11-1 in Sweet 16 games.
Bing is also touting a mobile bracket experience through its app, and if you want a bot to keep you company throughout the tournament, Bing Sportscaster on Facebook Messenger will talk hoops with you.
