Who’s better at picking the outcome of men’s collegiate basketball games: Google or Microsoft?
We’ll find out in a month. Both search engines have filled out March Madness brackets based on their own algorithms.
As GeekWire highlighted earlier this week, Bing analyzed 9.2 quintillion possible outcomes of the bracket and other related data to make its selections. The search engine also crunched more than a decade of NCAA historical data to help drive its predictions.
Google, meanwhile, didn’t exactly make calculated “predictions” — rather, it used information based on Google search trends and fan activity across multiple platforms. This includes NCAA men’s basketball-related searches on Google, and views, comments, and likes on YouTube videos. All data was pulled during the 2014-2015 NCAA men’s basketball regular season.
You can see Google’s picks below. Its bracket has Kentucky, North Carolina, Louisville, and Duke in its Final Four, with Kentucky beating Duke in the final. Big upsets include North Carolina over Wisconsin; NC State over Villanova; Michigan State over Virginia; and Iowa over Gonzaga.
Bing’s picks are below. Bing has Kentucky, Arizona, Villanova, and Duke in its Final Four, with Kentucky over Duke in the final (sound familiar?). Big upsets include Wichita State over Kansas and Eastern Washington over Georgetown.
Both Bing and Google also have their own March Madness-related tools and hubs this year. Each is offering slightly different content and analysis.
@google cough bing was there first cough :)
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) March 19, 2015
Time is running out. Build your #MarchMadness bracket before it's too late! Get the assist from #BingBracketBuilder https://t.co/Jz1i0zQdlK
— Bing (@bing) March 19, 2015
Last summer, Microsoft beat out Google for World Cup predictions. Will Bing make it two in a row?
