N.Y. Times' experts explain it all -Navigating the Bracket: Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks?

New York Times video: Navigating the Bracket
Which teams have the makeup to go all the way, and which teams are potential upset picks? NYT sports reporter Pete Thamel and NYT political analyst Nate Silver of Five Thirty Eight blog give their take. Produced by Justin Sablich, Tamir Elterman.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/03/14/sports/ncaabasketball/100000000725879/navigating-the-bracket.html

See also:

Chicago Tribune
Obama talks chalk with NCAA picks
By Michael A. Memoli, Washington Bureau
6:34 p.m. CDT, March 16, 2011
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/obama/ct-talk-obama-ncaa-picks-0317-20110316,0,3277711.story

At IU, we had a name for someone like President Obama who picks all the top-ranked teams to make it to the Elite 8: a butt-kissing corporate shill.


Who’s No. 1? Investigating the Mathematics of Rankings
By Patrick Honner amd Holly Epstein Ojalvo
March 14, 2011, 3:02 pm
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/whos-no-1e-investigating-the-mathematics-of-rankings/


Five Thirty Eight blog
When 15th Is Better Than 8th: The Math Shows the Bracket Is Backward
By Nate Silver
March 15, 2011, 11:40 pm

Suppose that, lucky you, you’re the coach of a team given a No. 8 seed in the N.C.A.A. tournament bracket.

This is a less-than-ideal position: provided that you win your first-round game, you’re due to face the No. 1 seed in the second round.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/15/when-15th-is-better-than-8th-the-math-shows-the-bracket-is-backward/

For more info:
http://ncaabracket.nytimes.com/2011/bracket/men/
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/t/pete_thamel/index.html
http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheNewYorkTimes