Abstract
 A Spatial Analysis of the NCAA Basketball Tournament Track: Modeling Author(s): Brian Ward, Bryce Wells, Brian Davenhall The NCAA men's basketball tournament is one of the most popular events in both athletics and entertainment. Each year, millions of people watch the games, but not only that: they also bet on the games; travel hundreds or thousands of miles to see their teams play; and most important, they compete in NCAA tournament bracket contests. This study takes a look at historical NCAA Tournament results since 1985 (the year the tournament expanded to 64 teams) to determine whether or not there is spatial correlation between the distance of competing teams to their game sites, based on either their seeding and/or the Vegas lines, relative to their success in tournament games. The end result will not only be the results of the study but also a fascinating visualization of the last 20 years of the NCAA tournament. Brian Ward CH2M HILL 19 S. Tejon Street, Suite 500 Colorado Springs , CO 80903 US Phone: 719-477-4917 E-mail: brian.ward@ch2m.com Bryce Wells Athlon Sports, Inc. Interactive Services 2011 18th Avenue South Nashville , TN 37212 US Phone: 615-293-4011 E-mail: bryce_wells@yahoo.com Brian Davenhall CH2M Hill 2525 Airpark Drive Redding , CA 96001 US Phone: 530-229-3253 Fax: 530-339-3253 E-mail: brian.davenhall@ch2m.com |
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