Googlology Football: Week 1

Ground Rules

Wake Forest vs. Baylor: (316,000 to 407,000)

Iowa State vs. South Dakota State: (321,000 to 295,000)

Oklahoma State vs. Washington State: (533,000 to 482,000)

Kansas vs. Florida International: (538,000 to 404,000)

Kansas State vs. North Texas: (336,000 to 413,000)

Nebraska vs. Western Michigan: (593,000 to 347,000)

Oklahoma vs. Chattanooga: (618,000 to 176,000)

Texas vs. Florida Atlantic: (394,000 to 329,000)

Texas A&M vs. Arkansas State: (377,000 to 345,000)

Texas Tech vs. Eastern Washington: (449,000 to 290,000)

Missouri vs. Illinois: (3,060,000 to 741,000)

Colorado vs. Colorado State: (649,000 to 335,000)

Winners: Baylor, Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Missouri, and Colorado.

Loser: Kansas State

Googlology Football: Ground Rules

With only two days left until most of college football begins its season, I figured it was a good time to start up something I really enjoyed doing during March Madness, Googlology. If you are looking for tips from the ultimate-turbo-omniscient-probably-creepy-but-who-cares supercomputer that is Google, you have come to the right place. My take is that knowing and analyzing every single stat on every single team in the NCAA will only provide so much insight into the outcome of each game. If this season turns out anything like last season, even the most rigorous statistical analysis won't stand up to teams like Appalachian State, Stanford, and Kentucky. That's why, just like every other situation in my life when I can't figure out an answer, I'm turning to Google.

Ground Rules:

1. Each Big 12 "game" will be simulated two days before the actual game. Non-Saturday games do not apply.
2. Each game is played by individually searching the name of the two universities' football programs (i.e. "University of Texas Longhorn Football").
3. The team with the most total search results is the winner.
4. New result numbers will be found before each game.

Googlology: Championship Game (4/7)

Rules of the Game

Game: (Result)

Memphis vs. Kansas --- (307,000 to 454,000)

Congrats to Kansas, the 2008 Googlology Basketball National Champion!

Googlology: Final Four (4/5)

Rules of the Game

Games: (Results)

No. 1 Kansas at No. 1 North Carolina --- (449,000 to 1,110,000)
No. 1 UCLA at No. 1 Memphis --- (491,000 to 298,000)

Winners:

North Carolina and UCLA

Ordinarily I wouldn't be too interested in non-Longhorn basketball games, but considering it is the Final Four and the last oft-televised collegiate sporting event for too many days to come I will be watching every second. I was reminded of how brutal the coming months are going to be, as I watched a Big 10 gymnastics meet on ESPN yesterday.

Googlology: Elite 8 (3/29-3/30)

Rules of the Game

Games: (Results)

No. 3 Xavier at No. 1 UCLA --- (192,000 to 529,000) 
No. 3 Louisville at No. 1 North Carolina --- (346,000 to 1,090,000)
No. 2 Texas at No. 1 Memphis --- (446,000 to 284,000)
No. 10 Davidson at No. 1 Kansas --- (462,000 to 431,000) 

Winners:

UCLA, North Carolina, Texas, Davidson

Upsets:

Memphis, Kansas

Google, you so crazay! But please be right. Seriously.

Googlology: Sweet 16 Day 2 (3/28)

Rules of the Game

Googlology: Sweet 16 Day 1 (3/27)

Games: (Results)

No. 10 Davidson at No. 3 Wisconsin --- (443,000 to 348,000)
No. 3 Stanford at No. 2 Texas --- (317,000 to 434,000)
No. 12 Villanova at No. 1 Kansas --- (188,000 to 429,000)
No. 5 Michigan State at No. 1 Memphis --- (439,000 to 305,000)

Winners:

Davidson, Texas, Kansas, Michigan State

Upsets:

Wisconsin, Memphis

I wonder if Google knows about the Lopez brothers? Also, on a totally unrelated note, I like the neverflat commercial with Vince Young in it. Only because VY is in it. 

Googlology: Sweet 16 Day 1 (3/27)

Rules of the Game

Games: (Results)

No. 7 West Virginia at No. 3 Xavier --- (365,000 to 192,000)
No. 4 Washington State at No. 1 North Carolina --- (290,000 to 1,080,000)
No. 12 Western Kentucky at No. 1 UCLA --- (188,000 to 455,000)
No. 3 Louisville at No. 2 Tennessee --- (365,000 to 612,000)

Winners:

West Virginia, UNC, UCLA, Tennessee.

Upset:

Xavier

Google appears to be less gung-ho on predicting upsets this round; me thinks It is getting worried about losing to the fleshy pink primates.

Googlology: Week 1 Results

The first weekend and the first two rounds of 2008 NCAA tournament play is in the books, and now it's time to see how Google did. 

Round of 64

Winners predicted by Google (incorrect predictions in red, correct upset predictions in green):

Georgia, Kansas, Michigan State, Kentucky, Purdue, Kent State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, USC, Duke, Washington State, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Arizona, Notre Dame, UCLA, Tennessee, Davidson, Miami, Western Kentucky, Butler, Georgetown, Texas, Connecticut, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Siena, Oregon, Indiana, Louisville, Clemson, and Memphis.

Overall accuracy: 21/32 = 66%

Upset prediction accuracy: 3/8 = 37.5%

Round of 32

Winners predicted by Google (incorrect predictions in red, correct upset predictions in green):

Duke, Wisconsin, Purdue, Notre Dame, Stanford, Kansas, Pittsburgh, UCLA, Siena, Miami, Butler, San Diego, Davidson, Memphis, Oklahoma, and North Carolina

Overall accuracy: 7/16 = 43.75%

Upset prediction accuracy: 1/3 = 33%

Analysis

Interestingly, Google did quite well predicting the outcome of the first round games, even picking up some of the upsets. Overall though, Google barely broke 50% picking 28 of 48 correctly. But how did Google do against some very knowledgeable bloggers? Over at burntorangenation.com PB correctly picked 33 out of 48, getting 5 more correct than Google, and AW picked 36 out of 48, getting 8 more correct than Google. 

Verdict

After the first weekend of the tournament mankind can rest easy for a few more days knowing that we aren't going to get Matrixed any time soon. Here's the scoreboard:

1. Smart Blogger People: 34.5/48 = 72%

2. Google: 28/48 = 58%

Googlology: Round of 32 Day 2 (3/23)

Rules of the Game

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 1 (3/20)

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 2 (3/21)

Googlology: Round of 32 Day 1 (3/22)

Games: (Results)

No. 13 Siena at No. 12 Villanova --- (234,000 to 176,000)
No. 7 Miami (FL) at No. 2 Texas --- (544,000 to 426,000)
No. 7 Butler at No. 2 Tennessee --- (1,660,000 to 616,000)
No. 13 San Diego at No. 12 Western Kentucky --- (219,000 to 204,000)
No. 10 Davidson at No. 2 Georgetown --- (463,000 to 406,000)
No. 8 Mississippi State at No. 1 Memphis --- (240,000 to 334,000)
No. 6 Oklahoma at No. 3 Louisville --- (394,000 to 393,000)

No. 9 Arkansas at No. 1 North Carolina --- (417,000 to 890,000)

Winners:

Siena, Miami, Butler, San Diego, Davidson, Memphis, Oklahoma, North Carolina

Upsets:

Villanova, Texas, Tennessee, Western Kentucky, Georgetown, Louisville

Google is feeling quite chaotic today, but my bracket and my school pride hopes It is wrong.

Googlology: Round of 32 Day 1 (3/22)

Rules of the Game

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 1 (3/20)

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 2 (3/21)

Games: (Results)

No. 7 West Virginia at No. 2 Duke --- (190,000 to 200,000)
No. 11 Kansas State at No. 3 Wisconsin --- (309,000 to 349,000)
No. 6 Purdue at No. 3 Xavier --- (515,000 to 349,000)
No. 5 Notre Dame at No. 4 Washington State --- (372,000 to 294,000)
No. 6 Marquette at No. 3 Stanford --- (207,000 to 324,000)

No. 8 UNLV at No. 1 Kansas --- (166,000 to 413,000)
No. 5 Michigan State at No. 4 Pittsburgh --- (443,000 to 373,000)
No. 9 Texas A&M at No. 1 UCLA --- (553,000 to 615,000)

Winners:

Duke, Wisconsin, Purdue, Notre Dame, Stanford, Kansas, Pittsburgh, UCLA

Upsets: 

Xavier, Washington State, Pittsburgh

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 2 (3/21)

Rules of the Game

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 1 (3/20)

Games: (Results)

No. 15 American University at No. 2 Tennessee --- (136,000 to 622,000)
No. 10 Davidson at No. 7 Gonzaga --- (525,000 to 145,000)
No. 10 Saint Mary's at No. 7 Miami (FL) --- (118,000 to 561,000)
No. 12 Western Kentucky at No. 5 Drake --- (199,00 to 180,000)
No. 10 South Alabama at No. 7 Butler --- (179,000 to 1,600,000)
No. 15 UMBC at No. 2 Georgetown --- (96,000 to 398,000)
No. 15 Austin Peay at No. 2 Texas --- (54,100 to 449,000)
No. 13 San Diego at No. 4 Connecticut --- (226,000 to 431,000)
No. 16 Mount St. Mary's at No. 1 North Carolina ---(72,7000 to 1,050,000)
No. 11 Saint Joseph's at No. 6 Oklahoma --- (207,000 to 410,000)
No. 13 Siena at No. 4 Vanderbilt --- (327,000 to 272,000)
No. 9 Oregon at No. 8 Mississippi State --- (429,000 to 236,000)
No. 9 Arkansas at No. 8 Indiana --- (400,000 to 1,720,000)
No. 14 Boise State at No. 3 Louisville --- (157,000 to 346,000)
No. 12 Villanova at No. 5 Clemson --- (172,000 to 259,000)
No. 16 Texas-Arlington at No. 1 Memphis --- (112,000 to 322,000)

Winners:

Tennessee, Davidson, Miami, Western Kentucky, Butler, Georgetown, Texas, Connecticut, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Siena, Oregon, Indiana, Louisville, Clemson, Memphis

Upsets: 

Gonzaga, Drake, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State

Looks like Drake and Vanderbilt are going to run into some problems against a pair of conference championship teams, and Gonzaga just hasn't been the same since the 'stache left.

Googlology: Round of 64 Day 1 (3/20)

Rules of the Game

Games: (Results)

No. 14 Georgia at No. 3 Xavier --- (506,000 to 198,000) 
No. 16 Portland State at No. 1 Kansas --- (205,000 to 411,000)
No. 12 Temple at No. 5 Michigan State --- (371,000 to 441,000)
No. 11 Kentucky at No. 6 Marquette --- (602,000 to 202,000)
No. 11 Baylor at No. 6 Purdue --- (224,000 to 488,000)
No. 9 Kent State at No. 8 UNLV --- (246,000 to 193,000)
No. 13 Oral Roberts at No. 4 Pittsburgh --- (110,000 to 364,000)
No. 14 Cornell at No. 3 Stanford --- (250,000 to 343,000)
No. 11 Kansas State at No. 6 USC --- (384,000 to 476,000)
No. 15 Belmont at No. 2 Duke --- (119,000 to 196,000)
No. 13 Winthrop at No. 4 Washington State --- (71,300 to 290,000)
No. 9 Texas A&M at No. 8 Brigham Young --- (593,000 to 865,000)
No. 14 Cal State Fullerton at No. 3 Wisconsin --- (419,000 to 352,000)
No. 10 Arizona at No. 7 West Virginia --- (522,000 to 377,000) 
No. 12 George Mason at No. 5 Notre Dame --- (229,000 to 416,000)
No. 16 Mississippi Valley State at No. 1 UCLA --- (127,000 to 539,000)

Winners:

Georgia, Kansas, Michigan State, Kentucky, Purdue, Kent State, Pittsburgh, Stanford, USC, Duke, Washington State, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Arizona, Notre Dame, and UCLA.

Upsets:

Xavier, Marquette, UNLV, Wisconsin, and West Virginia

Put that in your pipe and smoke it. 

Googlology: Ground Rules

Two days away from the first tip of the NCAA men's basketball tournament and I am all ready to join the educated guessing tomfoolery that is "bracketology," as ESPN wants to constantly remind me they think it should be called. If you are looking for tips from mere humans (albeit very well informed ones) in order to fill out your office/facebook/espn bracket sheet then I'd recommend Burnt Orange Nation, who in my opinion have some of the best insights on the interwebs. If you are looking for tips from the ultimate-turbo-omniscient-probably-creepy-but-who-cares supercomputer that is Google, you have come to the right place. 

My take is that knowing and analyzing every single stat on every single team in the NCAA will only provide so much insight into the outcome of the tournament. Unless you attend George Mason University you probably weren't even close last year. That's why, just like every other situation in my life when I can't figure out an answer, I'm turning to Google.

Ground Rules:

1. Each "game" of the NCAA tournament will be simulated two days before the actual game is played. 
2. Each game is played by individually searching the name of the two universities' basketball programs (i.e. "The University of Texas Longhorn Basketball").
3. The team with the most total search results advances to the next round.
4. New result numbers will be found each day.
5. In case Google is wrong (the internet is always right), the real-life match-up will be done alongside the Google tournament match-up.