College football rankings statistical paradox
In America, college football teams do not participate in a playoff. The teams are instead ranked according to a mathematical formula called the BCS ranking system. Without getting into too many details, the BCS ranking broadly works like this. Teams are ranked independently by 3 different voting systems: the Harris Poll, ...

Puzzle: odds of a comeback victory
You're favorite sports team is down at halftime, but you are hoping they can pull it together and eek out a victory. What are the odds of that happening? The probability obviously depends on the exact game in question. But I came across an interesting probability problem that gives an interesting ...

Why I would rather watch the end of a close soccer match than a close basketball game
Close soccer matches are usually interesting. Teams are pressing on offense or locking down on defense. There's a lot of chaos and intense energy. This is less so in close basketball games. Usually teams are deliberate on offense and defense, stalling with fouls and timeouts. The pace is maddeningly sluggish. In ...

NCAA March Madness: why entering more than one bracket is questionable
Before I get into the math, a brief intro for international readers who might not be familiar with this event. The NCAA men's college basketball tournament is a wild event that is often called March Madness. It features a tournament bracket of 64 teams competing in single-elimination games until a ...

How to bet on sports and the Super Bowl using game theory
The 2010 Super Bowl matchup is set. The Indianapolis Colts will face the New Orleans Saints. Already there is much speculation about who is the favorite, which quarterback will perform, which defense or offense will show up, and how these dome teams will play in an outdoor stadium. In fact, none ...

A math problem that might help you win one million dollars
Louis-Charles just won $1 million dollars...for making a few sports picks. The details are the 31-year old package handler correctly made 25 picks in a row before anyone else in ESPN's Streak for the Cash game. The most important part of the game was that it emphasized streaks, also known as ...