When 15th is better than 8th
More bracketology goodness from Nate Silver. The bottom line is that #10 seeds (or lower) have a better chance for tournament success than #8 or #9 seeds. Two factors come into play: #1 and #2 seeds are substantially better than everybody else, and the teams from #5 to #12 are roughly equivalent (the difference between #1 and #2 is about the same as #5 to #12). The #8 and #9 seeds are at a disadvantage because they are basically guaranteed to have to play the #1 seed, something lower seeds can avoid.
(If this week’s posts are not the groundwork for a book on bracketology, they should be. Awesome stuff.)
