Another exciting night of college basketball has shaken up the race for
top dog in the 2013 Rational Pastime Rating Systems Challenge.
After the third full day of the NCAA Tournament we see the Sports
Reference efficiency system take the lead, edging out Chalk and other
brackets by the smallest of margins. Five other systems are tied with
Chalk in total points but have more possible points remaining.
Interestingly, sitting in second place behind one of the more advanced
rating system is one of the least sophisticated entrants: the ESPN
Preseason Poll. Both the Sports Reference and ESPN Preseason systems
benefited from correctly picking 6 Arizona to reach the Sweet Sixteen.
Bringing up the rear yet again is our perennial laggard: the Nolan Power
Index. NPI unfortunately projected 5 Virginia Commonwealth and 6
Memphis to advance; Big Ten powerhouses from the Wolverine State easily
felled them both.
Of course, the stories of the day were the two big upsets: 12 Oregon's
tidy win over 4 Saint Louis and 9 Wichita State's "shocking" (sorry)
victory over the postseason poll favorite, top-seeded Gonzaga. Keep
reading after the jump to discover what effect this will have on the
various systems' performance in the remainder of the NCAA Tournament.
