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March Mathness: Davidson professor has 'bracketology' formula

Dr. Tim Chartier has been featured in the New York Post and the New York Times.

DAVIDSON, N.C. — Think you have the perfect bracket?

A math profession at Davidson College has a formula you want probably want to use before you pick your big winner.

Dr. Tim Chartier created the equations 10 years ago, and after bringing it back March after March, the professor became front page news.

He’s been featured by the New York Post and the New York Times along with doing too many interviews to count (although the mathematician definitely could).

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It’s called March Mathness, and while Chartier will be the first to tell you it’s no slam dunk to a billion bucks, the method could help you win the office pool.

"I'm not sure I'm the Zion Williamson of bracketology but I am definitely the Zion Williamson of bracketology in the classroom,” said the professor who has taught at Davidson for 16 years.

His first brackets were mathematically made in 2009.

“We had one that beat 97 percent of over four million.” 

And that’s when it all began.

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Year after year, his team gained momentum until everything changed.

“It was 2014 when Warren Buffet insured the billion-dollar bracket prize,” Chartier said.

From there, the professor went viral.

The attention can be fun and sometimes overwhelming, but Chartier said it’s important to remember -- it all goes back to numbers.

"I really enjoy engaging people in mathematics and brackets is a fun way to do that."

Here’s how the process works:

  1. Go to marchmathness.davidson.edu
  2. Select a method of choosing your bracket -- whether it’s the Massey ranking, Colley ranking, or seeded dice
  3. From there, you select a weight.

It’s all self-explanatory on the website, which thousands use annually to generate a bracket.

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Leave the staggering statistics to the statisticians.

“Behind the scenes and the code, is actually 500 equations with 500 unknowns that actually rank the teams,” said Chartier of the linear algebra equations.

Several have tweaked the process, like Ben Nuss, a Mooresville high school senior and future student at NC State.

Instead of tons of data behind his equation, it’s random, you can use it under the “seeded dice” selection.

“A combination of both [is best],” Nuss and Chartier agreed.

The website is free to use. Happy selecting!

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