Sports | NCAA basketball For Some, 'Just Win' Doesn't Cut It Prof analyzes the blowout factor when filling out NCAA bracket By Mike Buss Posted Mar 17, 2008 10:42 PM CDT Copied Kansas center Cole Aldrich (45) dunks in the first half against Texas A&M during the semifinals of the men's Big 12 basketball tournament in Kansas City, Mo., Saturday, March 15, 2008. (AP Photo/Ed Zurga) Never mind R.P.I. and coaches' polls. It's a team's average margin of victory by which you should be basing your NCAA tournament picks, writes one Georgia Tech professor in The New York Times. Joel Sokol says a close win and a close loss are very similar, with statistics showing that teams bounce back better from a tight defeat than a blowout. But various rankings use only wins and losses and don't have any sort of scale for won/loss margin. In other words, North Carolina, with six nailbiting wins, is more susceptible to the upset. After crunching the numbers on everyone from Carolina to Coppin State, who does he like? Kansas, which lost only three games, of which two were by 3 points or fewer. Read These Next She was born at a McDonald's, so obviously this is her nickname. Kate McKinnon shares her weird medical condition. She walked out on her gig due to JD Vance, doesn't regret it. Study projects a shortfall in retirement savings in 41 states. Report an error