Simulating The Bracket: How Did It End For The Hawkeyes?
There is no NCAA men's basketball tournament, but there are computers that can simulate it.
Several simulations have been conducted in what would have been the opening two days of the tournament, and Iowa has advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in at least one.
A look at some of the simulations:
• A Twitter account — @NCAAsim2020 — has the Hawkeyes reaching the semifinals.
The simulation, using the final bracket projection of ESPN's Joe Lunardi, had Iowa in the Midwest Regional as the 6 seed. The Hawkeyes defeated East Tennessee State in the first round.
That set up a second-round matchup with Duke, and the Hawkeyes pulled off the win over the No. 3 seed.
The Hawkeyes will play No. 2 seed Kentucky. That simulation will take place on March 23.
• ESPN did its own simulation, using Lunardi's final projection as well as the network's BPI analytic formula.
The Hawkeyes defeated East Tennessee State in the first round before losing to Duke in the second round.
The BPI projected Kansas with an 18 percent chance of winning the title. But the simulation had Wisconsin defeating BYU in the national championship game.
• CBSSports.com had Iowa, the 7 seed in the West Regional, defeating 10 seed Xavier in the first round, losing to No. 2 seed San Diego State in the second round.
• The Raleigh News & Observer had its simulation, with Iowa, as a 7 seed, losing to 10 seed Oklahoma, 77-76, in the first round of the West Regional.
There is a flaw in the program the newspaper used — according to the simulation, Jack Nunge scored 10 points for the Hawkeyes. Nunge has been out since mid-November with a knee injury.
