If we were to decide the winner of the NCAA Tournament based strictly on Facebook conversations, would Kentucky still be the favorites? Would there be any upsets? Any Cinderella teams?
Yes. Yes! YES!
MORE: 2015 Brand Bracket | Bracket analysis | Printable bracket
Facebook's data team looked at a month's worth of mentions (Feb. 15 to March 14) to figure out which NCAA Tournament teams were generating the most buzz. There are a bunch of interesting tid bits they discovered. The Final Four would be No. 1 Kentucky, No. 4 Louisville, No. 1 Duke and No. 10 Ohio State (this year's UCONN?), with Kentucky taking home the title over Duke. Sounds plausible, right?
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The tournament results were decided by the total number of posts and comments containing words related to each school's team that were made one month in advance of Selection Sunday. Ohio State making it to the Final Four as a 10-seed is the most impressive run, but Indiana, another 10-seed, slipped past Kansas and Notre Dame for an Elite Eight appearance.
Other Round of 64 upsets included No. 9 Purdue, No. 12 Buffalo, No. 11 Texas, No. 9 LSU, No. 12 Wyoming, No. 11 Dayton, No. 9 St. John's and No. 11 UCLA.
Who's going to copy this bracket for their office pool? It looks like a winner.