Penn Charter Sports Analytics Club was thrilled to host Joe Lunardi, ESPN's bracketologist for college basketball. Lunardi explained how he uses a complex combination of team stats to predict who will dominate during March Madness. He began collecting sports stats for his high school football team, and eventually combined his love for sports with his ability to analyze and explain what data means to become a sports analyst.
He emphasized that he has his current gig because of his ability to write clearly and explain complicated concepts in accessible ways, not just because of his knowledge of sports.
In a Q&A session, students asked about AI, his top picks for this year, and the challenges of predicting the results of March Madness. "The best thing," Lunardi said, "is to be able to tell your wife, 'I have to watch the end of this basketball game – for work.'"