To the editor:

I recently heard a story on NPR’s “All Things Considered” about two math majors at the College of Charleston using mathematics to predict the winners and losers of the NCAA Tournament. Using various algorithms, or models, these two students essentially ranked the 65 teams playing in the tournament. They constructed matrices using linear algebra and entered data-based wins, losses and point differentials, while simultaneously weighing each game more heavily as the season progressed.

When asked what team the models predicted to win the NCAA Championship the result was clear: Kansas. The student’s professor is waiting to grade the project until he can see the results from the tournament.

I argue that for a team to win an NCAA Championship, that team needs the one thing that mathematics can’t account for: luck. We probably had lady luck by our side in March of ’88 (they were called “Danny and the Miracles”), and I’ve got this feeling that every 20 years or so, she makes her rounds.

Chris Orlando,

Lawrence