Category Archives: Uncategorized

NFL Picks – Week 5

2015 Record
My record 2016:
Total (weeks 1-5) –SU: 45-31 ATS: 44-31-3 O/U: 36-38-2
Week 1 – SU: 12-4 ATS: 10-5-1 O/U: 5-10-1
Week 2 – SU: 9-7 ATS: 7-9 O/U: 9-6-1
Week 3 – SU: 8-8 ATS: 12-3-1 O/U 9-7
Week 4 – SU: 6-8 ATS: 9-5 O/U 6-8
Week 5 – SU: 10-4 ATS: 6-7-1 O/U 7-7

Arizona at San Francisco

Prediction: Cardinals 22-20 (53.2%) 

Pick: 49ers +3

Total: Under 42.5

Washington at Baltimore

Prediction: Ravens 24-20 (60.3%)

Pick: Washington Football Team +4

Total: Under 45.5

Tampa Bay at Carolina

Prediction: Panthers 25-18 (67.8%) 

Pick: Panthers -4.5 

Total: Under 45

New England at Cleveland

Prediction: Patriots 26-22 (60.7%)

Pick: Browns +11

Total: Over 47

Cincinnati at Dallas

Prediction: Cowboys 22-21 (50.1%)

Pick: Cowboys +2

Total:Under 45.5 

Atlanta at Denver 

Prediction: Broncos 27-22 (64.4%)

Pick: Broncos -4.5 

Total: Over 46.5 

Philadelphia at Detroit

Prediction: Lions 24-23 (52.3%)

Pick: Lions +3.5 

Total: Over 46

NY Giants at Green Bay

Prediction: Packers 26-20 (64.8%) 

Pick: Giants +7 PUSH

Total: Under 48

Chicago at Indianapolis

Prediction: Colts 24-22 (57.4%) 

Pick: Bears +4.5 

Total: Under 48

Tennessee at Miami 

Prediction: Dolphins 23-20 (59.8%) 

Pick: Titans +3.5 

Total: Under 43

Houston at Minnesota 

Prediction: Vikings 21-19 (55.4%)

Pick: Texans +7

Total: Under 40.5  

San Diego at Oakland 

Prediction: Chargers 23-22 (50.9%)

Pick: Chargers +3.5 

Total: Under 51. 5

NY Jets at Pittsburgh 

Prediction: Steelers 24-21 (60.3%) 

Pick: Jets +7.5 

Total: Under 48  

Buffalo at Los Angeles (nee St. Louis) 

Prediction: Bills 21-20 (50.5%) 

Pick: Bills +1.5 

Total: Over 39 

If VPs #debate during an #MLB #playoff game, do they make a sound?

Did the VP debate tonight change anything?  Below is a plot of estimated win probabilities for the two presidential candidates during the VP debate.  There was almost no change at all.  For comparison, the plot below that shows the win probability changing dramatically during the presidential debate.

So do the VP debates matter?   According to the markets, the answer is very much no.

predictitpresident_debatevp

 

predictitpresident_debate

Cheers.

NFL Picks – Week 4

Clinton beat Trump. #debates

Three days after the first presidential debate, it’s fairly evident that Clinton won.  And that it wasn’t even close.  You can see below that Clinton has gotten a substantial boost in win probability based on the state electoral college markets on predictit.org.  Clinton has also gained in the RealClearPolitics 2 and 4 way poll aggregations and her lead in the 2 way race is now at +3 and in the 4 way race is at +2.9.  These leads are still a far cry from her nearly 8 point lead only a few weeks ago, but it must be a bit of a relief for Clinton who had been slipping recently over the past few weeks.

predictitpresident_time

The plot below is based on the predicit.org state markets accounting for correlation of the voting patterns between states.  Based on this, the mean number of electoral votes for Clinton is 298 with the most likely outcome for Clinton is getting 358 electoral votes.  This is very much in line with other sites that are predicting at this moment such as Princeton Election Consortium, which has Clinton at 297 and FiveThirtyEight.com which has Clinton at 290.7.

predictitpresident_20160929_dc_corr

Finally, here is a simulation of electoral vote totals if the state outcomes are assumed to be independent, which is clearly not true, but a nice simplifying assumption.  predictitpresident_20160929_dc

Cheers.

NFL Playoff Probabilities – Week 4

 
Team WinDivison MakePlayoffs MakeSuperBowl WinSuperBowl
ARI 16.2 54.7 6.4 1.9
ATL 9.2 22.5 1.9 0.5
BAL 27.8 50.6 7.8 2.3
BUF 3.2 13.7 2.0 0.9
CAR 87.9 93.2 18.5 11.9
CHI 1.1 3.4 0.2 0.1
CIN 26.2 51.5 6.6 3.3
CLE 0.1 0.2 0.0 0.0
DAL 35.5 49.6 6.6 3.5
DEN 85.5 97.2 26.0 14.5
DET 7.7 27.4 3.5 1.7
GB 72.0 92.0 18.6 9.7
HOU 57.6 63.6 8.0 2.8
IND 39.5 46.5 6.3 1.7
JAC 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.0
KC 10.2 49.1 5.9 3.2
MIA 2.9 10.6 0.7 0.2
MIN 19.2 58.5 7.7 2.9
NE 88.7 94.5 21.2 10.9
NO 2.9 7.5 1.0 0.5
NYG 11.1 18.4 2.4 0.9
NYJ 5.2 20.0 2.4 0.7
OAK 0.5 4.5 0.1 0.0
PHI 51.0 61.4 8.3 4.1
PIT 45.9 70.6 10.6 5.0
SD 3.8 24.0 2.0 0.8
SEA 82.1 94.2 23.6 15.7
SF 0.6 3.7 0.2 0.0
STL 1.1 9.5 0.7 0.0
TB 0.0 0.2 0.1 0.0
TEN 2.7 3.2 0.4 0.1
WAS 2.4 3.8 0.3 0.2

 

Predicted NFL standings – Week 4

 

Projected Standings

AFC

AFC East 

New England: 11-5 (3-0) 10.879

NY Jets: 7-9 (1-2) 7.141

Buffalo: 7-9 (1-2) 6.832

Miami: 6-10 (1-2) 6.426

AFC North

Pittsburgh: 10-6 (2-1) 9.476

Cincinnati: 9-7 (1-2) 8.650

Baltimore: 9-7 (3-0) 8.644

Cleveland: 4-12 (0-3) 3.963

AFC South

Houston: 8-8 (2-1) 8.464

Indianapolis: 8-8 (1-2) 7.961

Tennessee: 5-11 (1-2) 4.895

Jacksonville: 3-13 (0-3) 3.496

AFC West

Denver: 12-4 (3-0) 11.63

Kansas City: 9-7 (2-1) 8.554

San Diego: 8-8 (1-2) 7.513

Oakland: 5-11 (2-1) 5.515

NFC

NFC East

Philadelphia: 9-7 (3-0) 8.673

Dallas: 8-8 (2-1) 8.224

NY Giants: 7-9 (2-1) 6.634

Washington: 5-11 (1-2) 5.150

NFC North

Green Bay: 11-5 (2-1) 10.675

Minnesota: 9-7 (3-0) 8.832

Detroit: 8-8 (1-2) 7.575

Chicago: 6-10 (0-3) 5.599

NFC South

Carolina: 11-5 (1-2) 10.451

Atlanta: 7-9 (2-1) 7.149

New Orleans: 6-10 (0-3) 6.005

Tampa Bay: 4-12 (1-2) 3.882

NFC West

Seattle: 11-5 (2-1) 11.016

Arizona: 9-7 (1-2) 8.658  

Los Angeles (nee St. Louis): 6-10 (2-1) 6.367

San Francisco: 5-11 (1-2) 5.071

Team – Median Predicted Record (Actual Record) Expected Wins
Italics: Projected playoff team 

Projected Playoffs

AFC

  1. Denver
  2. New England
  3. Pittsburgh
  4. Houston
  5. Cincinnati
  6. Baltimore

NFC

  1. Seattle
  2. Green Bay
  3. Carolina
  4. Philadelphia
  5. Minnesota
  6. Arizona

 

 

Summary of the US Presidential Race: A plot

TrumpVsClintonNationalPolls.png

NFL Rankings – Week 4

Note: Changes are two week changes.  (I had a baby last week; didn’t get around to updating the rankings).

 
 Rank Team Prosp PredMargin Change W L
1 SEA 75 4.55  2  1
2 CAR 72 3.04  1 2
3 DEN 68 2.99  3  0
4 NE 68 2.92  3  0
5 PHI 61 0.51 +12  3  0
6 GB 59 2.94 +1  2  1
7 HOU 57 0.49 +2  2  1
8 DET 56 0.31  1  2
9 KC 56 1.27 +2  2  1
10 PIT 56 1.79 -5  2  1
11 CIN 55 1.93 +3  1 2
12 NYJ 53 -0.23 -2  1  2
13 NO 52 0.37 +2  0  3
14 SD 52 -0.36 -1  1  2
15 DAL 51 -0.27 +4  2  1
16 BAL 51 0.16 -4  3  0
17 SF 51 -1.32 -11 1  2
18 ARI 51 1.54 -2  1  1
19 MIN 50 -0.16 -1  3  0
20 BUF 50 -0.75  1  2
21 ATL 48 -0.50  +1  2  1
22 WAS 43 -1.93 +3 1 2
23 CHI 42 -1.59 +3  0  3
24 IND 42 -0.20 -3  1  2
25 CLE 41 -2.57 +5 0  3
26 OAK 40 -1.89 -3  2  1
27 NYG 39 -0.74 +1  2  1
28 TB 36 -2.31 -4 1  2
29 MIA 35 -1.27 -2  1  2
30 LA 33 -1.89 -1  2  1
31 TEN 32 -3.10  –  1  2
32 JAC 26 -3.69  –  0  3

 

NFL Picks – Week 3

Sorry I didn’t get the Thursday night game posted in time; I had a baby.  You’ll just have to trust me that I predicted Patriot 25-20.  
2015 Record
My record 2016:
Total (weeks 1-3) –SU: 29-19 ATS: 29-17-2 O/U: 23-23-2
Week 1 – SU: 12-4 ATS: 10-5-1 O/U: 5-10-1
Week 2 – SU: 9-7 ATS: 7-9 O/U: 9-6-1
Week 3 – SU: 8-8 ATS: 12-3-1 O/U 9-7

Houston at New England

Prediction: Patriots 25-20 (64.1%)

Pick: Patriots +2.5

Total: Over 41

Arizona at Buffalo

Prediction: Cardinals 22-20 (54.0%)

Pick: Bills +4.5 

Total: Under 47

Minnesota at Carolina

Prediction: Panthers 24-19 (63.9%)

Pick: Vikings +7

Total: Under 43

Denver at Cincinnati 

Prediction: Bengals 22-21 (51.0%)

Pick: Broncos +3.5 

Total: Over 42

Detroit at Green Bay 

Prediction: Packers 26-21 (62.2%)

Pick: Lions +7 PUSH

Total: Under 48 

San Diego at Indianapolis

Prediction: Colts 25-23 (54.8%) 

Pick: Colts -1

Total: Under 51

Baltimore at Jacksonville

Prediction: Ravens 22-20 (55.9%)

Pick: Ravens -1.5

Total: Under 45.5 

NY Jets at Kansas City

Prediction: Chiefs 23-20 (58.4%)

Pick: Chiefs -3

Total: Under 43

Cleveland at Miami

Prediction: Dolphins 24-21 (58.8%)

Pick: Browns +9.5

Total: Over 42

Washington at NY Giants

Prediction: Giants 24-21 (58.3%)

Pick: Washington Football Team +4.5 

Total: Under 47

Pittsburgh at Philadelphia

Prediction: Steelers 24-23 (50.1%)

Pick: Eagles +4 

Total: Over 47

San Francisco at Seattle 

Prediction: Seahawks 23-16 (69.7%)

Pick: 49ers +10 

Total: Under 41

Los Angeles (nee St. Louis) at Tampa Bay

Prediction: Buccaneers 21-20 (52.6%)

Pick: Rams +4 

Total:Under 41.5 

Chicago at Dallas

Prediction: Cowboys 24-21 (57.9%)

Pick: Bears +7

Total: Over 44.5

Oakland at Tennessee

Prediction: Titans 22-21 (51.5%)

Pick: Titans +1.5 

Total: Under 47

Atlanta at New Orleans

Prediction: Saints 27-25 (58.3%)

Pick: Falcons +3

Total: Under 54

 

Bad news…..Trump is definitely going to win. :(

You’ve probably heard of the Washington Football Team rule before.  It states that:

If the Redskins win their last home game before the election, the party that won the previous election wins the next election and that if the Redskins lose, the challenging party’s candidate wins.

This has held true in 17 of the last 19 elections.  However, it’s only 1 for 3 in the last three elections.  Not a great track record.

So back in 2012 I looked for a better sports predictor of the presidency and I found it.  

From 1948 through 2008, if:

1.  The Phillies win less than 92.

2. The Indians win less than 97 games.

3.  The Red Sox win at least 75 games.

The Republican candidate has won the election every single time.  However, this method predicted that Romney would win in 2012, which did not end up happening.

So what does this say about the presidency this year?

The Phillies are currently sitting at 65 wins with only 16 left to play, the Indians are at 84 wins with 15 left to play, and the Red Sox are already at 81 wins.  Check, almost surely check, and check.

The only chance the Clinton now has to win the election is to pray that Cleveland goes 13-2  or better in their remaining 15 games.  This is doubly odd as Cleveland, host city of the 2016 Republican National Convention, is once again at the center of the political world.

With the new findings Trump and his team are allegedly concerned that the Clinton campaign will be fixing Cleveland Indians games from now until the end of the season in spite of the fact that no evidence of game tampering has been found since 1919.  Nevertheless, Trump’s team has encouraged his supporters to attend Cleveland games and watch diligently to make sure there is no fraud happening.  Further, Republican lawmakers are encouraging baseball’s commissioner, Rob Manfred, and the front office of the Cleveland Indians to institute stricter ticketing policies.  These lawmakers want to prevent fans from attending games unless they have their ticket and at least two forms of government ID to present at the time of entrance to the stadium.  They argue this it to prevent fans from attending both halves of a double header with only one ticket.   Democratic lawmakers believe this is just a thinly veiled attempt to keep certain demographics of fans from attending games.

Cheers.