The Miami Dolphins. Yes, you read that correctly, the Miami Dolphins have been predicted to attend Supper Bowl 50 by a Harvard Student. The Student, Kurt Ballard, developed a model for predicting the 2015-2016 NFL Season that compiled a complete list of who would make the playoffs along with the two final teams making the Super Bowl.
Here is how he conducted his research:
The method that I came up with uses Pro Football Reference’s Approximate Value statistic, the site’s best measure of trying to tease out individual talent. Then, using ESPN’s NFL depth charts, I aggregated each team’s per game approximate value of what I considered to be the “core” makeup of an NFL team: QB, RB, 2 WR, TE, Top 2 OL, the Top-4 “Front Seven” defensive players, and the Top-2 players from the secondary.
Since we know that he chose the Miami Dolphins to lead coming out the AFC, want to guess who the NFC Champs are? Yes, the Seattle Seahawks, which everyone guessed naturally with a close Green Bay. Here are his top 5 picks:
Are you surprised with his findings? You can check out his full report on Harvard Sports Analysis and tell us if you tried his method and came up with the same numbers!
(H/T Gamedayr)