Okay, so I’ve been trying to get better at predicting basketball game outcomes, specifically for Jacksonville. It’s, uh, not as easy as it looks. I started, like, super basic. You know, just looking at past scores.
First, I grabbed a bunch of game data. I mean, a LOT. I spent hours just copying and pasting scores from websites. It was mind-numbing, seriously. I felt like a robot.
The “Brilliant” First Attempt
My initial idea? Super simple average. I calculated the average points Jacksonville scored and the average points their opponents scored. Then, I figured, whoever has the higher average, boom, that’s my predicted winner. I even made a little spreadsheet to keep it all organized. Very professional, I thought.
- Step 1: Get all the scores. (Ugh, so much data entry.)
- Step 2: Calculate Jacksonville’s average points.
- Step 3: Calculate the opponent’s average points.
- Step 4: Declare the winner. (Spoiler: it didn’t work great.)
Reality Check
Yeah, that didn’t really work. Turns out, basketball is a little more complicated than just averages. Who knew? My predictions were, let’s just say, not very accurate. I was basically flipping a coin and getting similar results.
Getting (Slightly) Smarter
So, I decided I needed to, you know, actually think about basketball. I started looking at things like home-court advantage. Does Jacksonville play better at home? Makes sense, right? The crowd, the familiar surroundings…it has to count for something.
I also looked into recent performance. If a team’s on a winning streak, they’re probably more likely to win, right? Or if they’ve been losing a bunch, well, maybe they’re not so hot. I added these factors into my spreadsheet, trying to weigh them somehow. It got messy. Really messy.
The Ongoing Struggle
Honestly, I’m still working on it. It’s tough! I’m trying different combinations of factors, tweaking the weights, seeing what works and what doesn’t. It’s a lot of trial and error. Some days, I feel like I’m making progress. Other days, I’m ready to throw my computer out the window. But I’m sticking with it. I’ll get there eventually… maybe. At least it making me watch games more carefully.
