Over the past few months, Bing has correctly predicted everything from The World Cup to midterm elections, all with uncanny accuracy. Now, we’re turning our attention to the gridiron and arguably the best day for pigskin all year – Thanksgiving. You can check out our predictions below, but Bing isn’t the only member of the Microsoft family getting in on the turkey day fun.
For the first time ever, NFL players simulated two of the league’s premier Thanksgiving Day match-ups in a series dubbed Xbox One Game Before the Game. For each matchup, NFL players from the Seahawks, 49ers, Bears and Lions manned the controls of their own squad to square off against their Thanksgiving Day competition in a game of Madden 15 on Xbox One at their local Microsoft Store. Throughout the contest, each player trash-talked the other on video chat via Skype, showcasing the unparalleled Madden experience on Xbox One.
You can check out the results, as well as highlights from both games over at Xbox Wire.
On the Bing side, we built a model which examines the outcome from prior seasons, factors in scores, location, playing surface, weather conditions, scoring by quarters, and other statistics on offense and defense. In addition to using these statistics, we identify fans on Web and Social sites and track their sentiment to understand the aggregate wisdom of this expressive crowd. This introduces data which statistics alone cannot capture, providing real-time adjustments which surprisingly can capture injury news and other substantive factors in win probabilities.
The festivities begin at 12:30 ET with one of the oldest rivalries in the NFL as the 5-6 Bears and 7-4 Lions square off at Ford Field in Detroit and we’re calling this one for Detroit (61.4% confidence).
Next, we have a pivotal NFC East showdown between 8-3 teams as the Cowboys welcome Philadelphia to Dallas in a game that could go a long way in deciding who takes the division crown at the end of the year. Close call but we’re going with Dallas (56.6% confidence).
The evening culminates with a third divisional match-up in prime time as the 7-4 San Francisco 49ers play host to the defending World Champion Seattle Seahawks who are also 7-4. The Seahawks seek a road win against the 49ers for the first time since 2008 but we see this one going the 49ers way (53.3% confidence).
And don’t forget, Cortana brings Bing’s predictions to Windows Phone so you can get the skinny on the Thanksgiving Day match-up odds wherever you are. Starting today you don’t even need to ask her whether your favorite team will win. Once Cortana knows your favorite teams, she will automatically share predictions two days before the game. To turn this feature on, toggle on “Show me Cortana game predictions” inside Cortana’s Notebook. But be warned – you might not like the answer…
So who do you think will have a higher success rate, Bing or NFL players simulating their games on Xbox One? Tune in Thanksgiving Day to find out and share your thoughts on Twitter (@Bing, #BingPredicts).