About The Round Robin

I'm Grant Hansell. I built The Round Robin to understand how these decisions get made and to give myself better tools for making my own picks.

Why I built it

I've published bracket projections for sixteen seasons, first as Primetime Bracketology and, since 2024, as The Round Robin. Bracket Matrix has graded my picks throughout. My best finish was in the top ten on its Best Overall Bracketologist Composite. There have been plenty of less impressive years.

I used to compare teams game by game in a CBS Sports tool. When it disappeared, I couldn't find a replacement that worked as well for me. Bracket Studio grew out of wanting that comparison back, with the team sheets beside the bracket I was building.

I usually compare eight teams at a time, place one on my seed list, and bring in the next. A big win or loss can change the order quickly. The numbers help me narrow the choice; deciding how much a result matters is the part I keep coming back to.

Beyond the bracket

The Hall of Fame and Oscars raise similar questions. How do voters weigh careers or films that are difficult to compare? What changes their minds? I built models to study those patterns, with studios where you can work through the candidates yourself.

My NCAA bracket is a personal forecast. The Hall of Fame and Oscars forecasts come from the models. I write about those races, but I don't publish personal picks for them.

The name

In a round robin, everybody plays everybody. Here, you can compare my bracket with the committee's field and see how the models did against past results.

How it gets built

I build and maintain the site myself, with AI helping me write code, work with data, and test ideas. This is a side project, and learning how to build it is a large part of the appeal.

Data and attribution

Bracket Studio is powered by publicly available team-resume data from WarrenNolan.com, including NET rankings, quadrant records and team sheets. Before current-season NET is available, the men's rankings use my dated KenPom imports, then ESPN BPI when that season's ratings arrive. Without a current source, the site labels the previous season's ratings. The women's field uses Warren Nolan's NET data, retaining the previous season until the new ratings are available.

The Hall of Fame model uses manually collected Pro Football Reference and Stathead exports for season-by-season career value, honors and other historical records. nflverse supplies season statistics and draft data. Wikipedia and the Hall's own publications supply additional award, biography and induction records. The model guide explains the coverage and limitations.

My Oscars forecast model is built on precursor award results (PGA, DGA, SAG, WGA, BAFTA, Golden Globes, Critics' Choice), plus Wikipedia for historical nomination and win data, and the TMDB and OMDb APIs for film metadata. This product uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.

The dates shown with the data identify the latest available update. Automated sources are checked on a schedule; hand-imported sources, including KenPom, change when I upload a new file.

The Round Robin is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the NCAA, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Warren Nolan, or any member institution or league. All bracketology, NFL Hall of Fame, and Academy Awards terminology is used editorially and for informational purposes.

Support the site

This is a side project I do because I like it. If you get something out of the tools, chipping in helps cover the hosting and data costs.

Support the site

Contact

Found a bug, spotted bad data, or think the committee got it right and I got it wrong? Email me.

Email me