Build a better March Madness 2017 NCAA Tournament Bracket with Microsoft's Bing

For many, March is just another month in the calendar year. For basketball fans, however, it is significant for one big reason -- the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, otherwise known as "March Madness." Only the best college teams make the cut, making it an exciting elimination tournament. It is a great way to see future professional players in a pressure situation -- some of them will play in the coveted NBA.

Watching basketball aside, another fun aspect of the tournament is the bracket challenges. You see, many people like to predict who will win each matchup, and ultimately, which team will become the champion. If you think that sounds easy, trust me, it is much harder than you think, with quintillions of possibilities. Heck, some of these folks bet real money on it. Today, Microsoft announces that its Bing Predicts service can help people create "smarter" brackets. In other words, using the power of data, you could possibly increase your chances.

"We've been using Bing Predicts for the bracket selection process for two years now, and in that time, we've learned a few things. Bing Predicts may be the magic ingredient for making all your bracket dreams happen. We use our intelligent machine-learning technology to analyze social and search signals, plus more than a decade of college hoops statistical data to bring you insights on every single one of your picks," says The Bing Team.

ALSO READ: Don't have cable and want to watch March Madness? Here's how

Microsoft's search team further shares, "When selecting your first round matchups, use the Bing predictions to help guide your choices. In every subsequent pick for every subsequent round, the Bing models give suggestions and forecasts based on who you picked in the prior round. Even after the tournament starts, Bing will still provide predictions for matches in the round of 16."

If you want to try it yourself, it is very easy. Simply point your web browser to Bing.com and search for "March Madness." It really is that simple. On the top of the search results, you will be presented with an interactive bracket -- how cool is that? In addition to a desktop browser, Microsoft says it can also be used with the Bing mobile app by searching for the same thing.

Will you leverage Bing to make your bracket this year? Tell me in the comments.

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