My favorite FiveThirtyEight stories

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/a-belated-welcome-to-datalab/
http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/ocean-debris-and-the-search-for-malaysian-airlines-flight-370/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/dont-sleep-on-villanova/

On the surface, there isn’t much difference between FiveThirtyEight’s NCAA bracket and the consensus. Our most probable Final Four — Florida, Arizona, Michigan State and Louisville — are the same teams favored by the plurality of participants in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge.

But there’s disagreement over the Villanova Wildcats, the No. 2 seed in the East region. Our model gives them a 21 percent chance of advancing to Arlington, which is barely lower than Virginia (23 percent) and Michigan State (24 percent). In contrast, just 9 percent of participants in ESPN’s Tournament Challenge picked Villanova from the East, as compared to 46 percent for Michigan State and 23 percent for Virginia.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/a-march-madness-bracket-for-stat-heads/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/how-to-eat-at-mcdonalds-when-youre-monumentally-broke/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/this-winter-wasnt-the-coldest/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-weather-forecasters-are-role-models/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-people-bet-on-the-favorite-even-when-the-spread-favors-the-underdog/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/disasters-cost-more-than-ever-but-not-because-of-climate-change/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-statisticians-could-help-find-flight-370/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/interactives/march-madness-predictions/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/what-the-fox-knows/

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nate-silvers-ncaa-basketball-predictions/