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OK thanks, Mathguy. So it's even worse than I thought. Someone would have had to somehow arrange for the first two states to legalize it, to have teams from different conferences? What are the odds of that? I wouldn't even know how to go about calculating that. You'd have to go to intrade.com to get data on the odds of legalization in the various states, and work from there.
This puts the odds much longer than even my previous estimate of one in 2601, and going into astronomical territory.
Don't forget, both cities also have a resident named Dave Smith and allowed The Passion of the Christ to be aired there.
There are 32 teams in the NFL. There are 496 possible combinations of 2 objects if those 2 are chosen from a group of 32:
32! / (2!(32-2!)) = 496
However, that would assume that any two teams could play each other in the Super Bowl, but of course NFC teams can't play NFC teams, and AFC teams can't play AFC teams. Of those 496 possible Super Bowl matchups, 240 are between teams of the same conference:
(15+14+13+12+11+10+9+8+7+6+5+4+3+2+1) x 2 = 240
So, there are only 496-240= 256 possible Super Bowl matchups. So the odds of the Broncos playing the Seahawks is 1 in 256. That of course assumes a random selection, which of course doesn't describe how Super Bowl teams are picked.
I'll leave the math as to the odds of two particular states being represented in the Super Bowl to somebody else.
Beautiful demonstration of "factorial". A much easier way to calculate the same odds is that there are 16 teams in each conference. Each team has a 1/16 chance of going. 1/16*1/16=1/256. Again, assuming random selection, which is not the case.)
I just found it interesting that we came to the same answer two different ways, and that you demonstrated factorials so well. (a hard concept for those who don't get it...).
Last edited by Myghost; 02-03-2014 at 12:32 PM..
Reason: Ooops, already stated...
The game I watched was one team was extremely focused and prepared and the other? Well it looked like they send a bunch of impostors to play in their stead. I was embarrassed for the Bronco's. Fortunately I didn't care who won or lost. I was equally disappointed in the lame commercials.
Your point IS what exactly? Remembering from my Pot smoking days we could create super complicated stories without so much as a plot or point.... Are you testing your creating skills while stoned? You MUST include random wild animals that for some strange reason have become human friendly and like to take shotgun hits from you.
The game I watched was one team was extremely focused and prepared and the other? Well it looked like they send a bunch of impostors to play in their stead. I was embarrassed for the Bronco's. Fortunately I didn't care who won or lost. I was equally disappointed in the lame commercials.
The problem was the Broncos thought they would waltz into NJ pick up "their" trophy and go home ... Seattle reminded them they would have to beat THEM first ...
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