ESPN’s Basketball Power Index (BPI) was originally designed to rate college basketball teams, not predict tournament results. In seasons past it was used as a résumé rating and predictive system to determine the best teams in the country.
BPI has performed about as well as comparable systems when projecting the tournament, but ESPN’s Sports Analytics Team enhanced the model by adding more predictive features into its tournament projections.
In addition to better account for a team’s pace- and opponent-adjusted scoring margin to rate teams, BPI’s game predictions now account for distance traveled, days' rest and altitude, which are factors found to be predictive of tournament success.