EA SPORTS today revealed that NCAA® Basketball 09: March Madness® Edition on Xbox 360 has simulated the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship bracket and predicted top-seeded Louisville will win the national championship.
According to a computerized simulation on the using new team ratings that reflect the just-announced official Selection Sunday seedings, EA SPORTS predicts the Final Four schools will be Louisville versus the Memphis in one semifinal and Pittsburgh against North Carolina in the other semifinal.Louisville will defeat Pittsburgh, 76-70, to win the national championship.
The four No. 1 seeded teams in the tournament are Louisville, Pittsburgh, North Carolina, Connecticut, as determined by the NCAA selection committee.
Prior to last year’s NCAA tournament, EA SPORTS correctly predicted 23 of the 32 first round tournament games (72%) and simulated the 2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, correctly predicting the outcome of all 12 games. The complete EA SPORTS NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition tournament simulation is available at www.easports.com/ncaabasketball09. Tournament screen shots are available at info.ea.com.
For the first time, EA SPORTS is offering a downloadable tournament videogame that enables fans toplay with all the schools in NCAA March Madness. NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition is available exclusively for the Xbox 360 through Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 1200 Microsoft points.The game is currently available to download with last year’s tournament teams but on March 18 it will feature the official Selection Sunday brackets and updated team ratings. Fans will be able to authentically play through the entire NCAA Tournament with their favorite team under the same conditions they’ll face throughout March Madness.
In addition, EA SPORTS has created a Selection Sunday Bracket Pack that will be available free to fans who own NCAA Basketball 09 on Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3. The Selection Sunday Bracket features a downloadable 65-team NCAA Tournament bracket and updated team ratings.
NCAA Basketball 09: March Madness Edition is developed at EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C. The game is rated “E” for everyone by the ESRB.