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The dude that started it all. Mike started building quantitative sports power ratings in 1997 at the tender age of 19. Then, after teaching himself enough about computer programming to build a basic website, he launched the original TeamRankings.com from his Stanford dorm room in 2000. The site set a new standard in incredibly slick web design.

Back when the term “Moneyball” was still just a twinkle in Michael Lewis’ eye, Mike’s objective ratings and analysis quickly achieved national prominence, especially in college basketball. In March 2001, Sports Illustrated profiled Mike in a feature on March Madness bracket picking.

After a numbers-obsessed youth in which he memorized 36 significant digits of Pi, Mike broke West from Philadelphia to earn a BS degree in Mathematical and Computational Science from Stanford. In his career outside of TeamRankings, he has worked in analytical roles at PayPal and LinkedIn and also founded or co-founded several VC-funded startups, including Circle Of Moms (acquired by POPSUGAR) and most recently, Change Research.

Today, Mike primarily advises TR in the areas of analytics and strategy. However, occasionally he still gets his hands dirty with modeling or coding work, especially if it involves the NCAA tournament. Despite clearly being wrong, he also insists you call the third-to-last round of March Madness the “Crazy Eight.”