Super Bowl 59 caps novel NFL pick 'em contest that pitted Man vs. Machine vs. Dog
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Man vs. Dog: Super Bowl will decide who can pick NFL games more accurate
USA TODAY Sports conducted an experiment on who could more accurately pick NFL games -- a dog, man or machine -- and Super Bowl 59 will determin the result.
Sports Pulse
The post-Super Bowl questions continue to swirl. Will Travis Kelce retire? Will the Kansas City Chiefs recover?
Will Luna the Dog ever pick another NFL game?
More: Puppy Bowl complete, Luna the Dog aims for pick 'em title hinging on Super Bowl 59
It's hard to know in the wake of defeat. First, the Kansas City Chiefs lost, 40-22, to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl 59. That sealed Luna's loss to USA TODAY's Tyler Dragon in the newspaper's pick 'em contest that pitted Man vs. Machine vs. Dog.
Luna, the 7-year-old Maltipoo, stunned the world of sports prognosticators by starting the contest 8-0. But Tyler lurked, and it all came down to their final picks.
Luna had the Chiefs. Tyler had the Eagles. Now Tyler has the pick 'em crown, having beat not only Luna, but also USA TODAY's Jarrett Bell and a computer-run statistical model created by Kostas Pelechrinis, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
Can K-9 out-pick humans and machine in NFL Conference Championships?
Our K-9 friend Luna has been on fire going 9-1 in picking NFL playoff games, but can she continue to beat man and machine in the conference championships?
Sports Pulse
The day after the Super Bowl, Luna, with some assistance, texted congratulations to Tyler.
'Tell her,'' Tyler replied, 'she put up a valiant effort.''
There was not a dry eye in Luna's house.
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