HNRS 132-01: Mathematical Analysis In Sports
In a team sport, how can you measure the contribution of an individual? How can you predict that individual's future performance? How can you determine which strategies are effective? In recent years, most major sports organizations in Baseball, Basketball, Football and other sports have realized the importance of Mathematical modeling techniques to answer these questions. Traditional methods of measurement have been shown to be ineffective and much "common wisdom" has been proven false.
In this seminar, we will use Mathematics to study many interesting problems in sports such as:
- How effective are bunting and stealing in baseball?
- When is punting a losing strategy in football?
- Who is the best NBA player and who is overrated? What measurement should be used? How can we control for variables that give some players an advantage over others?
- Which players are good in the "clutch"? How do you measure this?
- Are some basketball players "streaky" or do they just stink?
- Is the ability to get beaned a valuable skill? Do some players have a talent for drawing walks?
- How do you predict future success for a team or a player? Who is going to stink three years from now and cost your team millions? Which teams are losing millions right now due to poor management? What about your favorite team?
To answer these questions we must learn fundamental principles and methods in probability, statistical inference, and modeling.We will read and evaluate recent studies and create new problems to solve in the context of our favorite sports teams. Some of these investigations will change the way we think about our favorite sport. Most importantly, the Mathematical concepts we will learn are useful for sound evaluation and decision making in a variety of settings outside of sports management.
Term: Spring 2009
Credits: 4
Fulfills: GE Requirement in Science (Y)
Pre-requisites: A good Pre-Calculus mathematical backgroud
Meeting times: 9:30-10:20 MWRF
Instructor: Matthew Neal