Sports SIGMAA Business Meeting and Invited Talk
Thursday, August 3, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m., Room 118/119
After their annual business meeting, the MAA Sports SIGMAA will host Will Cousins, vice president of baseball development of the Tampa Bay Rays. Will will talk about his role in overseeing baseball research and development. Cousins joined the Rays in June 2015 as an analyst in research and development, was later promoted to senior data scientist, and promoted to director of baseball research and development in February 2019. Prior to joining the Rays, he spent three years researching ocean waves at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A native of Columbia, S.C., Cousins earned a degree in mathematics from Pepperdine University and a Ph.D. in applied math from North Carolina State University.
Leveraging Mathematics in Sports
Will Cousins, Tampa Bay Rays
In recent years, the landscape of sports has been revolutionized by the advent of sophisticated data capturing systems. This transformation has highlighted the vital role of mathematics and data science in understanding and optimizing team performance. This talk will discuss examples of how sports teams use information to guide decision making and help develop their players. Additionally, I'll touch on some things teams look for in hiring, as well as important factors that can help lead to a successful career in industry.
Organizer:
Amanda Harsy, Lewis University
Contributed Paper Session
Mathematics and Sports
Saturday, August 5, 8:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m., Room 118/119
The expanding availability of play-by-play statistics, video-based spatial data, and other sports data have led to innovative sports analytics research with impacts on strategy and player evaluation. Other areas of research include ranking methods, predictive models, physics-based analysis, etc. Research presentations, expository talks, and pedagogical contributions are all welcome in this session. Projects accessible to or involving undergraduate students are particularly encouraged for submission.
Organizers:
Rick Cleary, Babson College
Hope McIlwain, Mercer University
Schedule
Statistical Modeling of Length of Seven- Game Series
8:00 a.m. - 8:15 a.m.
Reza Abbasian, Texas Lutheran University
John Sieben, Texas Lutheran University
A Linear Regression Model for Predicting Whiff Percentage in Major League Baseball
8:20 a.m. - 8:35 a.m.
Ryan Savitz, Neumann University
Christopher Greve, Neumann University/Philadelphia Phillies
The Implementation and Application of Statistics in Shotokan Karate
8:40 a.m. - 8:55 a.m.
Oliver DiDonato, Neumann University
Ryan Savitz, Neumann University
Cindy Casey, Gwynedd Mercy University
Tip-off in Basketball: Does It Matter Which Team Gets to Start the Game?
9:00 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.
Eren Bilen, Dickinson College
Andrew Scheiner, Dickinson College
Barry Tesman, Dickinson College
Analysis of a Serve Reception Metric in Women's NCAA D-1 Volleyball
9:20 a.m. - 9:35 a.m.
Caleb Adams, Radford University
Determining the Winning Formula for an NFL Football Team
9:40 a.m. - 9:55 a.m.
Barry Husowitz, Wentworth Institute of Technology
How Steep Is Your League? David's Score and Dominance Hierarchies
10:00 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.
Thomas Polaski, Winthrop University
Poster Session
Moving Toward Data Science in Statistics and Sports
Thursday, August 3, 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m., West Hall (Exhibit Hall)
Jointly sponsored by the SIGMAA Statistics Education and SIGMAA Mathematics and Sports, we hope to attract contributions from faculty, students and industry professionals who have used ideas from data science to inform their teaching and research; or used their math background to make data science more accessible.
Organizers:
Rick Cleary, Babson College
Grant Innerst, Shippensburg University