Statistical and Data Sciences 355 - Seminar: Sports Analytics
Sem: Sports Analytics
Fall
2025
01
4.00
Ben Baumer
M W 9:25 AM - 10:40 AM
Smith College
SDS-355-01-202601
bbaumer@smith.edu
This course applies methods from the statistical and data sciences to sports to address fundamental questions of interest to players, coaches, team executives, journalists, and fans alike. Simple questions (e.g., who are the best players?) are complicated by the interdependent nature of team sports, the omnipresence of randomness (i.e., luck), and frequent changes to personnel, rules, equipment, league alignments, and other structures. However, in many ways sports provides an ideal laboratory for applied statistical analysis, as many sports generate copious amounts of data under regularized conditions. Students explore the big ideas in sports analytics (e.g., expected points, win probabilities, team strengths, etc.) and how they manifest across a variety of different sports. They develop a working knowledge of the most prominent statistical models for sports analytics and apply them to a variety of public sources of sports data. Prerequisites: SDS 192 and (SDS 201 or SDS 210). Restrictions: Juniors and seniors only. Enrollment limited to 12. Instructor permission required.
[CE] JR/SR only; Prereq: SDS 192 & one statistical methods course