In this course, students will learn about mathematics in a wide variety of Olympic and non-Olympic sports. Basic computations include QB rating in football, scoring in bowling, games behind in basketball and baseball, and plus-minus in hockey. Sports trends like discus throw distance and basketball scoring after the shot clock was instituted are investigated, with Excel plots of such data and calculation of a regression line. Comparative analyses of sports for home advantage, professional speeds achieved by balls, pucks, and other objects, and sizes of playing fields and equipment are made. The Excel spreadsheet is used, but previous work with Excel is not required. The course fulfills the Mathematics requirement in the General Education for non-education majors. Cannot be used for the General Education math requirement for education majors.
MTH-106: Mathematics of Sport
Program