Sports Analytics Research
What Batting Average Is Missing — And How We Built Something Better
In today’s era of college baseball, nearly every pitch and every swing is tracked. Exit velocity, launch angle, and swing decisions are tracked with staggering precision, offering deeper insight into how offense is generated. And yet, despite this unprecedented level of analytic opportunity, lineup decisions are usually still made by the same familiar statistics.
Flag Football on the Rise: The Growth of Flag Football in Alabama
In the 2028 Summer Olympics, the sport of flag football will make its first appearance on the Olympic stage. This is a clear signal that flag football is growing as a sport on the global stage.
2025 College Football Playoff Predictions: Monte Carlo Simulation Analysis & CFP Championship Odds
The 12-team College Football Playoff in 2025 brings unprecedented uncertainty to predicting the national champion. Using advanced Monte Carlo simulation models, we analyzed CFP bracket outcomes and championship odds for all playoff teams, including favorites Ohio State, Indiana, Georgia, Texas Tech, and Oregon. With the transfer portal reshaping rosters, NIL deals creating free agency dynamics, and conference realignment redrawing college football's competitive landscape, traditional prediction methods fall short.
Samford Sports Industry Professor’s World Cup Study on American Soccer Fandom Featured in LA Times
Darin W. White, founder of Samford’s Sports Industry Program, is seeking insights on the path professional soccer must take to rival the NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball in the United States.
Samford Sports Analytics Program Gets ASPA's First U.S. Endorsement
Birmingham, Alabama – September 2, 2025 - Samford University's Brock School of Business has achieved a groundbreaking milestone, becoming the first university in the United States to receive endorsement from the Association of Sports Performance Analysts (ASPA) for its Sports Analytics - Team and Player Performance Track program.
2026 World Cup Study: What Will It Actually Take to Make Soccer Mainstream in America?
For decades, the sports industry has grappled with a persistent question: Despite hundreds of millions of dollars and multiple World Cups on American soil, why hasn't soccer achieved mainstream status in the United States and what will it actually take to make that happen?
