Ranking Sports Teams using Linear Algebra and Statistics

Stephen Wilburn             

Rankings are a big part of college sports, it determines who goes to the college football playoffs, which basketball teams participate in March Madness, and who goes to the college world series. In addition to these there are many other applications for ranking teams.  In this talk, we will discuss different methods for ranking sports teams including the Colley method and Massey’s method, both of which use techniques from linear algebra including matrixes.  We will also be looking into the Markov chain theory and its relation to the Perron-Frobenius theorem, which is used in ranking webpages.  We will conclude with examples and real statistics from previous seasons.

• Stephen Wilburn graduated from White Knoll High School in 2020.  He is a junior in the dual degree mathematics and engineering program. He plays lacrosse here at Lander as a defensive midfield.  He is completing his last year at Lander University before transferring to Clemson University in the fall to finish his degree in industrial engineering.