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Sports
MARCH 24, 2016
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Athletics waiting to deliver donated water to Flint
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Senior Kroll enters 2016 season as top wide receiver
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Reporters predict baseball, softball, lacrosse matchups
Behind Bracket THE
Actuarial science major receives national attention for ‘bracketology’ By Andrew Surma Assistant Sports Editor @andrew_surma | sports@cm-life.com
T
he science of picking NCAA Tournament basketball games — bracketology — is not a new field of study, but one Central Michigan senior has taken the science a step further. Delton senior Elizabeth Jackson, an actuarial science major, is receiving national attention for her honors capstone research project, focused on forming the best mathematical NCAA Tournament bracket. If she is right, North Carolina will beat Kansas in the National Championship. Jackson’s formula, which includes over 60 variables based on 30 years of past tournaments, is unlike most other formulas. Jackson said her study changes the variables of the formula as the tournament progresses from round to round, taking new variables into heavier consideration. Her work was featured by USA Today article and The Washington Post asked for a copy of her bracket. “It’s definitely nerve racking knowing everyone is watching
Rich Drummond | Staff Photographer
Delton Senior Elizabeth Jackson poses for a portrait on Tuesday in Moore Hall.
after (my research) came out,” Jackson said. “Everyone wants to know my picks, so if my picks are wrong, it definitely puts a lot more pressure on.” Jackson is a sports fan who
plans to work in the insurance industry as an actuary. She said the project was the perfect way for her to apply her area of study to her hobby — sports statistics. “I grew up in a household
that loves sports. My parents and brothers were huge sports fans,” she said. “When I had to do my capstone project, I knew I wanted to do something with sports statistics.”
With help from Felix Famoye, a statistics professor in the College of Science and Engineering, Jackson proposed the project last semester. She began the extensive process of gathering
tournament history data from online sources during winter break. “The number crunching I liked,” she said. “Gathering data was stressful. It was hard to find because it’s not like all the data can be found in one place, especially finding all the RPI rankings from 30 years ago. (That’s) a bit of a struggle, but luckily I found some good and consistent data sites that gave me a lot of information.” Although her bracket isn’t doing as well as she hoped, the experience has garnered more interest than she expected. She predicted 21 of the 32 first round games correctly and nine of her Sweet 16 teams remain after the second round. “I never really expected (my work) to get this much attention and fame, but it’s been really, really great,” Jackson said. “It’s been really cool to combine something I love and use it academically and also something that can help other people and other people are interested in.”
The formula and results Jackson estimated she spent w Bracket | 20