The Coloradan: Alumnus Tim Chartier Stars in 'March Mathness'
April 12, 2016
Along with his intense media exposure as the NBA MVP, Stephen Curry's association with Davidson has spread the college's name from coast to coast and beyond. But Curry isn't the only Davidsonian who has earned a gold star for Davidson.
Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science Tim Chartier has a basketball-related expertise that keeps his phone ringing during tourney time with calls from reporters near and far. They all want to know about "bracketology," the science of using data on team performance to more accurately predict the results of games in the NCAA Tournament.
Chartier's alma mater, the University of Colorado, has recently published a feature article about his path from Colorado classroom to national recognition at Davidson. Chartier has no illusions of perfect brackets (9.2 trillion to one), but believes bracketology is a valuable exercise nonetheless. He said, "The nice thing is that in sports, generally there's a lot of data that's easily accessible. But on the flip side, there's skill and luck. You're never going to be 100 percent correct. Those are really important lessons for students, in data analytics and life in general. Randomness is going to happen."
