StM News

The intersection of data science and athletics has taken center stage in Ms. Maureen Smith's AP Computer Science A class. As the NCAA Men's College Basketball tournament begins, students are participating in a high-stakes experiment: can a custom-built Java algorithm outperform human intuition?

Students in the AP Computer Science program developed unique software models to analyze team performance. Using the Java programming language, each student determined which variables would most accurately predict a bracket winner. By building these predictive models, the class explores real-world applications of computer science, moving beyond theory into practical data analysis.

Before the first tip-off, every student submitted two entries for the class competition: a personal bracket based on their own sports knowledge and intuition, and a coded bracket generated entirely by their custom Java program. The student whose bracket, whether human or machine-generated, finishes closest to the final results will earn a lunch courtesy of Ms. Smith. Regardless of the winner, the project has successfully demonstrated how computer science skills can be applied to any field, from sports analytics to financial modeling.