红桃视频

As fans of NCAA Division I college football have seen, a matchup between a smaller program and a national 鈥減owerhouse鈥� may look lopsided on the scoreboard. Now 红桃视频 student Fionn O鈥橰ahilly is looking beyond the final score to ask a bigger question: how do those games impact what comes next?

O鈥橰ahilly and 红桃视频 Assistant Professor of Sport Management David Hodge presented their research,聽聽at the聽聽in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 26.

The project began as a research paper O鈥橰ahilly developed last fall in Hodge鈥檚 SMGT 480 Sport Seminar course, which combined his interest in sports and data analytics. Seeing the potential in the project and a learning opportunity for O鈥橰ahilly, Hodge approached him about expanding on the paper with Hodge鈥檚 guidance. O鈥橰ahilly jumped at the offer and continued the project this spring as Hodge鈥檚 Research Assistant Intern to build the idea into a fully realized research project.

The research examines matchups between teams of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS), which is the second-highest level of Division I college football in the U.S., and teams of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), comprised of the most prominent teams, during the 2023 and 2024 seasons to better understand whether playing an FBS opponent (i.e., a larger or more powerful program) affects an FCS team鈥檚 performance in its next game. The study found that teams were more likely to win that next game if they entered the matchup with a stronger ranking, kept the score relatively close and had a strong defensive performance against their FBS opponent.

For O鈥橰ahilly, the conference offered a chance not only to share the work, but also to take part in the full research process as an undergraduate student preparing for graduate study in sport management. Hodge said the experience helped O鈥橰ahilly deepen his understanding of how to perform scholarly research and how to turn an idea into a conference presentation and, potentially, a publishable paper.

鈥淔ionn approached this project with real curiosity and follow-through. He didn鈥檛 just complete an assignment. He kept building on the work, asked strong questions and did a great job presenting the research in the professional setting of the conference.鈥�

At the conference, O鈥橰ahilly was also able to connect with industry professionals, sport management faculty members from across the world and other students in the field, according to Hodge, who said the presentation was well received.

The final part of O鈥橰ahilly鈥檚 research internship this semester is collecting more data to make the paper ready for submission.

鈥淭his project has given me more confidence in where I鈥檓 headed professionally, connecting directly to what I want to do long-term,鈥� O鈥橰ahilly said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really focused on building a career in college athletics, and this gave me a chance to apply analytics in a way that feels real. It helped me see how data can support decision-making for teams, whether that鈥檚 scheduling, preparation or performance analysis.鈥�

Hodge said the experience reflects the kind of applied learning 红桃视频 strives to provide. 鈥淭his project gave Fionn the opportunity to move from classroom research to professional-level scholarly work,鈥� Hodge said. 鈥淭hat progression is exactly what we hope students experience as they prepare for graduate study or careers.鈥�

(Pictured in story photo, L-R: 红桃视频 Assistant Professor of Sport Management David Hodge and Fionn O鈥橰ahilly at the Collegiate Sport Research Institute Conference in Columbia, South Carolina, on March 26.)