Coursera

Math behind Moneyball (Coursera)

Offered by University of Houston System,

Learn how probability, math, and statistics can be used to help baseball, football and basketball teams improve, player and lineup selection as well as in game strategy.

Class Deals by MOOC List - Click here and see Coursera's Active Discounts, Deals, and Promo Codes.

Syllabus

WEEK 1
You will learn how to predict a team’s won loss record from the number of runs, points, or goals scored by a team and its opponents. Then we will introduce you to multiple regression and show how multiple regression is used to evaluate baseball hitters. Excel data tables, VLOOKUP, MATCH, and INDEX functions will be discussed.

WEEK 2
You will concentrate on learning important Excel tools including Range Names, Tables, Conditional Formatting, PivotTables, and the family of COUNTIFS, SUMIFS, and AVERAGEIFS functions. You will concentrate on learning important Excel tools including Range Names, Tables, Conditional Formatting, PivotTables, and the family of COUNTIFS, SUMIFS, and AVERAGEIFS functions.

WEEK 3
You will learn how Monte Carlo simulation works and how it can be used to evaluate a baseball team’s offense and the famous DEFLATEGATE controversy.

WEEK 4
You will learn how to evaluate baseball fielding, baseball pitchers, and evaluate in game baseball decision-making. The math behind WAR (Wins above Replacement) and Park Factors will also be discussed. Modern developments such as infield shifts and pitch framing will also be discussed.

WEEK 5
You will learn basic concepts involving random variables (specifically the normal random variable, expected value, variance and standard deviation.) You will learn how regression can be used to analyze what makes NFL teams win and decode the NFL QB rating system. You will also learn that momentum and the “hot hand” is mostly a myth. Finally, you will use Excel text functions and the concept of Expected Points per play to analyze the effectiveness of a football team’s play calling.

WEEK 6
You will learn how two-person zero sum game theory sheds light on football play selection and soccer penalty kick strategies. Our discussion of basketball begins with an analysis of NBA shooting, box score based player metrics, and the Four Factor concept which explains what makes basketball teams win.

WEEK 7
You will learn about advanced basketball concepts such as Adjusted plus minus, ESPN’s RPM, SportVu data, and NBA in game decision-making.

WEEK 8
You will learn how to use game results to rate sports teams and set point spreads. Simulation of the NCAA basketball tournament will aid you in filling out your 2016 bracket. Final 4 is in Houston!

WEEK 9
You will learn how to rate NASCAR drivers and get an introduction to sports betting concepts such as the Money line, Props Bets, and evaluation of gambling betting systems.

WEEK 10
You will learn how Kelly Growth can optimize your sports betting, how regression to the mean explains the SI cover jinx and how to optimize a daily fantasy sports lineup. We close with a discussion of golf analytics.

WEEK 11
Final Exam
Final exam has 10 questions. Please download and open Excel files before taking the exam. You will be referred to Excel files during the exam. Each question is wort 1 point. You need to answer 6 questions or more correctly to pass the exam.

Go to Class

MOOC List is learner-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Related Courses

Coursera

Duke University

Behavioral Finance (Coursera)

Management & Leadership Economics & Finance

We make thousands of decisions every day. Do I cross the road now, or wait for the oncoming truck to pass? Should I eat fries or a salad for lunch? How much should I tip the cab driver? We usually make these decisions with almost no thought, using what psychologists call “heuristics” – rules of thumb that enable us to navigate our lives. Without these mental shortcuts, we would be paralyzed by the multitude of daily choices.

Oct 12th 2026

3 Weeks

Finance Business Money

Coursera

HEC Paris

Investment Management in an Evolving and Volatile World by HEC Paris and AXA Investment Managers (Coursera)

Management & Leadership Economics & Finance

Have you ever wanted to invest in financial markets, but were always afraid that you didn’t have the proper tools or knowledge to make informed decisions? Have you ever wondered how investment management companies operate and what fund managers do? AXA Investment Managers, in partnership with HEC Paris, will introduce you to the most important ideas and concepts in investment management, to help you better understand your financial future.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Business Financial Markets Investment

Coursera

Copenhagen Business School

Sustainable Vikings: Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility in Scandinavia (Coursera)

Management & Leadership Business

This course gives you immediate access to the world leading sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices. Scandinavian firms dominate the major sustainability and CSR performance indicators including the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). In this course we explore the concepts of sustainability and CSR and focus attention on how Scandinavian firms, like Novo Nordisk, have achieved superior sustainability and CSR performances.

Oct 12th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Business Sustainability Strategic Management

Coursera

ESCP Europe

Doing Business in Europe (Coursera)

Business

Europe is a major world trade partner as well as a place where to acquire significant business experience. This is the reason why this MOOC has been designed with the view to explaining and guiding you in doing business in Europe. Do you really know Europe? How should you consider and approach the European continent? What business lessons can be drawn in a European perspective?

Oct 19th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Business Markets Europe

Coursera

Johns Hopkins University

Mathematical Biostatistics Boot Camp 1 (Coursera)

Sci: Mathematics

This class presents the fundamental probability and statistical concepts used in elementary data analysis. It will be taught at an introductory level for students with junior or senior college-level mathematical training including a working knowledge of calculus. A small amount of linear algebra and programming are useful for the class, but not required.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Math Statistics Probability

Coursera

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Professional Responsibility and Ethics for Accountants (Coursera)

Business

Accountants perform a wide variety of activities which include, but are not limited to, accounting, auditing, tax, management consulting, and financial management. However, a professional accountant’s responsibility is not exclusively to satisfy the needs of an employer or professional services client. One of the distinguishing characteristics of the accounting profession is its acceptance of the responsibility to act in the public interest.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Business Management Ethics

Coursera

ESSEC Business School

Les partenariats qui changent le monde : alliances innovantes entre entreprises et associations (Coursera)

Management & Leadership

Ce MOOC, crée en partenariat avec Le RAMEAU, a pour vocation de vous aider à mieux appréhender la dynamique des partenariats entre entreprises et associations. Que vous soyez une entreprise responsable, soucieuse d’avoir un impact positif sur votre communauté, une association désireuse d’augmenter votre impact, ou si vous êtes tout simplement curieux de comprendre pourquoi est-ce que secteur privé lucratif et structures d’intérêt général travaillent ensemble, ce MOOC est fait pour vous !

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Business Companies Social Innovation

Coursera

IE Business School

The Marketing Plan (Coursera)

Marketing & Communication Business

Create your own Marketing Plan for your own product or service idea. In this course you will learn how to produce arguably the most important marketing tool for any business. Rather than simply learning the stages of The Marketing Plan, you will be asked each week to complete a peer graded assignment which will help you complete a simplified version of the plan.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Planning Business Marketing

Coursera

University of Virginia

Managerial Accounting Fundamentals (Coursera)

Economics & Finance Business

This course will teach you the fundamentals of managerial accounting including how to navigate the financial and related information managers need to help them make decisions. You'll learn about cost behavior and cost allocation systems, how to conduct cost-volume-profit analysis, and how to determine if costs and benefits are relevant to your decisions.

Oct 12th 2026

4 Weeks

Business Managerial Accounting Business Finance

Coursera

Universidad Austral

Fundamentos de Excel para Negocios (Coursera)

Statistics & Data Analysis Data Science

Cuando finalices este curso habrás logrado un gran número de habilidades como introducir información, ordenarla, manipularla, realizar cálculos de diversa índole (matemáticos, trigonométricos, estadísticos, financieros, ingenieriles, probabilísticos), extraer conclusiones, trabajar con fechas y horas, construir gráficos, imprimir reportes y muchas más.

Oct 12th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Business Excel Data Analysis

Coursera

Universidad de Chile

Costos para los Negocios (Coursera)

Management & Leadership

Al completar el curso, los participantes podrán: a) Analizar los elementos, las estructuras, los métodos y los sistemas de costeo propios de una empresa, utilizando diversas herramientas, para identificar los posibles tipos de cálculos a generar. b) Calcular costos, utilizando diversos procedimientos acordes a los tipos de objetos de costos, estructuras, procesos y sistemas, con el propósito de obtener información relevante para la empresa que permitan una adecuada toma de decisiones. c) Elaborar e interpretar informes de costeos de objetos del costo, basándose en la información recabada y los datos obtenidos, con la finalidad de proponer diversas recomendaciones que permitan efectivas toma de decisiones.

Oct 12th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Business Costing Cost Accounting

Coursera

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Constructivism and Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education (Coursera)

Education

This course is designed to help participants examine the implications of constructivism for learning and teaching in science, mathematics, and technology focused areas. Course readings, discussions, and assignments will examine constructivist views of learning, research on students' ideas and idea-based interactions, research on instructional approaches taking student ideas into account, and challenges in implementing constructivist perspectives in instruction.

Oct 12th 2026

5-12 Weeks

Science Education Technology