Each year Inside Higher Ed, a national higher education publication, ranks the matchups of men’s basketball teams that make it to the NCAA national championship tournament. The first measure used to rank the games is the NCAA’s academic progress rate (APR), a multi-year team academic performance measure. In addition to the APR, the graduation success rate – the percentage of athletes who graduate within six years of entering their institution – is used to determine the academic winners of each matchup in the bracket.

In the academic first round Furman powers past stalwart Virginia and sends home the University of Alabama and Creighton University in the quest to reach the Final Four.

According to Inside Higher Ed’s 2023 Academic Performance Tournament bracket, Furman University, University of Tennessee, Colgate University, and Northwestern University advance to the Final Four. After the Paladins defeat the Volunteers and the Northwestern Wildcats eliminate the Colgate Raiders, Furman and Northwestern face off for the 2023 NCAA national championship on academic measures.

In a close matchup, the Furman Paladins win the men’s basketball academic national championship by defeating the Northwestern Wildcats.

SCICU is proud of member institution Furman University’s basketball team, both on the court and in the classroom.

Please click here to read about Furman’s 2023 trip to the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, including their upset win over Virginia. Click here to read how Furman math professors have modeled the first-round upsets in the tournament for nearly a decade.

Modeling years of game data to give some method to March Madness, Furman’s math department has been prominent in prognosticating NCAA Tournament upsets for nearly a decade. The predictions produced by Furman math professors Kevin Hutson (2016 SCICU Excellence In Teaching award winner), Liz Bouzarth, and John Harris (Furman Class of 1991) have figured prominently with ESPN’s Giant Killers, The Athletic (New York Times online subscription service), and other sports news outlets.

The Furman math trio reports that tournament upsets occur at a 22-23 percent rate. This year the Furman models gave the Paladins nearly a 40 percent chance of pulling off an upset. The Athletic, a New York Times online subscription service that incorporates the Furman modeling in its bracket predictions, reported Mar. 12 that Furman’s chance of a first-round upset as higher than any of the other first-round matchups.

In a March 14 piece reported by Greenville’s NBC affiliate WYFF, Furman math professor Liz Bouzarth said, “The fact that our systems show that Furman has a 39 percent chance of upset– or 40 percent, about that – that’s a bit higher than 23 percent. That’s interesting. It’s something to keep an eye on. It’s not saying that Furman is guaranteed to win, but it’s a ‘more-likely-than-average’ upset to happen, so worth looking at.”

That analysis proved prophetic.

The keynote speaker at each day’s luncheon will be aerospace consultant Joan Higginbotham. A retired NASA astronaut, Higginbotham is a trailblazing electrical engineer, who in December 2006, flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery to become the third African American woman to travel into space. On the nearly 13-day mission, the seven-member crew continued construction of the International Space Station, embarking on four space walks with Higginbotham operating the station’s robotic arm.

Higginbotham utilizes the International Space Station as the backdrop for sharing insights and lessons learned during her 20-year distinguished career with NASA. During her speaking engagements, she highlights the keys to succeeding in her missions – including seizing opportunities, being prepared, perseverance, working with diverse teams, and thriving in demanding, high-stakes environments – as well as how those tactics can be applied to any endeavor.

A real-life rocket scientist, Higginbotham began her career at NASA in 1987 as an aerospace technologist at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, where she worked her way through numerous promotions and actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her nine-year tenure. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1996, she reported to the Johnson Space Center and was assigned various technical duties including testing modules of the ISS for operability, compatibility, and functionality prior to launch.

Higginbotham logged more than 308 hours in space, retiring from NASA in 2007 and then joining Marathon Oil to manage its corporate social responsibility office and the Bioko Island Malaria Control Program in Equatorial Guinea, Africa.

She had a storied career, serving as director of open innovation at Collins Aerospace, sourcing cutting-edge technologies to close current technology gaps and meet future technology needs. Prior to that role, Higginbotham managed the relationships with governmental agencies and public and private companies involved in human space exploration and served as director of corporate social responsibility. Preceding her time at Collins Aerospace, she held multiple director positions at Lowe’s Companies, Inc., leading its community relations, supplier diversity, and global sourcing efforts.

After 35 years of experience across the U.S. Government and several Fortune 500 companies, Higginbotham stepped out on faith and opened her aerospace consulting firm, Joan Higginbotham Ad Astra LLC, where she serves as President and CEO.

Widely recognized for her accomplishments, Higginbotham was honored by President George W. Bush at the 81st White House Black History Month Celebration, was featured in Alicia Keys’ Superwoman video, is the recipient of the National Space Medal, the Adler Planetarium Women in Space Award, and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and was named one of “Savoy” magazine’s Top Influential Women in Corporate America, and was named one of “Essence” magazine’s Top 50 Women, among other accolades.

Born in Chicago, Higginbotham received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, a Master of Science Degree in Management from the Florida Institute of Technology, a Master of Science Degree in Space Systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, an Honorary Doctorate in Aerospace Science from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from the University of New Orleans.

At the upcoming WITS Conferences, approximately 200 sophomores and juniors from high schools in the surrounding area will take part in the face-to-face conferences on the Limestone campus that will feature a variety of engaging lessons and hands on workshops ranging from engineering design challenges to the mathematics of secret keeping.

Students have the option to attend the conference on either March 23 or March 24.

Each day, students will be able to engage with women already in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) profession, as well as Limestone’s female students and faculty, to get a sense of the opportunities that are available in those fields.

The WITS conference has received continued support from Duke Energy, including for this year’s event. Duke Energy’s support has been instrumental to the success of the conference in bringing female students and the STEM profession closer together. Broad River Electric Cooperative has also been a conference sponsor in the past.

Friday’s activities feature a variety of athletic events from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. A barbeque supper on the Erskine Mall at 5:30 p.m. will be followed at 7 p.m. by a hymn sing with Jeremy Casella on the Bowie Arts Center steps (Register for the barbeque and hymn sing here.).

The Saturday schedule starts with registration and coffee in the lobby of Bowie Divinity Hall (located on Main Street) from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. The Alumni Association Meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. in Bowie Chapel (also located in Bowie Divinity Hall) with a chapel service to follow at 11 a.m.

Inflatables and cornhole will be set up on the Mall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., with cotton candy, popcorn, and face painting available.

A student art display and pottery sale will be presented from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Galloway Applied Arts Building.

The Chamber Singers will perform on the Watkins Porch at 1 p.m., and the Bowie Arts Center will open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. for “Lessons of Legends: A Journey of Faith, Hope, and Love from Narnia to Middle-earth.”

“Back to Class” sessions begin at 1:30 p.m. Come hear from Professor of Systematic Theology Dr. R.J. Gore in the Patrick Room of Bowie Divinity Hall or take a tour of local plants with Professor Emerita of Biology Dr. Jan Haldeman (meet in front of Daniel•Moultrie Science Center).

Erskine’s literary societies will compete at the basketball inflatable at 1:30 p.m., and at 4:30 p.m. the Euphie Men will present their Bluegrass Bash and Dinner at the Ellenburg Pavilion.

Tickets will be distributed at registration for a complimentary lunch on the Mall from noon to 1:30 p.m. A seminary lunch is set for noon in the Patrick Room of Bowie Divinity Hall.

A gathering of the Classes of 1979-1986 is scheduled from 10 a.m. to noon in the Alumni House (pictured above). Other reunions and afternoon sporting events will round out the day.

A complete schedule of events is available here.

To sign up for placement testing, click here.