Published on March 11, 2026 by Catherine Smith  

This spring, students from Samford’s Brock School of Business placed third in the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Championship. During the event held in Nashville, the team of undergraduate students received tops honors for their performance and earned several individual awards. 

Among the top competitors was Nat Fernandez, a senior marketing and data analytics student, who placed fourth nationally in the undergraduate division. She also won first place in Sports Analytics Concepts and finished second in Presentation Pro, the championship’s premier event. 

Presentation Pro required students to analyze a real Minor League Baseball dataset, develop solutions to current business challenges and deliver a five-minute strategy presentation to industry professionals. Competitors had four hours to evaluate the data, shape recommendations and prepare for multiple rounds of judging. 

Fernandez said the event showed how directly Samford coursework connects to real-world problem solving. “While preparing my presentation, I had flashbacks to lectures from the past four years at Samford,” she said. “It was a full circle moment.” 

She credited Brock School of Business faculty for building the technical and communication skills that prepared her for the competition. She noted that the guidance of Stephen Hill, associate professor of data analytics, was particularly influential. “Everything I had learned came together in that moment,” she said. 

Hill, who served as one of the faculty mentors for the competition, said the experience reflects Brock School of Business' commitment to hands on learning. “It was an honor to advise such a strong group of business students at the National Collegiate Sports Analytics Conference in Nashville,” he said. “I’m very proud of each of them for the work that they put in. I’m especially proud of Nat, who performed so well in the Presentation Pro competition. These types of competitions are at the core of the Samford experience and help our students stand out.” 

Fernandez said the support of her teammates and professors was just as meaningful as the awards. “My peers inspired me with how hardworking, focused and willing to help they were,” she said. She also appreciated the encouragement she received from Brock School of Business faculty throughout the event. 

“It was an honor to represent Samford, the Brock School of Business, the international student community and my country of Guatemala,” she said. “I loved building deeper relationships with my teammates and professors while we competed and explored Nashville together.” 

The group’s success is a testament to Samford's national rankings: ranked #3 for career preparation and #7 for student learning opportunities by The Wall Street Journal (2026). Through national competitions, students apply classroom concepts to real business challenges, strengthen analytical decision making and present insights to industry professionals. 

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford is widely recognized as having one of the most beautiful campuses in America, featuring rolling hills, meticulously maintained grounds and Georgian-Colonial architecture. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.