Covering the Spread

The 2020 Kentucky Derby is coming up on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Will Tiz the Law come through as a favorite, or should we look to bet someone else? Megan Devine of TVG and the Horse Racing Happy Hour podcast joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss her thoughts on the 2020 Derby, including how she's viewing Tiz the Law relative to the odds, other horses to consider, and which data we should value when betting on horse racing.

With no preseason games in 2020, information on player roles has been scarce in the NFL. How can we dig through the limited information we do get in order to make informed prop bets? Chris Raybon of The Action Network joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss that, his takeaways from training camps thus far, and differences to note when transitioning to prop betting from fantasy football.

Each year, Football Outsiders publishes their almanac and DVOA projections for the upcoming season. What do their numbers say about the NFL in 2020? Aaron Schatz, the creator of DVOA and Editor in Chief of Football Outsiders, joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down how Football Outsiders builds its projections, which teams they're bullish on entering the season, and where we can find value in playoff betting odds.

With roughly two weeks in the books in the NBA's bubble, what are the big betting takeaways thus far? Drew Dinsick of the Deep Dive podcast joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss what he has seen from the NBA, adjustments he has made to his model to account for the style of play, and how he's altering his model to account for changes in the NFL this year.

There are plentiful unknowns heading into the 2020 NFL season with altered training camps and no preseason games. How will that impact the betting landscape? Former Dallas Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break this down from a player perspective, discussing whether offenses or defenses will suffer more, which teams could benefit, and his thoughts on player awards entering the season.

With the NBA resuming play this week, what are the betting implications of playing within the Orlando bubble? Adam Stanco, co-host of the Rejecting the Screen podcast, joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to outline his thoughts on that, plus which teams may present betting value early on and for conference outrights.

Just how much does the variance in Major League Baseball change when a season is trimmed to 60 games from 162? FanGraphs' Dan Szymborski ​joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss the volatility in his ZiPS projections for the upcoming season, how that impacts betting, and which teams and players he thinks could benefit from the condensed schedule.

UFC is making its first trip to Fight Island this weekend for UFC 251. How should we bet the three fights with title implications, and where else can we find value? Megan Nunez joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down the unique circumstances around Fight Island, how that should impact our betting process, and her favorite bets on Saturday's card.

A shortened Major League Baseball season this year has major implications for betting futures markets. How should we adjust for this, and which bets stand out once we do? Nick Kostos of You Better You Bet joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to outline his thoughts on the MLB futures market, which NBA teams he's targeting when they return later this month, and the betting fallout of Cam Newton signing with the New England Patriots.

What are some of the keys to judging current form in golf? Data scientist Colin Davy joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down his process there along with his takeaways from the first two post-COVID-19 tournaments, his process for determining course fit, and his favorite golfers to bet for the Travelers Championship.