Tom and Porter go inside the numbers with Ryan Carlson, co-creator of Insight GM, a new college basketball analytics platform designed to look forward instead of backward.
Ryan explains how Insight GM uses its RQI metric to evaluate roster construction, transfer portal additions and projected team performance — and then puts the model to the test on the Richmond Spiders.
Why does the model love Jamie Kaiser? How much better does Richmond look after its offseason overhaul? Where do the Spiders fit in an incredibly tight A-10? And could a healthy, productive Jason McCaffrey be the wild card that blows up the projections?
Plus: why St. Louis could be better than other models think, the A-10's "messy middle," Vanderbilt and Nebraska as potential sleepers, the limitations of preseason rankings, and how analytics are changing the way college basketball programs build rosters and prepare for games.
Spider Sound Off — Richmond basketball talk from Spider fans, for Spider fans.