The Football Analytics Show by The Power Rank and Ed Feng

Ken Pomeroy joins the show to talk college basketball analytics and the 2022 NCAA tournament. He describes the methods behind his college basketball rankings at kenpom.com, and how this has changed over the past 20 years. Ken then talks about how he would select teams for the NCAA tournament. Finally, he breaks down the top 5 teams in his rankings: Gonzaga, Kentucky, Baylor, Arizona and Duke.

Alan Boston, the college basketball betting legend who was featured in the book The Odds, joins the show for a wide ranging conversation. He says he doesn't use analytics, but his process suggests otherwise. Examples of this include home court advantage and using program history to rate teams. Alan also talks about why he doesn't seek closing line value. During the discussion, he breaks down Gonzaga, Arizona, Kentucky and Baylor among other teams capable of winning the 2022 NCAA tournament.

Spanky, a professional sports bettor, joins the show to talk about his craft. He describes his top down approach to sports betting and how his goal is closing line value (CLV). In particular, he discusses whether CLV mattered in the NFL during the 2021 season, and whether CLV is different as the season approaches the Super Bowl. Spanky also evaluates sports betting in the United States, and how it might be changing for the better. Finally, he discusses the key to starting new projects like the Bet Bash conference and the Be Better Bettors podcast.

JJ Zachariason, founder of Late Round Fantasy Football and formerly of FanDuel, joins the show for a wide ranging NFL conversation. He describes his journey from an ebook to FanDuel to working for himself at LateRound.com. Then he breaks down the Super Bowl between the Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Rams, and offers a bet on the game. Finally, JJ provides his reasoning behind two Super Bowl props.

Colin Davy, a Jeopardy champion through analytics and former director of data science at The Action Network, joins the show to talk about finding sports betting value. His Betscope tool aggregates data to find the best markets on a single game. In addition, the tool allows you to act on your beliefs by changing certain input parameters. Colin also discusses the analytics behind player props and how this impacts Super Bowl props.

Gill Alexander, the host of A Numbers Game on VSIN and the Beating the Book podcast, joins the show for a wide ranging NFL conversation. He first describes the debate between those who follow analytics and those who hate it, and which side is winning 2022. Then he breaks down the two conference championship games:

• Cincinnati Bengals at Kansas City Chiefs
• San Francisco 49ers at Los Angeles Rams

The conversation also touches on the New Orleans Saints, the Washington Football Team (Gill's team), and the future of sports betting.

Fabian Sommer, a football analyst who uses analytics and data in his handicapping, joins the show to discuss the NFL Divisional Playoffs. First, he describes the variety of metrics he uses in evaluating match ups in NFL games. He also discusses closing line value and the curious case of Philadelphia. Then he breaks down the NFL Divisional Playoffs, which includes:

• Cincinnati Bengals at Tennessee Titans
• San Francisco 49ers at Green Bay Packers
• Los Angeles Rams at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs

We end with a great discussion of books.

John Sheeran, the Director of Trading at FanDuel Sportsbook, joins the show to discuss the NFL. First, John discusses the Chargers vs Raiders game that could have ended in a tie and how FanDuel uses an analytics based model to help set the market. Then, John breaks down these Wild Card games:

• Las Vegas at Cincinnati
• New England at Buffalo
• San Francisco at Dallas
• Arizona at Los Angeles Rams

Josh Hermsmeyer of FiveThirtyEight joins the show to discuss the NFL before the 2022 playoffs. He talks about his prime Super Bowl contenders and the metrics that he uses to evaluate them. The discussion also touches on NFL quarterbacks such as Josh Allen, Carson Wentz, and Justin Herbert (one is getting lucky, one needs to throw deep more). Josh also talks about a new metric for pass rushers and whether he would re-sign Baker Mayfield. The conversation ends with a great discussion of meat.

Josh Hancher of Dawg Sports Live joins the show to discuss the college football playoff semi-final game between Georgia vs Michigan. He provides a look at the Georgia program under Kirby Smart, and host Ed Feng chimes in with the similarities and differences with Michigan. Josh breaks down the quarterbacks in this game and in particular what to expect from Georgia. There is one QB statistic that seems to favor Michigan but actually favors Georgia. This episode also includes The Power Rank's prediction for this game and a potential final between Georgia and Alabama.