The Football Analytics Show by The Power Rank and Ed Feng

Ben Reiter of Sports Illustrated joins the show to talk about his book Astroball. He tell us about convincing Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow to open up about his methods. Then he discusses the synergy that allowed the Astros to become one of the best at player projections. Finally, Ben tells us about the frontier in analytics that will keep the Astros ahead.

In this second of two episodes, Adam Stanco of the Pac-12 Network continues to educate us on college basketball national title contenders. We talk about Virginia and the key player that makes them a championship threat, no matter what happened last season. Then we get into Gonzaga's talent, both inside and outside. Finally, Adam reveals the team with more NBA talent than any team, even Duke.

Adam Stanco of the Pac-12 Network joins me to break down college basketball teams for the 2019 NCAA tournament. We get into Duke, with and without Zion Williamson, whether Michigan has enough offense to make a deep run, and whether Michigan or Michigan State has a higher ceiling.

Joe Peta, author of the books A 2019 Masters Preview and Trading Bases, joins me to discuss his recent work in golf analytics. He tells us about the Strokes Gained framework to evaluate players. Then he digs into his methodology for predicting the 2019 Masters. Finally, we discuss how variance plays a bigger role in golf than in team sports.

Four years ago in the Deflategate scandal, data suggested that New England might have deflated footballs to reduce their fumble rate. Host Ed Feng looks back at the real surprise in New England's turnover data. Then he updates the numbers to see if New England's performance on fumble has changed since then and how it might impact the Super Bowl against the Los Angeles Rams.

Chris Andrews, director of the South Point sports book, joins the show to discuss the Super Bowl. He talks about being aggressive as a bookmaker, with New England in the Super Bowl as an example. He also gives his view on Super Bowl props, analytics in bookmaking and putting out early college football win totals. 

Dr. Eric Eager, data scientist at Pro Football Focus, joins me for a wide ranging conversation on football analytics. We break down the two NFL conference title games by the numbers, but also get into the QB statistic that makes interesting predictions for Tom Brady vs Pat Mahomes. Throughout the conversation, Eric provides many insights, such as whether pass rush or secondary is more important, or how to do better than sacks in evaluating pass rush.

Whale Capper joins me to discuss how he uses seismic engineering to model the outcome of NFL games. Then we go through the 4 games of the NFL Divisional Playoff Round with predictions and analysis.

Host Ed Feng digs into the Alabama versus Clemson match up for the college football title game, and how this game is different from last season. Then he discusses the team with the best chances to win the Super Bowl, and whether their defense can hold up. Finally, he talks about a sleeper team to win the Super Bowl, and how the system is working against this team.

Dave Bartoo, who goes by CFB Matrix, joins me to talk college football predictions. We start by discussing his metrics for coaches and coordinators, and which teams made good or bad hires this off season. Then he gives us two bowl games with value in the markets. Finally, we discuss whether any team can catch Alabama and Clemson at the top of college football.