The Football Analytics Show by The Power Rank and Ed Feng

Brian Fremeau, creator of the FEI college football rankings and writer for ESPN Insider and Football Outsiders, tells us how he started doing college football rankings way back in 2003. He uses points per possession adjusted for starting field position to evaluate teams on offense and defense. He's also a Notre Dame fan and previews the game at Michigan State. After the interview, I discuss balancing data from a small sample size of games with preseason expectations early in the season.

I welcome Drew Martin of Sports Book Review to talk about handicapping small school college football. He takes us on his journey from all county QB in high school to JP Morgan to the sports world. We discuss how he handicaps games, and how the show Man vs Machine that he does with me came about. After the interview, I discuss small sample size and how it relates to football predictions.

Bill Connelly, college football analytics expert and SB Nation writer, joins me for a wide ranging college football discussion. He describes how he writes a preview for every FBS team each off season 7 years running. Then we give predictions and analysis for Oklahoma at Ohio State, Stanford at USC, Auburn at Clemson and Georgia at Notre Dame.

Jonathan Bales, Daily Fantasy Sports player and founder of Fantasy Labs, joins me to talk analytics.  We talk about the unique product that Fantasy Labs offers, and he makes an unanticipated product announcement on the show.  We also talk about books, writing and counter intuitive way to break into the sports analytics world.

Aaron Schatz, founder of Football Outsiders, joins me to discuss his predictions for the upcoming 2017 NFL season. We discuss the significance of passing over rushing in the NFL, and how it's been that way for 30 years. Then Aaron gives us an underrated and overrated team for the upcoming 2017 season.

Professor Ryan Rodenberg from Florida State explains the legal status of betting on games, which culminates in the Supreme Court's recent decision to hear a case from New Jersey.  I was particularly intrigued by the role of the NBA in the case, who seeks to prevent New Jersey from legalizing betting but has also publicly endorsed betting on games.  Throughout the conversation, Ryan keeps the conversation jargon free and accessible for those without a law degree.

Nik Bonaddio, the founder and CEO of numberFire, joins me to talk about football analytics and venture capital. Topics include the core idea behind their fantasy football projections, the type of companies that get venture capital funding, and the sports book Nik has read at least 10 times. The show ends with a segment about the one thing that will go wrong for Alabama in 2017.

Stewart Mandel is starting a new subscription based college football site called The All-American, and he joins me to discuss how analytics will play a role in their content. We also discuss the surprising conference that ended up last in his coaching talent rankings, and the team that could shake up the ACC. Last, he gives a template for how to pitch writing for him at The All-American.

With the football season fast approaching, I discuss my preseason college football rankings that have predicted the winner in over 70% of games the past three seasons. The first story looks at 3 teams that may have been one hit wonders last year. Then I transition into the blue blood program that should bounce back from an awful 2016 campaign. Finally, I talk about a troubling team that might be ranked too high.

Gill Alexander, host of A Numbers Game on the Vegas Stats and Information Network, joins me for a wide ranging conversation on sports analytics and media. We discuss the book that inspired him to leave a successful music career to get into sports, the real, non-betting reason he loves doing his Beating the Book podcast, and the non-book work of art we both obsess over.