Covering the Spread

With a quarter of the NFL season in the books, what have we learned thus far about individual players and teams' play-calling tendencies? Dr. Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss this, outlining the early-season performances of Josh Allen and Justin Herbert, which teams have made major changes in how they're calling the game, an...

Scoring has been up across the NFL through the first three weeks of the 2020 season. Should we expect that to continue, and have markets caught up to the trend? Donnie Seymour of RightWager.com joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss what he has seen the first three weeks and his favorite bets across the NFL for Week 4.

Week 3 features a potential preview of the AFC Championship Game as the Baltimore Ravens​ host the Kansas City Chiefs​. How should we bet that game and others? Teddy Sevransky of Covers joins ​The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to preview Week 3, discussing his read on Ravens versus Chiefs, the Seattle Seahawks​' offensive explosion to open the year, and his favorite bets of...

With a full week of data now in the books, what have we learned about the NFL in 2020, and how does that impact our bets for Week 2? Edward Egros of More Ways to Win joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss his biggest takeaways from Week 1, which data he values most from a one-week sample, and his favorite bets heading into Week 2.

The NFL kicks off its 2020 season Thursday night amid tons of uncertainty. Which bets stand out as being the best values for Week 1? numberFire's JJ Zachariason joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to preview the opening week, discussing his favorite bets, how COVID-19 has impacted his player projection process, and where we can find lingering value in the player prop mar...

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 con...

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...

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...

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 benefi...

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...

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.

With the English Premier League returning to play Wednesday, how can we leverage analytics to bet it? Ted Knutson of StatsBomb joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss his work in soccer analytics, how they can be utilized in betting the EPL, and some bets he likes in the EPL's opening weekend back on the pitch.

The PGA Tour is ending its COVID-19 layoff this week with the Charles Schwab Challenge. What do we need to know before we start to place our bets? numberFire's Brandon Gdula joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down his golf betting process, how his golf simulations work and help him bet, and which golfers he likes most for this week's event at Colonial CC.

The English Premier League is slated to return to action on June 17th, ending a three-month layoff due to COVID-19. What should we know about the EPL before we bet it? numberFire's Austan Kas joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down key metrics to emphasize, storylines that could impact betting lines, and some bets he likes once the matches resume.

Beating straight-up lines in sports betting is difficult. If we want long-term sustainability, we need a smart approach that helps us pinpoint the best number each time. What are some practices we can utilize in order to maximize our expected return? Ed Miller, co-author of The Logic of Sports Betting, joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to outline some of the keys discu...

The Bundesliga returned to action last weekend and has another slate of games coming the next few days. What do we need to know before we start to bet Bundesliga matches? Alex Heinert of numberFire joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down his process for betting soccer, the makeup of the Bundesliga, and some bets he likes for this weekend's matches.

The NASCAR Cup Series is set to return Sunday, starting a stretch where they'll run four races in 11 days. What do we need to know before we start betting on NASCAR? PJ Walsh of The Action Network joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break it all down, discussing his NASCAR betting process, the data he leans on when making decisions, and which drivers he likes for Darl...

UFC is set to return Saturday for UFC 249. What are key things we need to know before we bet on the card? numberFire's Barry Cohen joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break it all down, discussing key components of betting UFC, which data we should emphasize, and his favorite bets for Saturday's matches.

The emergence of iRacing and the looming return of on-track racing have made NASCAR a focal point for bettors and fantasy players of late. What does the future of betting within both offerings look like? Scott Warfield, the Managing Director of Gaming for NASCAR, joins numberFire's Jim Sannes to discuss this, touching on additional markets NASCAR wants to explore for betting, the potential for mor...

With the 2020 NFL draft now in the books, we have a good idea of what each team's roster will look like this season. Which teams made the biggest gains, and how does that impact their betting outlook? Dr. Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down the betting impact of the 2020 draft, how much of a difference a draft can make in th...

When betting on the NFL draft, we have to account for a certain degree of randomness. When we do so, which props stand out for the 2020 edition? Timo Riske of Pro Football Focus joins The Power Rank's Dr. Ed Feng and numberFire's Jim Sannes to break down what PFF's draft simulations say, how much randomness is baked into that, and which props he likes based on the simulations.