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Which teams had the best performances of the opening weekend? Kevin Pelton examines.

Story | Conversation | April 22, 2013

If you look at ESPN's Basketball Power Index rankings and pick the higher-ranked team to win each game, you'll end up with a chalky bracket -- other than third-seeded Florida making it to the title game. A more nuanced way to look at things is to ...

Let's use ESPN's primary basketball team ranking tool, College Basketball Power Index (BPI), to break down the NCAA men's basketball championship field of 68. Snubs according to BPI BPI was not designed to predict which teams would make the fie...

AP Photo/Waco Tribune Herald, Rod Aydelotte Pierre Jackson (left) and the Baylor Bears deserve a second look on Selection Sunday. After Thursday's two-point loss to Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Tournament, it appears that the Baylor Bears will not ...

ESPN Stats & InformationEven with his torrid play of late, LeBron James still ranks behind Kevin Durant in Win Shares this season.LeBron James has garnered a lot of praise for his six-game streak of scoring and shooting percentage. However, if you l...

Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY SportsUnder Rob Ryan, the Cowboys forced just 1.3 turnovers per game, compared to 1.9 in 2010.After learning of his firing on Tuesday, former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan told ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon th...

After learning of his firing on Tuesday, former Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan told ESPNDallas.com's Tim MacMahon the following: "I inherited a team that was 31st in the league in defense and made them better. I (expletive) made the...

The Total QBR metric we've consulted in evaluating quarterback play can be tweaked to account for strength of opposing defense. Alok Pattani of ESPN's analytics team passed along information showing how these adjustments would affect QBR rankings ...

History shows that the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide, who are coming off a home win against a Top-20 opponent Mississippi State, have a tough test Saturday against another highly-ranked opponent in the fifth-ranked LSU Tigers at Tiger Stadium. The AP...

Alok Pattani explains the Dallas Cowboys' issues with holding leads in recent seasons, particularly against the Giants, and lists the NFL's top lead blowers and comeback artists.

Story | Conversation | October 27, 2012

Alok Pattani provides opponent-adjusted QBR numbers, which illuminate which quarterbacks have fared better or worse based on the quality of defenses they've faced.

Story | Conversation | October 06, 2012

Whenever you compare players from different eras, it makes for a great debate. With Drew Brees on the verge of breaking Johnny Unitas' record (47) for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, ESPN Stats & Information's Alok Pattani takes a loo...

AP Photo/NFL PhotosJohnny Unitas and Drew Brees are tied for the NFL record with touchdown passes in 47 straight games.Drew Brees is currently tied with Johnny Unitas for the longest streak of games with at least one touchdown pass in NFL history. ...

Alok Pattani uses the expected points added (EPA) metric to identify the Saints' and Packers' issues to start the season, and predict the likelihood that the two teams will turn things around the rest of the way.

Story | Conversation | September 29, 2012

Jared Wickerham/Getty ImagesThe Cardinals had just a 37.3 percent chance of winning after Ryan Williams' late fumble.On an NFL Sunday with several exciting endings, the Arizona Cardinals-New England Patriots game stood out. The obvious reason was tha...

Alok Pattani of ESPN's Stats & Information department dissects two late-game decisions by the Patriots in their 20-18 loss to the Cardinals from a statistical perspective: 1. Passing vs. running on 2-point conversion. Tom Brady's pass to Rob G...