The Bridge Ep. 62: Ken Pomeroy, college basketball stats guru, joins the show to discuss his KenPom Ratings System, compiling stats for a living, the latest college basketball season and more

Ken Pomeroy

The NHL playoffs are underway, the NBA playoffs are upon us, but hey, let’s talk some college basketball.

Before we get into Episode 62, as a reminder, The Bridge is now broadcast as a one-hour radio show every Wednesday night at 7 ET on Sports Radio America. Once the dust settles from that live broadcast, the show is released as a podcast on iTunes and on this website on Friday nights. You can listen to the live show every Wednesday on Sports Radio America here or through the TuneIn app.

  • “Sports News Read Like Real News” told the tale of a phantom $20 poop on the Gronk Party Ship that led to some lifetime bans for VIPs (2:14).
  • The Bridge Question of the Week is: What will you remember most from this year’s (men’s) NCAA Tournament and why? Call in or text in your answer to 929-BRIDGE7, that’s 929-274-3437, and you’ll make it on the next show.
  • This week’s guest was Ken Pomeroy, one of the most respected stat gurus in college basketball and the man behind the KenPom ratings. Ken’s stats are used throughout college basketball, from coaches and scouts to sports media and fans. We’ll chat about his inspiration for started up his website, what goes into his ratings and rankings systems, some college basketball discussion from this past year and so much more.
  • You can follow him on Twitter @kenpomeroy. The interview starts at the 8:09 mark.

– In the interview, we discuss:

What he does to unwind when the college basketball season ends (8:37), how he went from working as a meteorologist to crunching stats for college basketball (10:12), if it’s more difficult to predict the weather or college basketball (11:39), what the inspiration was for starting the KenPom site (12:30), what the KenPom Ratings System is (15:03), what the biggest additions to the website have been (17:09), if he’ll ever add advertising to his website (19:33), how long it took to perfect his statistics (20:23), if his friends ask him for stats advice (22:27), how advanced the math is for the stats (23:24), how much easier the process has become with the advancement of technology (25:36), if there was a time he knew KenPom had gone mainstream (28:07), if any coaches or programs have sent him Christmas cards for his help (30:10), how it felt to quit the weather world for the stats world (31:08), if North Carolina finishing the year third in his rankings mean it’s all a sham (33:39), if he receives the most hate on social media during the NCAA Tournament (35:49), his favorite team to watch and how he watches college basketball (37:52), teams to look out for in 2018 (39:13) and when he’ll be releasing more content on the website (40:35).

  • “Five Minutes in the Film Room” with Kyle Cicilioni, a special T.V. edition of the segment breaks down some of the more popular television shows on an array of different  networks (44:06). You can follow Kyle on Twitter and Periscope and find some of his work at ajazznetworks.com.

Call in or text the show 24/7 at 929-BRIDGE7, that’s (929) 274-3437. Contact the show with your questions, comments, stories or hot takes and you might be featured in the next installment of The Bridge.

Subscribe to The Bridge Sports Podcast on iTunes (please leave a positive rating and review if you enjoy the show) so you’ll immediately be notified when new episodes are posted each week. You can also find The Bridge Sports Podcast on Google PlaySoundcloudStitcher and TuneIn.

You can listen to the show live on Wednesday nights at 7 ET via Sports Radio America or the TuneIn app.

Visit www.lundinbridge.com/email to subscribe to The Bridge Sports Podcast newsletter, which will provide weekly updates and behind-the-scenes information about the next show and who the featured guest(s) might be.

Email the show at media [at] lundinbridge [dot] com and follow the host on Twitter @lundinbridge.

Show music: ‘Actionable’ and ‘Epic,’ courtesy of www.bensound.com.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *