About this episode

Neil Paine discusses unexpected champions in sports and the role of analytics.

Neil Paine, sports data journalist and former FiveThirtyEight contributor, joins the Wharton Moneyball team to discuss the New York Knicks’ surprising title run, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Stanley Cup victory, the role of luck and player interactions in team success, and what early World Cup results reveal about the limits and strengths of sports analytics. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Host: Wharton Moneyball

Guest: Neil Paine

Topics covered

• sports analytics
• team success
• unexpected champions
• luck in sports
• World Cup
• NHL
• NBA

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: FiveThirtyEight, New York Knicks, Carolina Hurricanes, Acast

More episodes of Wharton Moneyball

• Breaking Down Randomness, Win Probability, and Competitive Balance Across Sports · July 15, 2026 · 1h 1m
• Rethinking How We Measure Soccer Performance · July 8, 2026 · 57 min
• Breaking Down the World Cup with Soccer Analytics Insights · July 1, 2026 · 1h 8m

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