The NBA Is Starting And So Are The Hot Takes Hot Takedown breaks down predictions for the NBA season and the historically great pitching matchup in the World Series, and our Rabbit Hole considers strange rules in the NFL.

The NBA officially tips off tonight, and hot takes are buzzing around the league in the lead-up to the season opener. FiveThirtyEight and our new RAPTOR metric even drew the ire of ESPN analyst Jalen Rose. We’ll unpack our NBA projections for the season and see how these stack up against the takes.

The World Series also begins tonight, with the Houston Astros — the favorites according to Vegas — taking on the underdog Washington Nationals. The Astros come in as the largest favorites since the 2007 World Series, but not everyone is ready to hand over the trophy. We discuss how these two teams match up and how their all-star pitching lineups will likely determine the outcome.

Finally, our Rabbit Hole celebrates and condemns the quirks of the NFL.

What we’re looking at this week: