Can the Mavericks finally cover a spread? Plus, other best bets for Thursday

I’ve never been shy about my lack of desire to see the College Football Playoff expand. The biggest argument was always for parity, as an expanded field would allow more teams the chance to compete for national titles. Well, last season Cincinnati shocked the world when it became the first team from the Group of Five to reach the playoff.

This season, a TCU team that went 5-7 last year and began the year unranked will play for a national title next week. Clearly, the only way for programs like Cincinnati and TCU to have a shot would be an expanded field! No way they’d get in with only four teams!

I officially lost the battle a few weeks ago when it was announced that the CFP would expand to 12 teams in the future. I knew it was inevitable, and I often joked on The Cover 3 Podcast that a few years after the playoff expands to 12, everybody will demand it expand to 16. Well, it looks like I was wrong. It didn’t take a few years, according to our own Dennis Dodd, it’s only taken a few weeks for the clamoring for a 16-team playoff to begin. 

Maybe we can get it up to 32 by 2030! Or maybe we can just call the regular season “the playoffs” and trick advertisers into paying more for commercials. Anyway, that’s enough cynicism from me, let’s get to some genuinely incredible news.

Let’s hit the hardwood.

All times Eastern, and all odds via Caesars Sportsbook

🔥 The Hot Ticket

Celtics at Mavericks, 7:30 p.m. | TV: TNT

• Key Trend: The Celtics have failed to cover in five straight road games
• The Pick: Mavericks +3 (-110)

So, we haven’t exactly been killing it to start the NBA season. Hopefully, with football slowing down, we can get a better handle on things going forward. No better time to start than tonight, right? Especially when we’ve got a game where I’m not sure the right team is favored.

Yes, Boston is better…