I’m going to use this space to preach some patience to Braves fans. I know there were some Atlanta fans who were upset with how Game 2 went. But, all the Braves needed to do was take 1 of the 2 games in Houston.

They did that. Now, they have to take 2 of 3 (at least) at home. That’ll set up a situation where they need to win 1 of the final 2 games in Houston to clinch a title.

That’s not a bad situation! Game 3 is going to be pivotal, though. Whoever wins tonight’s game in Atlanta wins the Series, in my opinion. With that said, go Braves!

Now, let’s dive into your questions for this week’s Mailbag:

@SChinni12:

Mike Leach recently listed some of his favorite Halloween candies. What’s your pick for the best Halloween treat?

I don’t know if I’ve admitted this in my Mailbag before, but if I have, I’ll say it again — I don’t like chocolate. I actually agree with most of Leach’s takes. Candy corn is absolute trash.

Meanwhile, I love Haribo gummies, Nerds candies of all types and Sprees. The fact that Leach likes Sprees is incredible to me.

I can do without the Almond Joy that he also mentioned. But, when I was young, I had a good situation. My little sister loved chocolate. So, after a long night of trick-or-treating, I’d trade her all my chocolates.

She’d give me the Nerds, Skittles, Starbursts and all the good non-chocolate candies. Even the Dots, which aren’t good, but are better than chocolate.

So, yeah, that’s how my Halloweens went. Also, I dressed like Brett Favre for like 3 straight Halloweens.

Michael:

How would you fix college football’s new overtime rules?

Is it weird if I say I don’t think they’re broken? I actually enjoyed the 9 overtime game between Penn State and Illinois.

Yeah, when the rules were drawn up, the folks making them didn’t count on 2 teams being so offensively inept that they’d hilariously fail on 10 straight conversion attempts.

That was so funny, but it was also so Big Ten. As an Illinois native, I’m glad the Illini won, but I also find it funny that a 9-overtime game finished with a score of 20-18. That’s utterly ridiculous.

Long live the Big Ten!

The overtime rules are fine. The 9-overtime game took significantly less time than the 7-overtime game between LSU and Texas A&M a couple of years ago. It resulted in fewer plays, and thus, fewer opportunities to have players get injured.

The system works!

Ben:

Early guess — who wins the men’s basketball title this year?

Whew, that’s a tough question at this time of year. Last year, at this time, I picked Gonzaga. As we all know, Gonzaga lost in the title game to Baylor.

I’d normally accept picking a runner-up, but I think I can do better this year! Give me Texas against UCLA in the national championship game, with UCLA prevailing due to having more continuity at the head coaching position.

Mick Cronin has been at UCLA for a while. Chris Beard inherits a talented roster at Texas, but he is in his first year after taking over for Shaka Smart. Cronin will push the right buttons and land the Bruins a championship.

This is an SEC website, though, so I’m also going to predict that Alabama makes a Final Four run under Nate Oats this year. Then, the Tide will fall to Texas in the semifinals.

@Dobbe8:

What part of the chicken is the best? Wings, breast, thigh, fingers (which we all know chickens totally have), nuggets? Plenty of delicious options to choose from.

When I cook, I almost exclusively cook with thighs. I love dark meat. I grew up eating a lot of chicken breast. And, my dad didn’t decide to become a great chef until after I moved out of the house. (Crazy how not having annoying kids in the house leads to developing new hobbies, right?)

Thighs are so much better than any other cut of chicken. Wings are great, too, but there’s not a lot of meat for the amount of work you have to do. Thighs are perfect, in my opinion.

I can bread them and make chicken parm. I can cube them up and season them for fajitas. I can grill them and make some dynamite chicken sandwiches. They’re the perfect meat.

You really can’t go wrong with chicken. But thighs are the best of the best, in my opinion.

Have a question for next week’s Mailbag? Tweet at us using #SDSMailbag or email me at ASpencer@SaturdayDownSouth.com.