Baseball takes the spotlight as top TV sports options

The baseball playoffs take center stage today as the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets open their respective series to kick off a classic fall weekend of sports on TV.

There's something for everybody, with two matchups of top-25 college football teams, a quartet of NFL Sunday games, NHL hockey, Presidents Cup golf and more.

TODAY

National League Division Series, Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, Game 1 (3:30 p.m., TBS (7)): Rivals for more than 100 years, the Cubs and Cardinals will meet in the playoffs for the first time as former Boston Red Sox World Series ring-bearers Jon Lester (11-12, 3.34 ERA) and John Lackey (13-10, 2.77) oppose each other at Busch Stadium. En route to winning 100 games, NL Central champion St. Louis won the season series, 11-8, but Las Vegan Kris Bryant and the Cubs won six of the last nine meetings.

NLDS, New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers, Game 1 (6:30 p.m., TBS (7)): Three-time NL Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw (16-7, 2.13, 301 strikeouts) opposes former 51s pitcher Jacob deGrom (14-8, 2.54) in this showdown between the NL East and NL West champs. The Mets, whose offense exploded after the All-Star break behind Yoenis Cespedes, claimed the season series, 4-3. Former Las Vegas ace Noah Syndergaard (9-7, 3.24 ERA) opposes Zack Greinke (19-3, 1.66) in Saturday's Game 2.

BEST OF REST: Football: North Carolina State at Virginia Tech (5 p.m., ESPN (30); MLB: American League Division Series, Houston Astros at Kansas City Royals, Game 2 (12:30 p.m., FS1 (329)); NHL: Chicago Blackhawks at New York Islanders (4:30 p.m., NHLN (316)), Arizona Coyotes at Los Angeles Kings (7:30 p.m., FSW (49)).

SATURDAY

No. 13 Northwestern at No. 18 Michigan (12:30 p.m., BTN (312)): Points should be hard to come by in this Big Ten battle in The Big House as the Wildcats lead the nation in points allowed (7 ppg) and the Wolverines are second (7.6 ppg).

No. 23 California at No. 5 Utah (7 p.m., ESPN (30)): In a possible Pac-12 title game preview between the league's last two unbeatens, the Utes' stingy defense will try to shut down quarterback Jared Goff and the Golden Bears' high-powered offense.

BEST OF REST: MLB: NLDS, Chicago Cubs at St. Louis Cardinals, Game 2 (2:30 p.m., TBS (7)), NLDS, New York Mets at Los Angeles Dodgers, Game 2 (6 p.m., TBS (7)); NHL: Montreal Canadiens at Boston Bruins (4 p.m., NHLN (316)), Anaheim Ducks at San Jose Sharks (7:30 p.m., Prime (50)); Soccer: CONCACAF Cup, Mexico vs. United States (6:30 p.m., KINC (15), FS1 (329)).

SUNDAY

Seattle Seahawks at Cincinnati Bengals (10 a.m., Fox (5)): The Bengals can improve to 5-0 for the first time since 1988 — the last time they went to the Super Bowl — with a win over the Seahawks (2-2), who limited the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears to a combined 10 points the past two weeks.

New England Patriots at Dallas Cowboys (1:25 p.m., CBS (8)): Fresh off a bye week, the Patriots (3-0) look to remain unbeaten against a banged-up Cowboys squad trying to avoid a third straight loss without quarterback Tony Romo.

BEST OF REST: MLB: ALDS, Toronto Blue Jays at Texas Rangers, Game 3 (5 p.m., FS1 (329)); NFL: St. Louis Rams at Green Bay Packers (10 a.m., CBS (8)), San Francisco 49ers at New York Giants (5:20 p.m., NBC (3)); PGA Tour: Presidents Cup, final round (10 a.m., NBC (3)).

— Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.