Last December, Indiana beat Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship on its way to a national title. This weekend the Buckeyes get a rematch in Indiana, with both teams ranked in the top five.

On Sunday night, the Cowboys visit Green Bay looking to bounce back from one of their worst losses of the season. Elsewhere, baseball is down to its final four teams, and the Dodgers are in a 0-3 hole with a World Series trip on the line. The WNBA Finals begin Saturday, and the NBA season tips off Tuesday.

The stakes: The last time these two met, Indiana beat a No. 1 ranked Ohio State team 13-10 to win the Big Ten, its first conference title since 1945, and then went on to win the national championship.

Both teams are back near the top, but neither looks quite like last year’s version. Ohio State is 5-1 and No. 4, with its only loss at Texas. Indiana is 6-0 and No. 5, but it nearly lost to an unranked Nebraska team last week. Ohio State will be the best team Indiana has faced all season and its first real test.

What to watch for: Jeremiah Smith. Smith is the Heisman favorite and the best player in college football, with 48 catches for 916 yards through six games. He also caught 8 passes for 144 yards in last year’s matchup against Indiana. This game will come down to whether Indiana can slow him down, or get enough pressure on quarterback Julian Sayin to keep him from getting Smith the ball.

Skin in the Game: I’m taking Ohio State -3.5. This isn’t the same Indiana team that won it all last year. The Hoosiers had to hold off Northwestern 29-23 and needed a fourth-quarter comeback to beat unranked Nebraska, and Ohio State is a much tougher test than either. The Buckeyes have the best player in the country in Jeremiah Smith. Against an Indiana defense that has given up some big plays this season, I’ll lay the points. Remember this is for fun, not your rent money.

The stakes: Dallas is coming off an embarrassing loss at home to a Tampa Bay team that was winless and starting a rookie quarterback. At 2-3, the Cowboys need a bounce back win here. Green Bay is headed in the other direction. The Packers are coming off their best win of the season, a 31-7 rout of the division rival Bears, and have won two straight.

What to watch for: Whether Dallas can slow down the Packers’ explosive passing attack. Jordan Love threw for 367 yards against Chicago last week, and the Cowboys give up the most yards per play in the NFL. Dallas knows it has a problem, so this week it brought in help to support first-year defensive coordinator Christian Parker. One week isn’t much time to fix a defense, but watch whether it looks any different Sunday night.

Skin in the Game: I’m taking the Over 52.5. Dallas has the worst defense in the league by most measures, the Over has hit in four of its five games, and Love is coming off a 367-yard day. I don’t trust either team to get enough stops to keep this under. Remember this is for fun, not your rent money.

We’re down to four teams left. The winners of each best-of-seven series meet in the World Series, which starts next Friday.

Brewers vs. Dodgers: Milwaukee leads this series 3-0, which comes as a major surprise. The Dodgers have won the last two World Series and were viewed as the favorite to win it all most of the year. Last night the Dodgers led 2-1 in the seventh inning before Milwaukee hit back-to-back home runs and pulled away for a 6-2 win. It’s a complete reversal from last year, when Los Angeles swept the Brewers in this same round.

The problem is that Shohei Ohtani, their biggest star, is playing through injuries and has no home runs and only four hits in the entire postseason. He’s been a non-factor. One more loss and their season is over.

Rays vs. Guardians: Tied 1-1, and one of these two is about to end a long wait. Cleveland hasn’t won a World Series since 1948, the longest drought in baseball, and Tampa Bay has never won one.

A week ago the Guardians were down 0-2 to the White Sox, then won three straight to become only the 11th team ever to come back from that hole in a five-game series. They won Game 1 and then Tampa Bay answered in Game 2 behind six scoreless innings from Freddy Peralta. The next three games are in Cleveland.

The NBA season starts Tuesday, and a lot changed over the summer. Here's what you need to know before then.

WNBA Finals | Sat 3:30 PM (NBC): A first-time champion will be crowned. Atlanta and Golden State both swept their semifinals, which means the Liberty and Aces went out without winning a game. Neither franchise has ever won a title, and Golden State is only in its second season.

Alabama vs. Tennessee | Sat 3:30 PM (ABC): One of the oldest rivalries in the sport. Alabama is coming off a 20-17 loss to Georgia, and a second straight loss would put its playoff hopes in real trouble.

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— Zach Blumenstein

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