Tim Kurkjian breaks down his top five teams in the MLB Power Rankings through Week 21 and shares which teams are cracking the top 10. (1:37)

This season is almost guaranteed to give us an alluring matchup in the World Series. We have teams such as the Astros and Nationals who have never won a title, the Indians who haven’t won in forever (since 1948), the Dodgers and their historic season, the Cubs who are trying to repeat and even a possible resurgence from the Yankees.

As we roll closer to September, it’s fun to consider various scenarios. Here are some matchups we’d like to see in the World Series … and some we wouldn’t.

Matchups nobody but fans of the franchises would want

Minnesota Twins vs. Colorado Rockies: Let’s see. The average low temperature in Minneapolis in October is 40 degrees. And it’s 36 degrees in Denver. That sounds like fun -- if you like baseball in the snow.

Kansas City Royals vs. Chicago Cubs: Does this excite you? It doesn’t excite me. The past two World Series champs had memorable, historic rides to their titles. This would be anticlimactic no matter which team wins. I mean, of course, unless you’re a Royals fan or a Cubs fan.

Boston Red Sox vs. Cubs: Sorry, this was supposed to happen in 2003, not 2017.

Red Sox vs. St. Louis Cardinals: Both are fairly recent World Series champions, and considering we had this matchup in 2013, the rest of the country couldn’t stomach another showdown between two of the whiniest fan bases in baseball. If you consider Twitter an accurate scientific barometer, Cardinals fans have spent the entire season complaining about manager Mike Matheny, the bullpen and the defense while Red Sox fans have spent it complaining about the offense, ace David Price and manager John Farrell.

New York Yankees vs. Cardinals: An all wild-card World Series would suck. An all wild-card World Series between the Yankees and Cardinals would especially suck. These franchises already have too many titles, and they certainly wouldn’t deserve one in a season in which they didn’t even win a division title. I don’t care if it means we’d get to see Aaron Judge and Tommy Pham in the World Series!

Matchups that actually wouldn’t be awful

Tampa Bay Rays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers: Look, no offense to any of the American League clubs trying to win that second wild card, but none of them are good enough or interesting enough that we should hope they make the World Series. But there are a few potential interesting showdowns if one of those teams gets hot at the right time. This one wouldn’t be completely horrible, only if the Rays win and the Dodgers’ front office -- including former Rays exec Andrew Friedman -- is left wondering why Logan Morrison just won World Series MVP honors with two home runs off Clayton Kershaw in Game 7.

Texas Rangers vs. Rockies: Adrian Beltre, Nolan Arenado and two franchises who have never won it all.

Seattle Mariners vs. Milwaukee Brewers: Remember, the Mariners came into existence after Bud Selig stole the Seattle Pilots away to Milwaukee in 1969, so it would only be appropriate for the Mariners’ first World Series appearance to come against the Brewers. The two franchises have a combined 88 years without a title. That’s longer than the Red Sox had gone between World Series victories, so both fan bases deserve a celebration.

Los Angeles Angels vs. Dodgers: If the Angels actually get this far, it’s likely because Mike Trout goes off in the playoffs. So that would be awesome. Plus, it’s amusing to consider the ultimate bitter ending to the Dodgers’ dream season. A loss to the Angels in Game 7 with Albert Pujols hitting a ninth-inning home run off Kenley Jansen would sting like a million wasps.

Baltimore Orioles vs. Washington Nationals: There is a lot of bad blood between these franchises, at least at the ownership level, stemming from a long-running dispute over how much the Orioles-controlled Mid-Atlantic Sports Network owes the Nationals to televise their games. With more than $100 million potentially at stake, there is no love lost between the two clubs, located just 38 miles apart. Plus, this would be an intriguing battle between Buck Showalter and Dusty Baker: The winning manager could earn a spot in Cooperstown. It also would be fun to see future Yankees teammates Manny Machado and Bryce Harper squaring off.

Matchups that would be completely awesome

Yankees vs. Dodgers: In 1977 and 1978, the Yankees and Dodgers faced off in back-to-back World Series, with the highlights still permanently etched in my brain: Reggie Jackson’s three home runs, Bob Welch fanning Reggie, Graig Nettles’ defense at third base, Ron Guidry and Catfish Hunter, Reggie’s hip. So this would be nostalgic in that regard, but mostly it would be a terrific clash of titans: Judge versus Kershaw, the Yankees' bullpen versus Corey Seager and Cody Bellinger, the Yankees' lineup trying to work Yu Darvish, Alex Wood and Rich Hill. Sure, some will cringe at the two big markets, but with the Dodgers trying to close out a historic season, this would be special.

Cleveland Indians vs. Cubs: We haven’t had a World Series rematch since that 1977 and 1978 pairing, and while I typically would dislike a rematch, this one is intriguing on multiple levels. There’s the obvious historic impact: The Indians haven’t won since 1948 and the Cubs would be trying to prove themselves as a potential dynasty. It would be fun to see the Indians play the Cubs with a fully healthy rotation this time around and see how Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo deal with Corey Kluber again.

Indians vs. Nationals: Assuming the Nationals get everybody healthy in September -- Bryce Harper, Brian Goodwin and others are all on the DL right now -- this would be the ultimate showdown of Cleveland’s power-packed starting rotation clashing with Washington’s power-packed lineup. Depending on how the rotations line up, we could get a couple Kluber-Max Scherzer epic showdowns and maybe even the possibility of a Madison Bumgarner-like relief appearance in Game 7 from either one.

Houston Astros vs. Dodgers: Yes, the Astros have stumbled a bit of late, but these have been the two best and most exciting teams all season long. The drama of the Astros going for their first World Series title -- they’ve long been underrated as a franchise that has suffered gut punch after gut punch in the playoffs -- while the Dodgers try to win for the first time since 1988 would be intense. The Dodgers have all that left-handed starting pitching, but the Astros would counter with George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa from the right side. Strength versus strength. Bring it on.