SWC75
Bored Historian
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I'm a fan of maximizing geographical rivalries and limiting playoffs to the really good teams.
What if all the professional sports leagues reorganized into four divisions: East, North, South and West. The NFL has 32 teams: MLB, NBA and NHL have 30 each. Add two expansion teams to those three and you get four 8 team conferences. Have the schedules drawn up to emphasize intra conference games to promote those rivalries. Non-conference games would be set up so every team would play every other team over a certain number of years.
The playoffs would consist of the winners of the four conferences, with tie-breakers used to break ties plus the four teams with the best records of those who didn't win their conference. The four conference winners play the four at-large teams with the conference winner with the best record playing the at large team with the worst record, the second best conference winner vs. the second worst at large team, etc. The conference winners get the home field advantage. In the second round the teams are seeded strictly by record, (including the first round results) and the two teams with the better records host the teams with the worst record. Then you have your title game or series.
Here's how it might look, just based on the regular season records of the last four completed seasons in the major sports.
NFL: The New England Patriots (12-4) win the East, the Green Bay Packers (11-5) the North, the Atlanta Falcons (13-3) the South and the Denver Broncos (13-3) the West. The at-large teams are the Houston Texans (12-4), the San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1), the Seattle Seahawks (11-5) and the Indianapolis Colts (11-5). In the first round, the Falcons play the Colts, the Broncos the Seahawks, the Patriots the 49ers and the Packers the Texans.
MLB: The Washington Nationals (98-64) win the East, the Cincinnati Reds, (97-65) the North, the Atlanta Braves (94-68) the South and the San Francisco Giants (94-68) the west in a tie-breaker, (no, I don't know what it would be). The at-large teams are the new York Yankees (95-67), the Oakland Athletics (94-68), the Baltimore Orioles (93-69) and the Tampa Bay Rays, (90-72). In the first round, the Nationals play the Rays, the Reds the Orioles, the Giants the Athletics and the Braves the Yankees.
NBA: The Boston Celtics (39-27) win the East, the Chicago Bulls (50-16) the North, the San Antonio Spurs (50-16) the South and the Los Angeles Lakers (41-25) the West. The at-large teams would be the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19), Miami Heat (46-20), Indiana Pacers (42-24) and Memphis Grizzlies (41-25). In the first round the Bulls would play the Grizzlies, the Spurs the Pacers, the Lakers the Heat and the Celtics the Thunder.
NHL: The New York Rangers, (109 points) win the East, the Pittsburgh Penquins (108) the North, The St. Louis Blues (109) the South and the Vancouver Canucks (111) the West. The at large teams are the Nashville Predators (104), the Philadelphia Flyers (103), Detroit Red Wings (102) and the the New Jersey Devils (102). In the first round the Canucks would play the Devils, the Rangers the Red Wings, the Blues the Flyers and the Penquins the predators.
It's different, (but maybe not that different: the regular season schedule is the bigger difference, along with getting right down to it in the playoffs with no mediocre teams included), but we are thinking outside the box. Would it be a good idea or a bad one?
What if all the professional sports leagues reorganized into four divisions: East, North, South and West. The NFL has 32 teams: MLB, NBA and NHL have 30 each. Add two expansion teams to those three and you get four 8 team conferences. Have the schedules drawn up to emphasize intra conference games to promote those rivalries. Non-conference games would be set up so every team would play every other team over a certain number of years.
The playoffs would consist of the winners of the four conferences, with tie-breakers used to break ties plus the four teams with the best records of those who didn't win their conference. The four conference winners play the four at-large teams with the conference winner with the best record playing the at large team with the worst record, the second best conference winner vs. the second worst at large team, etc. The conference winners get the home field advantage. In the second round the teams are seeded strictly by record, (including the first round results) and the two teams with the better records host the teams with the worst record. Then you have your title game or series.
Here's how it might look, just based on the regular season records of the last four completed seasons in the major sports.
NFL: The New England Patriots (12-4) win the East, the Green Bay Packers (11-5) the North, the Atlanta Falcons (13-3) the South and the Denver Broncos (13-3) the West. The at-large teams are the Houston Texans (12-4), the San Francisco 49ers (11-4-1), the Seattle Seahawks (11-5) and the Indianapolis Colts (11-5). In the first round, the Falcons play the Colts, the Broncos the Seahawks, the Patriots the 49ers and the Packers the Texans.
MLB: The Washington Nationals (98-64) win the East, the Cincinnati Reds, (97-65) the North, the Atlanta Braves (94-68) the South and the San Francisco Giants (94-68) the west in a tie-breaker, (no, I don't know what it would be). The at-large teams are the new York Yankees (95-67), the Oakland Athletics (94-68), the Baltimore Orioles (93-69) and the Tampa Bay Rays, (90-72). In the first round, the Nationals play the Rays, the Reds the Orioles, the Giants the Athletics and the Braves the Yankees.
NBA: The Boston Celtics (39-27) win the East, the Chicago Bulls (50-16) the North, the San Antonio Spurs (50-16) the South and the Los Angeles Lakers (41-25) the West. The at-large teams would be the Oklahoma City Thunder (47-19), Miami Heat (46-20), Indiana Pacers (42-24) and Memphis Grizzlies (41-25). In the first round the Bulls would play the Grizzlies, the Spurs the Pacers, the Lakers the Heat and the Celtics the Thunder.
NHL: The New York Rangers, (109 points) win the East, the Pittsburgh Penquins (108) the North, The St. Louis Blues (109) the South and the Vancouver Canucks (111) the West. The at large teams are the Nashville Predators (104), the Philadelphia Flyers (103), Detroit Red Wings (102) and the the New Jersey Devils (102). In the first round the Canucks would play the Devils, the Rangers the Red Wings, the Blues the Flyers and the Penquins the predators.
It's different, (but maybe not that different: the regular season schedule is the bigger difference, along with getting right down to it in the playoffs with no mediocre teams included), but we are thinking outside the box. Would it be a good idea or a bad one?
