Sports Divisions
Divisions in professional sports leagues are unnecessary, outdated, and counterproductive in determining the best team in the sport. Part of the need for divisions arose in baseball as expansion occurred, both in the number and location of teams. In order to decrease the amount of travel between east coast and west coast teams, divisions were set up so that each team played more games against teams in their geographic area, limiting the number of times teams would have to make cross-country trips. But whether intentional or not, divisions create opportunities for teams that did not have the best regular season records to win a sport’s championship.
The more divisions that teams are divided up into, the greater the chance that an undeserving team enters the post-season. In the National Football League, a team only needs to have a better record than three other arbitrarily assigned teams in order to make the playoffs. Just three, because each division only has four teams.
Why not simply let all 30 or 32 teams in a sport play without divisions, without conferences, and without dividing the teams up in any way, then have the top 8 or 12 compete in the post-season? Isn’t the purpose of having playoffs to determine who the best team is? If so, why not invite only the best teams to compete in the playoffs? Sports leagues would rather create the illusion among their fans that there is some kind of parity by letting teams with .500 records in the regular season eligible for the post-season while teams with better records sit on the sidelines. It seems to be a common occurrence in the NFL that an 8-8 team in the NFC makes the playoffs while a 10-6 team from the AFC misses out. And yet no one seems to have a problem with this fact because they know that next year there is hope that their team could have that chance to win the championship without even deserving to make the playoffs.
B.J. replied:
8 4-team divisions in football is ridiculous. Plus, travel is really NOT an issue.
6 in baseball is “just OK” (I think 4 was better)…but the reason is more important — a much longer season and a LOT more travel. Teams like Tampa Bay, Seattle, Boston, and San Diego would earn boatloads more frequent flier miles if they played all the other teams randomly. Teams in Chicago, and St. Louis, or elsewhere near the “middle” of the country would have a marked advantage.
But, as a resident of Charlotte, which today just entered the “Vinny Testaverde era” of football, knowing that we’re in a division with the lowly Falcons, Saints, and Bucs gives a city hope, knowing that SOMEONE out of that 4 is going to the playoffs (unless the NFL wisely changes the rules mid-season). Which leads me to wonder — has a 5-11 or 6-10 team ever made the playoffs in the NFL? I’m pretty sure 7-9 did it once in the past few years, but anything worse?
October 10, 2007 6:08 pm at 6:08 pm. Permalink.
Steve replied:
My problem with the 8-division format in the NFL is that it has devalued divisional games. They now account for only 6/16 games of a team’s schedule–less than half. It used to be that the surest way to make the playoffs was to beat the teams in your division, which placed even greater emphasis on traditional division rivalries. That is not necessarily true anymore.
But realignment did fix some geographical problems, at least until teams relocate. It never mad sense having Atlanta, New Orleans, and Carolina in the NFC West. And the current system works from the standpoint of creating equally balanced divisions. The only other option would have been 4 8-team divisions.
I don’t recall a sub 8-8 team having ever made the playoffs, but it’s certainly within the realm of possibility.
October 11, 2007 1:49 pm at 1:49 pm. Permalink.
bobsala replied:
I think Steve is right: no NFL team has ever made the playoffs with a losing record. 8-8 is the cutoff. The Giants could have made the playoffs as a 7-9 team last year if a few scenarios played out correctly, but they ended up being 8-8.
And I actually think that it is a good thing that divisional games are devalued. This way if a team is in a weak division, that team at least has to play 10 games outside of their division to prove that they belong in the playoffs. But I still think the idea of getting rid of the divisions completely is a better idea.
October 11, 2007 7:24 pm at 7:24 pm. Permalink.