Quote:I don't think expanding the playoffs to 14 teams is terrible. You'd be giving the top seed only a bye and the 2 seed would be playing the 7 seed on wildcard weekend. That's not drastically changing things too much. I do agree that 16 teams is too much. So half the league makes the playoffs?!? Not a good idea. But expanding to 14 would have allowed a hot Cardinals team into the playoffs this year and I would have enjoyed seeing that.
I am vehemently opposed to reseeding based on record alone. People are up in arms that the 49ers have to go to Lambeau this year. They aren't taking into account that the NFC West played the AFC South this year which in my estimation is the worst division in football at the moment. Giving division champs a home game is the equalizer against a wildcard team that gets in and has a better record due to fortunate scheduling. It also helps to foster deep rivalries between division opponents because the games are worth more and that is good for the game.
To further the point, the AFC West also played the AFC South this year and put 3 teams into the playoffs. I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, but let's not gloss over the fact that they had an easier schedule than the rest of the AFC and start handing out home field advantage to a team like the Chiefs.
While I respect where you are coming from regarding the case for a 14 team playoff, my greatest concern if this happens is it will be only one step from leading to a 16 team playoff. The following is what I can envisioning happening regarding a 14 team playoff:
Complaints that the top seeded team was in a weak division and/ or had a relative weak schedule and hence it gets a bye, with the 2nd seeded team having to play a first round playoff game. This probably will eventually lead to no more byes, hence expanded playoffs to 16 teams. Keeping the playoffs with only 12 teams getting in is from my point a view a proactive method to help prevent the playoffs being expanded to 16 teams.
If given the choice, I much rather the emphasis in the NFL be on teams with 10 or 11 wins for example than 7 to 9 wins. With more teams in the playoffs, winning more games in the regular season will lose meaning in many, if not most cases.
While I enjoy the NFL level of play and overall game more than College Football, to the credit of College Football, it has the most important regular season of any major sport in either the Professional or College Ranks, in North America. Every game is critical in college football if your goal is to win the National Championship. It's the complete opposite of College Basketball, the NBA, and NHL. As Alabama saw, there's very little margin of error when it comes to having the opportunity to play for the National Title. One play resulted in one loss in the regular season that cost them a chance at 3-peating. Those high stakes games are tremendous!
Though the Cardinals were unfortunate that they didn't make the playoffs despite having 10 wins, the bottom line is a wildcard spot is in reality a bonus. This line of thinking is at least part of the reason why I agree with you that division winners should continue to get home games in their first playoff game, not wildcards. If a team fails to win their division through the course of the regular season, they shouldn't be rewarded over a team that did win its division. Great point regarding keeping divisional games that much more important if the current playoff seeding formula remains in place.
