# Realign the NFL! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 22, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067 "2001-03-22T22:43:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2001, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/1 "2001-03-22T22:43:14Z")
At the owners meetings this week, the hot topic is realignment of the NFL. I aproached this problem from a logical standpoint. “What makes good rivalries?”, I asked myself. “Why, Dave, It’s gotta be geography.” I answered myself.“Think how much fan interest would be generated with a San Francisco-Oakland home and home matchup. Or Baltimore/DC/Philly. Or Dallas/Houston.etc…” With that in mind, I came up with the following divisions: ```auto Regional Divisions: Washington Green Bay Baltimore Detroit Philadelphia Chicago New York Giants Minnesota Tampa Bay Atlanta Miami New Orleans Jacksonville Dallas Carolina Houston New England Kansas City New York Jets St. Louis Buffalo Denver Pittsburgh Arizona Cleveland Seattle Indianapolis San Francisco Tennessee Oakland Cincinnati San Diego ``` “Great!”, I said, “That solves that.” Unfortunately, I then heard a massive whine from many fans, “What about our traditional rivalries? Dallas/DC, Miami/Buffalo, Denver/Oakland, etc…?!” Personally, I think the new regional rivalries would quickly surplant the old ones, but what the heck, I figured. I’ll solve that problem too. Each team would get to pick one team not in it’s division for a home and home matchup each year.For example: DC could chose Dallas, Dallas chose Philly, Philly chose Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh chose Cleveland, Cleveland chose Baltimore, Baltimore chose Indianapolis, Indy/Buffalo, Buffalo/Miami, etc… This would give 10 set games a year, and 6 games to rotate between the rest of the league, like they do now. What do y’all think? ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/2 "2001-03-23T00:35:40Z")
I like the geographical divisions you have. Pretty much the same as the ones I have. (Why, I wonder, do they insist on putting Houston in the AFC and making an NFC team switch, BTW?) One problem with the “choose a team” for the home series: What if there are, say, three teams outside the division (Washington, Philly, Giants) that want to choose Dallas. Dallas is now locked into 12 (6 divisional, and 6 in the home-home choice) games plus 2 more for their choice. Also, what if Dallas and Philly choose each other. Do they play 4 times? Your choose scenario only works if every team chooses a different team. How many teams are going to choose Houston? Cleveland? (unless they want an easy win, that is) Teams are going to grapple over playing the teams that will be the biggest gate draw and give them the best chance to be on national TV, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/3 "2001-03-23T03:18:44Z")
Simple, Gazoo. Once a team has been picked, noone else can pick it. Set up a lottto machine with 32 balls in it to determine the order teams pick in. The point is not to give every team the opportunity to play, say Dallas, but to preserve traditional rivalries. Maybe 8-10 teams will wind up with new rivalries by the luck of the draw, and these will gain intensity as the teams get used to playing each other every year. There will be a few hurt feelings this way, but I think this system would keep them minimised, Say the Giants want to play Dallas, but Washington has already taken the 'boys. They could pick, say, the Jets. I guarantee that within 5 years, a Giants/Jets rivalry would be much more intense than the Giants/Cowboys one is now. ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/4 "2001-03-23T05:30:37Z")
Hmm, no offense, but…what color is the sky in your world? You don’t really think the NFL would pass such a plan do you? I do agree, that no matter what the divisions end up looking like, new rivalries wil appear. I think they should just leave it at that. You’ll still have ocasional games of Jets-Giants, etc. But your division determines the main foes. Baseball has actually adjusted to this fairly well. If they can do it, football can do it hands down, without the “choose” program that would cause more problems than you think. By the the time you get around #20, you’d end up with the Dolphin/Seahawk rivalry! Yeah, that preserves tradition! ---
**Author:** ![Montfort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Montfort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Montfort)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/5 "2001-03-23T05:54:06Z")
I don’t think the Eagles would pick Dallas. They’d pick Pittsburgh for the two easy wins each year. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/6 "2001-03-23T07:16:33Z")
Weirddave - Let me the first to say that I agree with all your picks. They look very practical. I also think the “rival selection” you proposed is a great idea. And to anyone who claims that one team is going to end up dominating a division for decades, or that there’s no “competitive balance” in some of the divisions, or that certain divisions are too weak etc. etc., four words: Last two Super Bowls. Face it, dynasties are a thing of the past. Every division will get competitive in time. Gazoo - Okay, I understand your point of view…so what’s _your_ plan? ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/7 "2001-03-23T13:29:00Z")
**DKW** - I like the geographic based divisions, and as I mentioned, I think **Weirddave** ’s alignment is as good as any as far as geography. As for scheduling, I have no problem with the NFL’s current plan. Play 6 games in your division, 4 against a division in your conference, 4 against against a division in another conference, and 2 games based on the prior years’ standings. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/8 "2001-03-23T16:13:43Z")
Nice thing about NFC central division is that they lose Tampa Bay which nobody liked anyway while all the old rivalries remain intact. I don’t like a lottery system for determining rivalries. Every two years, teams should choose two teams not in their division as their rivals. They then have a home and away series with them. (Home one year, away the next) Teams that choose each other get first priority. That way a team like Dallas actually gets to play its rivals (because Washington and Philly also chose them) instead of Cinnci or San Diego because they won the lottery. This works out to six divisional games and two rivalry games a year. That means eight fixed games and eight free games which is what it is now. (Weirddave, you might want to check your math again.) ---
**Author:** ![Gazoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ce73a5/32.png) [@Gazoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gazoo)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/9 "2001-03-23T16:26:51Z")
**Wolverine** - the math in the OP is fine – 6 Divisional games 2 games against your “choice team” (one home, one away) 2 games against the team that “chooses” you (same deal) 10 games. ---
**Author:** ![Wolverine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ba9def/32.png) [@Wolverine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolverine)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/10 "2001-03-23T16:33:32Z")
Boy, do I feel sheepish. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/11 "2001-03-23T16:44:35Z")
I’m happy to see that the rumors of the Vikings being pulled from the NFC Central and sent to the AFC West have no grounding. As it stands now, my only care is that the Bucs and not the Vikes are evicted from the NFC Central - the Packers, Lions, and Bears all are second-rate teams that would lose to any given XFL team. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ultimate_Scapegoat)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2001, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/12 "2001-03-23T17:25:01Z")
I’m not sure that local rivalries would supplant traditional rivalries. It’s always a big deal that these distant teams play each other 2 times a year: WASHINGTON V DALLAS PHILADELPHIA V DALLAS MIAMI V BUFFALO, NEW ENGLAND, JETS OAKLAND V KANSAS CITY Here’s my plan (I think this is the alignment that the NFL is going with): NFC EAST: WASH, NYG, PHL, DAL BLACK AND BLUE: GB, TB, MINN, CHI SOUTH: ATL, NO, CAR, TB WEST: STL, SF, AR, SEA AFC EAST: NE, NYJ, BUFF, MIAMI CENTRAL: PITT, CLE, CINCY, BLT SOUTH: JAX, TN, IND, HOU WAST: DEN, OAK, KC, SD Then, each team picks up to 3 local non-div rivals to play every year: NE- Giants NYJ- Giants, Eagles NYG- Jets, Pats PHL- Jets, Ravens, Steelers BAL- Eagles, Skins CAR- Redskins (lots of Carolinians are Skins fans), Titans WAS- Panthers,Ravens ATL- Jags, Titans JAX, TB, AND MIAMI play each other once a year JAX- Bucs, Fins, Falcons TN- Falcons, Panthers, Bengals? Colts? BUFF- none CLE- Lions PITT- Eagles CINCY- Colts, Titans? INDY- Lions, Bengals, Titans? Bears? DET- Browns, Bengals, Colts GB- none MINNY- none CHIC- Rams, Colts? DAL- Texans, Saints NO- Texans, Cowboys HOU- Saints, Boys KC- Rams STL- Bears, Rams DENVER- Cardinals? Seahawks? ARI- Chargers, Broncos SD- Cards, Niners SF- Raiders, Chargers OAK- Niners, Hawks? SEA- Raiders? Broncos? I know I’m missing some stuff, but you get the idea. Old rivalries are kept intact, and new local ones are born! ---
**Author:** ![Sledman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Sledman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sledman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/13 "2001-03-24T06:06:45Z")
I assume the TB in your Black and Blue is supposed to be Detroit. Personally the Central should turn out exactly as we want it. Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Viqueens, Chicago Cubs and that other team in that State across the lake. However a lot of the powers that be want to move Minne-ho-ha out of the division. Is there some knowledge of Red’s plans by the NFL that we are not aware of?? Regionally, the NFC Norris just makes sense with the 1 team and 3 pretenders mentioned above. 😃 Packers/Cubs is an untouchable matchup so you can bet the farm that Green Bay and Chicago end up in the same division. ---
**Author:** ![MysterEcks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@MysterEcks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysterEcks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2001, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/14 "2001-03-24T07:09:46Z")
**Montfort** said: > [@](#): > > I don’t think the Eagles would pick Dallas. > > They’d pick Pittsburgh for the two easy wins each year. 😃 Seeing as how the Eagles had to rely on the Steelers giving the game away at the end last year, you might wanna rethink that. I don’t know why everybody seems to be assuming the Steelers and Eagles would make some sort of natural rivalry. Maybe Eagle fans suffer from Super Bowl envy x4 or something–I mean, it’s been a long time since the Eisenhower Administration–but Steeler fans don’t really give a damn about the Eagles. The main Steeler rivalries anymore would be with the Bills and the Browns. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@The\_Ultimate\_Scapegoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Ultimate_Scapegoat)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2001, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/realign-the-nfl/59067/15 "2001-03-25T05:35:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sledman \* > \*\*I assume the TB in your Black and Blue is supposed to be Detroit. > > \*\* JFTR, I sit corrected. TB would be in the NFC South, and Detroit in the NFC BnBlue!