An athletic conference is a collection of sports teams which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller divisions , with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
86-467: The American Soccer Conference was one of two conferences of the original North American Soccer League between 1978 and 1980. It along with the National Conference were formed for the 1978 season as part of a realignment to accommodate an expanding league, and bolster more competitive play which had been lacking under the previous Atlantic and Pacific conferences. It is speculated, that
172-811: A season , a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA), which has its own conferences , the Philippine Super Liga , the Premier Volleyball League , the PBA D-League , and formerly the Philippine Basketball League . The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in
258-516: A conference system. From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its three founding countries . The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's Jaguares and Japan's Sunwolves for 2016, plus a sixth franchise for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group;
344-610: A group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Most of these groups (including the "Power Five" conferences that are primary partners in the College Football Playoff ) refer to themselves as conferences, although
430-487: A lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home arena ) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season ), but the NFL teams do not. In college sports , the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to
516-585: A low turnout forced the game to be moved indoors to Chicago Stadium . The game was played under modified rules on a shortened 80-yard dirt field, and the Bears won with a final score of 9–0. As a result of the game, the Bears had the better winning percentage (.875) and won the league title. The loss gave the Spartans a final winning percentage of .750 and moved them to third place behind the Packers. While there
602-414: A modified playoff format was instituted. Divisional play was ignored (there were some cases where division rivals had both games wiped out by the strike, although each division ultimately sent at least one team to the playoffs), and the top eight teams from each conference (based on W-L-T record) were advanced to the playoffs. As a result, this became the first time that teams with losing records qualified for
688-422: A non-geographic conference system in 2019 and 2020 . The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from
774-469: A one-yard touchdown run by Colts fullback Alan Ameche after eight minutes and fifteen seconds of extra time. Overtime under the original format was sudden death , the first team to score would be declared the winner. In March 2010 , the NFL amended its rules for postseason overtime, with the rule being extended into the regular season in March 2012. If a team scores a touchdown, or if the defense scores
860-533: A safety on the (other team's) first possession, it is declared the winner. If it scores a field goal on its first possession, however, it then kicks off to the opposing team, which has an opportunity to score; if the score is tied again after that possession, true sudden death rules apply and whoever scores next will win. True sudden death rules would continue from double overtime hereafter. The league further amended its postseason overtime rules in March 2022 , allowing both teams to have at least one possession even if
946-599: A season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the Philippine Football League , and the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League . NFL playoffs The National Football League ( NFL ) playoffs is the annual single-elimination tournament held to determine the league champion. The four-round tournament is held after the league's regular season. Since the 2020 season , seven teams from each of
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#17327977632351032-426: A second wild-card team to each conference. The first round of the playoffs is dubbed the wild-card round , wild-card weekend , or, since 2021, super wild-card weekend . In this round, the second-seeded division winner hosts the seventh-seeded wild card team, the third hosts the sixth, and the fourth hosts the fifth. There are no restrictions regarding teams from the same division matching up in any round. The team with
1118-514: A secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's European Rugby Champions Cup regardless of its overall league position. The now defunct Manila Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association , where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in
1204-644: A tie-breaker system was introduced. The first round determined the conference's champion and its representative in the NFL Championship Game , played the following week. During the three years (1967–69) that this playoff structure was in effect, there was one use of the tie-breaker system. In 1967, the Los Angeles Rams and Baltimore Colts ended the season tied at 11–1–2 for the lead in the Coastal Division. The Colts came into
1290-471: A tiebreaker – for example, if a division runner-up ties with teams finishing third and fourth in another division, the runner-up's record will be compared to the team awarded third place in the other division without regard to the teams' divisional finish. If three or four teams in one division are tied for the division title and/or division runner-up, and also if after breaking ties within divisions three or four teams in different divisions are tied, then should
1376-511: A total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the NHL , since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have home-ice advantage in a given round, with the two best remaining teams in each conference receiving wild card spots. In the NBA, starting with
1462-486: Is 82 minutes, 40 seconds: Miami Dolphins kicker Garo Yepremian made the walk-off 37-yard field goal after 7:40 of the second overtime to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs , 27–24, in an AFC playoff game on December 25, 1971. The NFL's method for determining its champions has changed over the years. From the league's founding in 1920 until 1932, there was no scheduled championship game. From 1920 to 1923,
1548-437: Is divided into an American Football Conference (AFC) and a National Football Conference (NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s American Football League ; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming
1634-406: Is further divided into four geographic divisions of four teams each. As of 2020, qualification into the playoffs works as follows: If teams are tied (having the same regular season won-lost-tied record), the playoff seeding is determined by a set of tie-breaking rules . The names of the first two playoff rounds date back to the postseason format that was first used in 1978, when the league added
1720-457: Is no consensus that this game was a real "championship" game (or even a playoff game), it generated considerable interest and led to the creation of the official NFL Championship Game in 1933 . Given the interest of the impromptu "championship game", and the desire of the league to create a more equitable means of determining a champion, the league divided into two conferences beginning in 1933 . The first-place teams in each conference met in
1806-407: Is often a decreased emphasis on regular season performance as a result. In October 2013, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell announced plans to revisit the idea to expand the playoffs to 14 teams, with the increased revenue gained from the two additional postseason games being used to offset plans to shorten the preseason. The 14-team playoff proposal remained tabled until December 2014, when no team in
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#17327977632351892-691: Is part of NCAA Division I (specifically the Football Bowl Subdivision ), but is itself also subdivided into an East and West division. In English association football, the top level of non-League football —i.e., the level below the Premier League and the three tiers that make up the English Football League (EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of
1978-577: Is the highest level of provincial competition in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in 1996 through 2015 , only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in 2016 . Since the 2011 season , it has operated on
2064-466: The 2015–16 season , every road team won their respective Wild Card playoff game, the first such occurrence in NFL history. Through 2019 however, NFL owners remained adamant that every division winner should still be rewarded with a home playoff game regardless of record. Calls to expand the playoffs to 14 teams began in 2006. Proponents of expansion noted the increased revenue that could be gained from an additional two playoff games. They also noted that
2150-872: The FA Cup (open to teams from all levels), the EFL Cup (open only to teams from the Premier League and the English Football League), and the FA Trophy (open only to teams in the broader definition of the National League, plus the two tiers below it). The Kontinental Hockey League has a Western Conference and an Eastern Conference . This is similar to the NHL 's conferences in North America . In rugby union , Super Rugby
2236-510: The Green Bay Packers (10–3–1) had more wins, but a lower winning percentage (.769) as calculated under the rules of the day, which ignored ties. The Bears and Spartans had played to ties in both of their matchups, so the head-to-head tiebreaker did not apply. An additional game was therefore needed to determine a champion. It was agreed that the game would be played at Chicago 's Wrigley Field , but severe winter weather and fear of
2322-644: The Horizon League , Ivy League , Patriot League , Pioneer League and Summit League use the word "league" instead, and another conference calls itself the Coastal Athletic Association . The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the Southeastern Conference
2408-557: The Pacific Time Zone , so they had to be played on Saturday and Sunday to accommodate for time differences. In 1985, both the New York Giants and Jets hosted wild-card games. As they have shared a home stadium since 1984, the games had to be played on different days. For the 1990 season, a third wild-card team for each conference was added, expanding the playoffs to twelve teams. The lowest-seeded division winner
2494-726: The playoffs were expanded to four teams (division winners). When the league completed its merger with the American Football League (AFL) in 1970 , the playoffs were expanded to eight teams, which increased to ten in 1978 , twelve in 1990 , and fourteen in 2020 . Among the four major professional sports leagues in the United States , the NFL postseason is the only one to use a single-elimination tournament in all of its rounds. Major League Baseball (MLB) has traditionally used "best-of" series formats , though its Wild Card postseason round, initiated in 2012,
2580-456: The 12-team playoff system was implemented when the league still had 28 teams, four fewer than the 2002 expansion. The opposition to such a move notes that an expansion of the playoffs would "water down" the field by giving access to lower-caliber teams. Opponents of expansion further point to the NBA playoffs and the NHL playoffs where more than half of the teams qualify for the postseason, and there
2666-434: The 14-team playoff format in 2020 , placing a third wild-card team in each conference, and only giving the top seed a bye ( as explained above ). Correct as of the end of the 2023 regular season (including 2023–24 playoff berths). Notable current streaks in the table are listed below in bold . Only the longest streak for each team is listed. Note that the regular season increased from 14 to 16 games in 1978 , then to
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2752-534: The 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the English football pyramid , and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The Football Conference and Conference Premier were both renamed "National League", and
2838-498: The 2015–16 season, the playoff spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record. Major League Soccer (MLS) also divides itself into an Eastern and Western Conference , though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its MLS Cup Playoffs (since 2019, this has been seven teams each). The National Football League (NFL)
2924-515: The 2019 season, the four division winners and two wild cards in both conferences are seeded 1–6, respectively, with the top two seeds receiving byes, and the highest seed in each round guaranteed to host the lowest seed. A limitation of the 12-team format was that division winners, including one with a .500 regular season record or a losing season, could play a home playoff game against wild card teams who had superior regular season records. Home field advantage does not guarantee success, however; during
3010-524: The AAFC, which would merge into the NFL for the 1950 season, used an identical playoff format to the NFL from 1946 to 1948. In 1949 (its last year), the AAFC merged its two conferences when one of its teams folded, and used a four-team playoff system. In 1948, the aforementioned issue of playoff inequity came into play when the San Francisco 49ers would miss the playoffs with a 12–2 record; they were in
3096-756: The AFC Central champions and the NFC West champions playing their games on the road. Then in 1971, it rotated to the AFC East champions and the NFC East champions playing their games on the road. In the 1972 divisional playoff games, the AFC West champions and the NFC Central champions were the visiting teams. And in 1973 it would start all over with the AFC Central and NFC West again, and again in 1974 with
3182-415: The AFC East champions and the NFC East champions playing their games on the road. The divisional playoff match-ups were pre-determined year by year. The designated division champion assigned to play on the road would travel to play the division champion from the same division as the wild card winner. The wild card team was only allowed to play their divisional rival in the conference championship, but not in
3268-585: The AFC Western division champion and not the Central division, is because the AFC Eastern division winner played host to the AFC Central division winner in the divisional playoffs from the previous year (1970). This idea was designed to rotate playoff matchups year by year and not repeat. However, the rotation system led to several playoff inequities, such as: The league instituted a seeding system for
3354-767: The American Conference champion failing to win the Soccer Bowl in every season. Following the realignment, the conference was initially made up of five teams from the Atlantic Conference, two teams from the Pacific Conference, and five teams making their NASL debut. After playing just one season, the Oakland Stompers were sold and relocated to Edmonton . Athletic conference The AFL Women's competition used
3440-539: The NFC South could finish better than .500; Goodell stated that the league would vote on it at the March 2015 Owners' Meetings. However, by February 2015, the Washington Post reported that support among team owners had eroded, and league leaders expressed reluctance to make a change until the end of the 2015 season. The proposal then lost all interest by 2017. The league eventually revisited and implemented
3526-472: The NFL Championship Game after the season. There was no tie-breaker system in place; any ties in the final standings of either conference resulted in playoff games in 1941 , 1943 , 1947 , 1950 (2), 1952 , 1957 , 1958 , and 1965 . Since the venue and date of the championship game were often not known until the last game of the season had been played, these playoff games sometimes delayed
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3612-433: The NFL title game by a week. The playoff structure used from 1933 to 1966 was considered inequitable by some because of the number of times it failed to match the teams with the two best records in the championship game, as only the conference winners would qualify for playoff contention. Four times between 1950 and 1966 (in 1951 , 1956 , 1960 , and 1963 ) the team with the second-best win–loss record did not qualify for
3698-525: The South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group. For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following
3784-518: The basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the NFL playoffs ; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as wild cards . Major League Baseball (MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to
3870-405: The best overall record from each conference receives a first round bye , automatically advancing them to the second round, dubbed the divisional round , and hosts the lowest-remaining seed from the wild-card round. Meanwhile, the other two winners from that round play each other with the higher seeds hosting. The two surviving teams from each conferences' divisional-round playoff games then meet in
3956-507: The bottom. The current tiebreakers are as follows, with coin tosses used if all of the criteria fail: The NFL introduced overtime for any divisional tiebreaker games beginning in 1940 and for championship games beginning in 1946 . The first postseason game to be played under these rules was the 1958 NFL Championship Game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants (the so-called "Greatest Game Ever Played"), decided by
4042-502: The championship was awarded to a team by a vote of team owners at the annual owners' meeting. From 1924 to 1932, the team having the best winning percentage was awarded the championship (the de facto standard owners had been using anyway). As each team played a different number of games, simply counting wins and losses would have been insufficient. Additionally, tie games were not counted in the standings in figuring winning percentage (under modern rules, ties count as ½ win and ½ loss). There
4128-536: The championship. In both years, the playoff winner went on the road for the AFL title game and lost. For 1969 , the final season before its merger with the NFL, the AFL added a first-round whereby each division winner played the second-place team from the other division. The winners of these games met in the AFL Championship Game . In the only year of this format, the AFL champion Kansas City Chiefs were
4214-528: The competition's rebranding as the United Rugby Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and Scotland. Each regional pool competes for
4300-432: The conference championship game. Thus, there would be times when the pairing in the divisional playoff round would be the 1 seed vs. the 3 seed and 2 vs. 4. Following an expansion of the regular season from 14 to 16 games in 1978 , the league added one more wild-card team for each conference. The two wild-card teams played the week before the division winners. The winner of this game played the top-seeded division winner as
4386-749: The conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the Commissioner of Baseball in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the American League (AL) and National League (NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern ( AL , NL ), Central ( AL , NL ), and Western ( AL , NL ) divisions, with all six divisions having 5 teams each. Each league produces six teams for postseason play , with each division winner also guaranteed one of
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#17327977632354472-409: The divisional playoffs. In some years the designated road team was from the same division as the wild card team. In that case, the designated divisional road team would play one of the two other division champions, depending on the probable matchups from the previous year. For example, in the 1971 divisional playoffs, the AFC Eastern division winner was assigned to play on the road. The reason they played
4558-516: The dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the Jaguares will play in the South African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in
4644-414: The finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the 2010 Seattle Seahawks , 2014 Carolina Panthers , and 2020 Washington Football Team reached
4730-417: The first NFL Championship Game in 1933 , though in the early years, qualification for the game was based solely on regular-season records. From 1933 to 1966, the NFL postseason generally only consisted of the NFL Championship Game, which pitted the league's two division winners against each other (pending any one-game playoff matches that needed to be held to break ties in the division standings). In 1967 ,
4816-506: The first overtime period, true sudden death rules would continue from the start of any third and subsequent overtime period. If a game reached a fifth overtime, another coin toss would be held and timing rules would be as if another new game started. Although a contest could theoretically last indefinitely, or last several overtime periods like several National Hockey League postseason games , no NFL playoff game has ever gone past two overtime periods. The longest NFL overtime game played to date
4902-399: The first team with possession scores a touchdown. Since postseason games cannot end in a tie, unlike the preseason or regular season, additional overtime periods are played as necessary until a winner is determined. Furthermore, all clock rules apply as if a game had started over. Therefore, if the first overtime period ends with the score still tied, the teams switch ends of the field before
4988-404: The fourth seed. The tie-breaking rules have changed over the years, with the most recent changes being made in 2002 to accommodate the league's realignment into eight four-team divisions; record vs. common opponents and most of the other criteria involving wins and losses were moved up higher in the tie-breaking list, while those involving compiled stats such as points for and against were moved to
5074-437: The home teams in the playoffs were decided based on a yearly rotation. From 1970 to 1974, the divisional playoff round rotated which of the three division champions would have home-field advantage, with the wild-card team never having it; they and their opponents they faced in the divisional playoff game do not get home field advantage in the conference championship game. Starting in 1970, the divisional playoff games consisted of
5160-559: The last game of the season undefeated but were beaten by the Rams. Though the Colts shared the best win–loss record in the NFL that year, they failed to advance to the playoffs while three other teams with worse records won their divisions. This event figured into the decision in 1970 to include a wild-card team in the playoff tournament after the AFL–NFL merger . When the leagues merged in 1970 ,
5246-678: The league decided to realign the league to be more similar to the National Football League (American football) format, with one league official stating that the league hoped that new expansions and initiatives would cause "enough demand for soccer that they [could] sell the TV rights to two networks like the NFL did." During the three seasons using the American/National alignment, American Conference teams struggled to compete against their National Conference counterparts, with
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#17327977632355332-419: The league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths. After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to
5418-471: The league's two conferences qualify for the playoffs based on regular season winning percentage, with a tie-breaking procedure if required. The top team in each conference receives a first-round bye , automatically advancing to the next round. The tournament culminates in the Super Bowl , the league's championship game, competed between teams from each conference. NFL postseason history can be traced to
5504-581: The new NFL (with 26 teams) reorganized into two conferences—the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC)—with three divisions each. From the 1970 season to the 1977 season, four teams from each conference (for a total of eight teams) qualified for the playoffs each year. These four teams included the three division champions, and a fourth wild-card team. Originally,
5590-437: The older NFL. The success of the rival league eventually led to a full merger of the two leagues. From the 1966 season to the 1969 season (Super Bowls I–IV) the game featured the champions of the AFL and NFL. In 1967 , the NFL expanded to 16 teams and split its two conferences into two divisions of four teams each. The four division champions advanced to the league's first guaranteed multi–game playoffs . To remain on schedule,
5676-407: The one or two team(s) be qualified or eliminated at any step the tiebreaker reverts to step one for the remaining two or three teams. If multiple playoff spots are at stake, the rules are applied in order until the first team(s) qualify(ies) or are eliminated, then the process is started again for the remaining teams. Finally, once ties are broken between three or more teams qualifying for the playoffs,
5762-588: The other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the 2021 season . In the United States and Canada , the National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) are divided into Eastern ( NHL , NBA ) and Western ( NHL , NBA ) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues,
5848-506: The overall competition table that were not already qualified. In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the United Rugby Championship , adopted a conference system effective in 2017–18 , following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following
5934-558: The playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in 1982 , which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to
6020-413: The playoffs in 1975 , where the surviving clubs with the higher seeds were made the home teams for each playoff round. Thus, the top-seeded division winner played the wild-card team, and the remaining two division winners played at the home stadium of the better seed, forcing the lowest-ranked division winner to open the postseason on the road. However, two teams from the same division could not meet before
6106-401: The playoffs or to determine seeding in the playoff tournament. The rules below are applied in order until the tie is broken. Ties within divisions are always broken first to eliminate all but the highest-ranked club in each division before breaking ties between teams in different divisions, however, it should be emphasized that other than for division winners, divisional ranking is not in itself
6192-615: The playoffs while the team with the best record in the other conference, but only the third-best in the league, advanced to the championship game. During the 1960s, a third-place game was held in Miami , called the Playoff Bowl . It was contested in early January following the 1960 – 69 seasons. Though official playoff games at the time they were played, the NFL now officially classifies these ten games (and statistics) as exhibitions, not as playoff games. During its brief history,
6278-402: The playoffs: the 4–5 Cleveland Browns and the 4–5 Detroit Lions . Several times between 1978 and 1989, the two wild-card games had to be played on different days. Normally they both would be held on Sunday. In 1983 and 1988, the games were split between Saturday and Monday because Sunday was Christmas, and the NFL had avoided playing on that day at the time. In 1984, both games were played in
6364-430: The relative positions of the seeds determined will not change regardless of wild card and divisional round results – for example, if division winners were to tie for the second, third and fourth seeds in a conference and the third and fourth seeds subsequently advanced to the conference championship game, the team that was originally awarded the third seed would host that game even if it lost a head-to-head tiebreaker against
6450-425: The respective AFC and NFC Conference Championship games, hosted by the higher-seeded team. The winners of those contests go on to face one another in the Super Bowl which is played at a predetermined site. The New York Giants and New York Jets have shared the same home stadium since 1984 ( Giants Stadium from 1984 to 2009, and MetLife Stadium since 2010). Thus, if both teams need to host playoff games on
6536-686: The same conference as the 14–0 Cleveland Browns , who would go on to win the Western Conference and then the AAFC's championship game against the 7–7 Buffalo Bills (AAFC) . For the 1960 – 68 seasons, the AFL used the two-divisional format identical to the NFL to determine its champion. There was no tie-breaker system in place, so ties atop the Eastern Division final standings in 1963 and Western Division in 1968 necessitated playoff games to determine each division's representative in
6622-475: The same weekend, they are required to play on separate days, even during the Conference Championship round when both games are normally scheduled on the same day. The only time such a scheduling conflict occurred was during Wild Card weekend in 1985 when only 10 teams qualified for the postseason and there were only two wild-card games. Instead of playing both Wild Card games on the same day, as
6708-406: The second overtime. With two minutes to go in the second overtime, there would be a two-minute warning (but not during the first overtime period as in the regular season). If it were still tied at the end of the second overtime, the team that lost (or deferred) the coin toss before the first overtime would have the option to kick off, receive, or choose a side of the field to defend. However, unlike in
6794-517: The second-place team in the Western division and played both games on the road. They won Super Bowl IV in January and became the first division runner-up to win a Super Bowl . The Super Bowl began as an inter-league championship game between the AFL and NFL, an idea first proposed by Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt . This compromise was the result of pressures the upstart AFL was placing on
6880-484: The top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top wild card teams . In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the final round, leaving only two teams for
6966-407: The two regional leagues were renamed National League North and National League South . This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup competitions, such as
7052-562: Was a head-to-head tiebreaker, which also was weighted toward the end of the season: for two teams that played each other twice, each winning once, the team winning the second game was determined to be the champion (the criteria used to decide the 1921 title). In 1932 , the Chicago Bears (6–1–6) and the Portsmouth Spartans (6–1–4) were tied at the end of the season with identical winning percentages (.857). Of note,
7138-498: Was a single game until 2022 when it was replaced with a best-of-three series. Both the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Hockey League (NHL) continue to use "best-of" series formats. The 32-team National Football League is divided into two conferences, the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Since 2002, each conference has 16 teams and
7224-514: Was done from 1970 to 1977. However, the league continued to prohibit intra-divisional games in the divisional playoffs but allowed such contests in the wild-card round. This ten-team playoff format was used through the 1989 season. Under this system, the Oakland Raiders became the first wild-card team to win a Super Bowl following the 1980 season. During the strike-shortened 1982 season, only nine regular-season games were played, and
7310-672: Was the case when the 10-team system was used from 1978 to 1989, the Jets hosted their game on Saturday, December 28, before the Giants hosted their game on Sunday, December 29. This same scheduling conflict could occur for the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams , who began sharing SoFi Stadium in 2020. Often, teams will finish a season with identical records. It becomes necessary, therefore, to devise means to break these ties , either to determine which teams will qualify for
7396-541: Was then "demoted" to the wild-card weekend as the home team. Also, the restrictions on intra-divisional games during the divisional playoffs were removed. The 2001 season was the first with playoff games in prime time . Thus, the league no longer had the same restrictions like in 1984 as to when to schedule games in the Pacific Time Zone. The 1990 format continued until the 2002 expansion and realignment into eight divisions. In this format, used until
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