I am not a fan of some alignments in major professional sports. I don't like the American/National splits (go, geography!) in baseball (now that the DL is league-wide) and football - both despite historic rivalries. I also see some improvement can be made in basketball and hockey. Below is how I'd align each of the Big 4 leagues. And, yes, I understand longstanding rivalries in baseball and football would be harmed in the implementation of these alignments. I also have a couple changes to the season and post-season that I think makes sense with these alignment.

Baseball - MLB

6 divisions of 5 teams
Playoffs: 14 teams - 6 division champions and 8 wild-cards. #1 and #2, first-round byes with #3 vs #14, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays
Central: Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals
Midwest: Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pacific: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners
Southeast: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals
Southwest: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers

Basketball - NBA

5 divisions of 6 teams
Playoffs: 16 teams - 5 division champions and 11 wild-cards. #1 vs #16, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Midwest: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacific: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings
Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Football - NFL

4 divisions of 8 teams
Reduce preseason games to 2 and increase regular season games to 18. 10 division games (3 annual division rivals home-and-home + other 4 annual division opponents) and 8 non-division games against an entire division on a 3-year rotation. Postseason: 4 division champions plus 10 wild cards. #1 and #2 have bye in first-round, #3 vs #14, etc.

East: (Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders) (Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets, New York Giants)
North: (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings) (Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers)
South: (Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) (Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans)
West: (Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders) (Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks)

Hockey - NHL

Format is the same.

Atlantic: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
Central: Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets
Northeast: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pacific: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights

I think NBA and NFL is perfect and I don't care enough about hockey to even look.

Eastern League:

Metro: Boston, Toronto, New YorK Mets, New York Yankees and Philadelphia

Southeast: Washington, Baltimore, Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Miami

Great Lakes: Detroit, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Milwaukee

Western League:

Midwest: Minnesota, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, St. Louis and Kansas City

Mountain West: Houston, Texas, Arizona, Colorado and Seattle

California: San Diego, LA Dodgers, LA Angels, San Francisco and Oakland

The NHL is perfect, the only tweak you could really argue is to scrap the playoff format and go back to 1/8, 2/7, etc. instead of the divisional setup. NFL doesn't have much room (if any) to change outside of four-team divisions based on how short the season is, even if it results in crappy teams sometimes getting a playoff spot. Don't follow NBA but it seems fine as an outsider. The only one I'd adjust is the MLB if they ever expanded to 32 teams (which they won't do until the situations are resolved with Oakland/Tampa Bay), you could do four divisions of eight to channel the original pre-expansion setup in a sense.

(05-02-2022 12:59 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  I am not a fan of some alignments in major professional sports. I don't like the American/National splits (go, geography!) in baseball (now that the DL is league-wide) and football - both despite historic rivalries. I also see some improvement can be made in basketball and hockey. Below is how I'd align each of the Big 4 leagues. And, yes, I understand longstanding rivalries in baseball and football would be harmed in the implementation of these alignments. I also have a couple changes to the season and post-season that I think makes sense with these alignment.

Baseball - MLB

6 divisions of 5 teams
Playoffs: 14 teams - 6 division champions and 8 wild-cards. #1 and #2, first-round byes with #3 vs #14, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays
Central: Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals
Midwest: Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pacific: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners
Southeast: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals
Southwest: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers

Basketball - NBA

5 divisions of 6 teams
Playoffs: 16 teams - 5 division champions and 11 wild-cards. #1 vs #16, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Midwest: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacific: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings
Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Football - NFL

4 divisions of 8 teams
Reduce preseason games to 2 and increase regular season games to 18. 10 division games (3 annual division rivals home-and-home + other 4 annual division opponents) and 8 non-division games against an entire division on a 3-year rotation. Postseason: 4 division champions plus 10 wild cards. #1 and #2 have bye in first-round, #3 vs #14, etc.

East: (Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders) (Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets, New York Giants)
North: (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings) (Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers)
South: (Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) (Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans)
West: (Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders) (Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks)

Hockey - NHL

Format is the same.

Atlantic: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
Central: Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets
Northeast: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pacific: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights

It would help to understand why you made certain changes in order to properly comment. For me, the NFL and NBA are fine as currently arranged. I don't know enough about the NHL to comment. I think your MLB changes are the most interesting because by eliminating the leagues and creating two Western Divisions you resolve the time zone issue the plagues the teams on the west coast.

(05-02-2022 12:14 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(05-02-2022 12:59 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  I am not a fan of some alignments in major professional sports. I don't like the American/National splits (go, geography!) in baseball (now that the DL is league-wide) and football - both despite historic rivalries. I also see some improvement can be made in basketball and hockey. Below is how I'd align each of the Big 4 leagues. And, yes, I understand longstanding rivalries in baseball and football would be harmed in the implementation of these alignments. I also have a couple changes to the season and post-season that I think makes sense with these alignment.

Baseball - MLB

6 divisions of 5 teams
Playoffs: 14 teams - 6 division champions and 8 wild-cards. #1 and #2, first-round byes with #3 vs #14, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays
Central: Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals
Midwest: Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pacific: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners
Southeast: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals
Southwest: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers

Basketball - NBA

5 divisions of 6 teams
Playoffs: 16 teams - 5 division champions and 11 wild-cards. #1 vs #16, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Midwest: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacific: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings
Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Football - NFL

4 divisions of 8 teams
Reduce preseason games to 2 and increase regular season games to 18. 10 division games (3 annual division rivals home-and-home + other 4 annual division opponents) and 8 non-division games against an entire division on a 3-year rotation. Postseason: 4 division champions plus 10 wild cards. #1 and #2 have bye in first-round, #3 vs #14, etc.

East: (Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders) (Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets, New York Giants)
North: (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings) (Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers)
South: (Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) (Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans)
West: (Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders) (Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks)

Hockey - NHL

Format is the same.

Atlantic: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
Central: Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets
Northeast: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pacific: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights

It would help to understand why you made certain changes in order to properly comment. For me, the NFL and NBA are fine as currently arranged. I don't know enough about the NHL to comment. I think your MLB changes are the most interesting because by eliminating the leagues and creating two Western Divisions you resolve the time zone issue the plagues the teams on the west coast.

For NFL/MLB, the rules are all the same now. Other than historic rivalries, the divisions serve zero purpose. Aligning more along geography could help local fan bases and would "save" travel costs, avoid jetlag, etc.

For NBA, there is but one issue - the Northwest Division. The geographical strain on the teams in the Northwest Division (Portland to Oklahoma City to Minneapolis + Salt Lake City and Denver) is ridiculous. By going to this "5 x 6," divisions are larger but the average travel per team is likely reduced for in-division games.

For NHL, the divisions are largely fine. I am not a fan of the Eastern Conference where the Florida teams are in a division with the most northern teams in the Eastern Conference. I also shifted Detroit to the Central Division and Nashville to the Atlantic Division because Nashville is wedged between Columbus, Carolina, and the Florida teams.

I also believe having the best teams in the playoffs is what matters. Giving autobids to only division winners (I'd rather there be no autobids) with the rest being wildcards would provide the best teams an opportunity in the playoffs rather than whoever got an autobid.

(05-05-2022 10:21 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  

(05-02-2022 12:14 PM)vandiver49 Wrote:  

(05-02-2022 12:59 AM)BePcr07 Wrote:  I am not a fan of some alignments in major professional sports. I don't like the American/National splits (go, geography!) in baseball (now that the DL is league-wide) and football - both despite historic rivalries. I also see some improvement can be made in basketball and hockey. Below is how I'd align each of the Big 4 leagues. And, yes, I understand longstanding rivalries in baseball and football would be harmed in the implementation of these alignments. I also have a couple changes to the season and post-season that I think makes sense with these alignment.

Baseball - MLB

6 divisions of 5 teams
Playoffs: 14 teams - 6 division champions and 8 wild-cards. #1 and #2, first-round byes with #3 vs #14, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Toronto Blue Jays
Central: Chicago Cubs, Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, Minnesota Twins, St. Louis Cardinals
Midwest: Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Cleveland Guardians, Detroit Tigers, Pittsburgh Pirates
Pacific: Los Angeles Angels, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco Giants, Seattle Mariners
Southeast: Atlanta Braves, Baltimore Orioles, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Washington Nationals
Southwest: Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers

Basketball - NBA

5 divisions of 6 teams
Playoffs: 16 teams - 5 division champions and 11 wild-cards. #1 vs #16, etc.

Atlantic: Boston Celtics, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards
Midwest: Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves
Pacific: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings
Southeast: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Hornets, Memphis Grizzlies, Miami Heat, New Orleans Pelicans, Orlando Magic
Southwest: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs, Utah Jazz

Football - NFL

4 divisions of 8 teams
Reduce preseason games to 2 and increase regular season games to 18. 10 division games (3 annual division rivals home-and-home + other 4 annual division opponents) and 8 non-division games against an entire division on a 3-year rotation. Postseason: 4 division champions plus 10 wild cards. #1 and #2 have bye in first-round, #3 vs #14, etc.

East: (Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders) (Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, New York Jets, New York Giants)
North: (Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings) (Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Steelers)
South: (Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers) (Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, Tennessee Titans)
West: (Arizona Cardinals, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las Vegas Raiders) (Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks)

Hockey - NHL

Format is the same.

Atlantic: Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Florida Panthers, Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Washington Capitals
Central: Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Winnipeg Jets
Northeast: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Montreal Canadiens, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs
Pacific: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights

It would help to understand why you made certain changes in order to properly comment. For me, the NFL and NBA are fine as currently arranged. I don't know enough about the NHL to comment. I think your MLB changes are the most interesting because by eliminating the leagues and creating two Western Divisions you resolve the time zone issue the plagues the teams on the west coast.

For NFL/MLB, the rules are all the same now. Other than historic rivalries, the divisions serve zero purpose. Aligning more along geography could help local fan bases and would "save" travel costs, avoid jetlag, etc.

For NBA, there is but one issue - the Northwest Division. The geographical strain on the teams in the Northwest Division (Portland to Oklahoma City to Minneapolis + Salt Lake City and Denver) is ridiculous. By going to this "5 x 6," divisions are larger but the average travel per team is likely reduced for in-division games.

For NHL, the divisions are largely fine. I am not a fan of the Eastern Conference where the Florida teams are in a division with the most northern teams in the Eastern Conference. I also shifted Detroit to the Central Division and Nashville to the Atlantic Division because Nashville is wedged between Columbus, Carolina, and the Florida teams.

I also believe having the best teams in the playoffs is what matters. Giving autobids to only division winners (I'd rather there be no autobids) with the rest being wildcards would provide the best teams an opportunity in the playoffs rather than whoever got an autobid.

BePcr, no one in MLB will like that. Those divisions are there for what they are intended for: historical rivalries. An MLB commissioner tried to do what you proposed once, and failed miserably. Same thing with the NFL. It's why the Dallas Cowboys are in the NFC East, although it makes no geographical sense whatsoever.