I know the NFL has AFC and NFC north and south divisions. But I have never been able to figure out the divisions and the standings in these divisions. Is there a chart on this somewhere, or can someone just figure it out based on the teams' location?
2006-09-26 07:23:50 · 10 answers · asked by EMo 1 in Sports ➔ Football (American)
The teams are generally in the same division every year.
Once in a great while, the owners vote on "realignment". When that happens, teams can move between divisions, but most teams really prefer to stay in their current division. They've built rivalries with the teams in their division, and fans like the rivalries, so the owners don't want to throw that away.
Still, franchises change cities from time to time, and realignments are how the NFL makes the necessary adjustments. Prior to the last big realignment, the NFC West consisted of the San Francisco 49ers, the Atlanta Falcons, the St. Louis Rams, and the New Orleans Saints. The only "western" team in the whole bunch was the 49ers, and it really didn't make any geographic sense for those four teams to be in the same division.
For the current divisions, just check NFL.com, or any site dealing with NFL football.
2006-09-26 07:43:01 · answer #1 · answered by Bramblyspam 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
When the NFL and AFL merged in 1970, the NFL had 16 teams and the AFL 10. So, the NFL asked three teams to move from the NFL to the AFC, which turned out to be Baltimore, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh. The NFL then aligned the two conferences into three divisions each, where there would be 5 teams in the two East Divisions and 4 in the Central and West. The AFC pretty much fell along geographic lines, with Baltimore, New England, Miami, Buffalo, and the Jets in the East, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Houston in the Central, and Denver, Kansas City, Oakland, and San Diego in the West. The NFC was a bit more convoluted, with only the Central really being geographically correct, with Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, and Minnesota. Atlanta and New Orleans were both east of Dallas and St. Louis, but those two teams were put into the West with Los Angeles and San Francisco, while Dallas and St. Louis went in the East with the Giants, Philadelphia, and Washington (the argument that this was to protect the Dallas-Washington rivalry at the time is crap, as the Cowboys had only been in the league for 10 years by then).
As other teams were added, they were added somewhat geographically. Seattle went to the AFC West, Tampa to the NFC Central in 1977 (they came in in 1976, but played in the opposite conference of where they were). Geograpy really got screwed up when Baltimore moved to Indianapolis and St. Louis moved to Arizona in the 1980's. Jacksonville and Carolina came in in the mid '90s and were added to the two divisions that did not have 5 teams in them, the AFC Central and NFC West respectively.
Then Art Modell decided to pick up the Browns and move them to Baltimore. Cleveland was granted a new expansion franchise which went into the AFC Central, giving that division 6 teams. When the NFL decided to add a 32nd team for the 2002 season, the franchise went to Houston, and it was decided that that team would be in the AFC (the former Houston franchise had moved to Tennessee in the 1990's). As such, there were going to be an uneven number of teams, so someone had to move from the AFC to the NFC. Seattle became the logical choice, as the other four AFC West teams had been together in the same division since 1960.
The NFL also decided to go to four four-team divisions in each conference (East, West, North, South) and some of the geographic inaccuracies were corrected. There were two exceptions - Dallas in the NFC East, which really didn't affect anyone else, and Miami in the AFC East, which meant that Baltimore which would geographically fit in the East is actually in the North, and Indianapolis in the South, when it should be in the North.
2006-09-26 08:41:47 · answer #2 · answered by TheOnlyBeldin 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The way the divisions are set now came about because of the even distibution of 32 teams. Most of the teams are in a division by location. The main exception is the Dallas Cowboys. They were in the NFC East and built a bitter rivalry with the other three teams Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, and the New York Giants. So when the league realigned it try to keep the tradition. So no chart will be able to answer your question. Just watching it over the years.
2006-09-26 07:34:37 · answer #3 · answered by C R 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NFL.com is the official league site. The owners and the league decide who plays in what conference and division. They have a big meeting every year to decide these type of questions. For instance when the Seahawks (my team) wanted to switch from the AFC to the NFC they had to apply to the ownership group to get approval three years before they actually switched. Same for if a team wants to move to a different city.
2006-09-26 07:30:12 · answer #4 · answered by Perry L 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
both conferences have north, south, east, and west divisions. Most of the teams in the divisions are placed there by geographic location. a few are misplaced (such as the colts belonging to the AFC South). but pretty much they are all placed by location. go to nfl.com to see the standings.
2006-09-26 09:35:04 · answer #5 · answered by jefferson 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Click on any statistical website (nfl.com, espn.com, yahoosports, etc...) and click standings or team stats. Divisions are "generally" organized by location in the United States. Each conference is divided by North, South, East and West, with four teams apiece in the 32 team league.
The MLB has screwed it up, though, with an uneven number of teams in each conference. Why they don't move Houston from the NL Central to the NL West and Colorado from the NL West to the AL West is beyond me. But, that's another argument altogether.
2006-09-26 07:33:36 · answer #6 · answered by Adam C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I accept as true with the l. a. %.. Las Vegas is taboo for the NFL they gained't bypass there, that and the fan base is purely too temporary. Toronto is a sturdy decision too with the Buffalo deal and the NFL desirous to bypass international. alongside those lines additionally Mexico city and Vancouver. Oklahoma city has a brilliant sufficient inhabitants to assist a franchise. Alabama has a rabid college fan base and the NFL might want to faucet into that. Nebraska additionally may well be possible do to the comparable motives as Alabama. Kinda like the Panthers, lump Virginia and West Virginia and supply them some style of professional franchise.
2016-10-18 00:33:41 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That was decided many years ago and it was decided on the location of each team remember football season is in the winter and allot of teams couldnt fly years ago because of money,well thats all changed now but the rules are somewhat the same...
2006-09-26 07:35:10 · answer #8 · answered by cabby 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its fixed....you can look it up on the NFl.com website...the icons uptop are arranged
AFC: East, NOrth South West
NFC: East, North, South, West
2006-09-26 07:28:04 · answer #9 · answered by sdog 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Go to..
2006-09-26 07:28:46 · answer #10 · answered by Savage 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋