Because for instance the Dallas Coyboys can never play the New York Giants in the Super bowl because they are in the same conference. And also teams from different conferences can never play each other unless its in the Super Bowl. Why cant there just be one conference, and they all have a shot at the superbowl, and that way, each team might have a chance to play any other team during the season.
2006-11-07 02:58:46 · 6 answers · asked by Casey 3 in Sports ➔ Football (American)
Once upon a time, there were two unrelated football leagues.
The AFL, or American Football League, and the NFL, or National Football League. The AFL was formed by the oil rich Hunt family, in response to being turned down for an expansion NFL franchise in Dallas.
The league played in the shadow of the NFL for about 10 years, and finally merged with the NFL. The merger began in 1967, but the last AFL game was played in 1970.
All the AFL teams joined the NFL and the newly merged league kept the "NFL" name. Part of the merger included a playoff and championship game between the old former leagues, which now existed as conferences in the NFL. That's why we have a Superbowl, which is the single biggest sporting event we have.
We decide which team is the best of its conference by the regular season record and the conference playoffs. The only other way to do a playoff that I can think of would be a round robin tournament, which would mean each team plays every other, and would take much longer to accomplish. No major sports league does it that way.
2006-11-07 03:17:13 · answer #1 · answered by chocolahoma 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The American Football Conference (AFC) is one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL). The AFC was created after the NFL merged with the American Football League (AFL) in early 1970. The NFL's Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, and the then-Baltimore Colts agreed to join the new AFC along with the 10 former AFL teams. All of the other NFL teams formed the National Football Conference (NFC). Initially, this alignment was unpopular with fans in these cities.
AFL fans were also upset with the merger because the AFL gave up its name and logo to become part of the NFL, their former hated rival. Instead, the merged league created a new logo for the AFC that took elements of the old AFL logo, specifically the "A" and the six stars surrounding it. The AFC logo has basically remained unchanged since it debuted in 1970, though the "A" was not as bold when it was first introduced. For unexplained reasons, although the AFL's "A" was blue, the AFC's "A" is red.
Since the merger, five expansion teams have joined the AFC and two have left, thus making the current total 16. When the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers joined the league in 1976, they were temporarily placed in the NFC and AFC respectively. This arrangement lasted for one season only before the two teams switched conferences. The Seahawks eventually returned to the NFC as a result of the 2002 realignment. The expansion Jacksonville Jaguars later joined the AFC in 1995.
Due to the relocation controversy of the Cleveland Browns, a new AFC franchise called the Baltimore Ravens was officially established in 1996 while the Browns were "reactivated" in 1999.
Old American Football Conference LogoWhen the Oilers left Houston in 1997, no arrangement similar to the Browns/Ravens was made to retain the franchise name. When Oilers owner Bud Adams changed the name of his team to the Tennessee Titans in 1999, he specifically precluded any NFL team from ever using the name "Oilers" again. As a result, when the league did eventually put a new AFC expansion team into Houston in 2002, it was named the Houston Texans.
The remaining 16 teams are organized into four divisions (North, South, East, and West) of four teams each. Each team plays the other teams in their division twice (home and away) during the regular season in addition to 10 other games/teams assigned to their schedule by the NFL the previous May. Two of these games are assigned on the basis of the team's final record in the previous season. The remaining 8 games are split between the roster of two other NFL divisions. This assignment shifts each year. For instance, in the 2006 regular season, each team in the AFC East will play a game apiece against each team in both the AFC South and the NFC North. In this way division competition consists of common opponents, with the exception of the 2 games assigned on the strength of each team's prior season record. The NFC operates according to the same system.
At the end of each football season, there are playoff games involving the top six teams in the AFC (the four division champions by place standing and the top two remaining non-division-champion teams ("wild cards") by record). The last two teams remaining play in the AFC Championship game with the winner receiving the Lamar Hunt Trophy. The AFC champion plays the NFC champion in the Super Bowl.
The National Football League (2006)
AFC East North South West
Buffalo Bills Baltimore Ravens Houston Texans Denver Broncos
Miami Dolphins Cincinnati Bengals Indianapolis Colts Kansas City Chiefs
New England Patriots Cleveland Browns Jacksonville Jaguars Oakland Raiders
New York Jets Pittsburgh Steelers Tennessee Titans San Diego Chargers
NFC East North South West
Dallas Cowboys Chicago Bears Atlanta Falcons Arizona Cardinals
New York Giants Detroit Lions Carolina Panthers St. Louis Rams
Philadelphia Eagles Green Bay Packers New Orleans Saints San Francisco 49ers
Washington Redskins Minnesota Vikings Tampa Bay Buccaneers Seattle Seahawks
NFL seasons | NFL playoffs | AFC Championship Game | NFC Championship Game | The Super Bowl | Super Bowl Champions
NFL lore | NFL on television | Monday Night Football | The Pro Bowl | NFL Draft | NFLPA | AFL | AFL-NFL Merger | NFL Europe | Defunct NFL franchises | Hall of Fame
2006-11-07 03:04:14 · answer #2 · answered by Brite Tiger 6 · 1⤊ 2⤋
The NFL is the league which stands for national soccer League. The NFL is split into 2 communities, the NFC and the AFC. The communities interior the NFC are the communities that each and one and started interior the NFL interior the beginning up. The communities interior the AFC are the communities that each and one and started interior the AFL(it particularly is the yankee soccer League). The NFC stands for the national soccer convention, the AFC stands for the yankee soccer convention. Brett Favre is a commonplace and extremely gifted QB that has performed for 17 years and has at present retired. he's being stated in a fabulous style of different questions becuase he grew to become into sol enjoyed via the followers of all communities.
2016-10-03 09:24:03 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
All sports are organized this way. They do play games between conferences, but come playoff time, it is a good way to divide the teams. Baseball, basketball, and hockey do it as well.
2006-11-07 03:07:42 · answer #4 · answered by Take it from Toby 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
So we can have playoffs and a Super Bowl.
2006-11-07 03:43:58 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
WOW, i never knew how many idiots were out there till i found this asnwer thing by yahoo....y is there an american league and nat. leauge in baseball, y does the sun rise, y is the sky blue, come on ppl, there is one cuz how in the hell would you pick who playes who in the playoffs, there might be a way but this way its more organised, if there was a better way i'm sure they would be doing it, bu this is the way all sports do it
2006-11-07 03:06:47 · answer #6 · answered by dom_parnell 3 · 0⤊ 3⤋