Can anyone name one positive thing about having conferences in sports?

[Assani Fisher]

Was just thinking about how awesome a Pats/Colts Super Bowl or a Spurs/Suns(or Mavs) Finals would've been.....

Now I understand the need for divisions in the NFL- rivalries in the NFL, unlike other pro sports, are more based on regular season games(whereas in other sports, nearly every great rivalry stems from the postseason). So you want to have 2 DAllas/Washington or GB/Chicago games each year. Thats fine.

But whats the point in conferences? And in the NBA, why not just lose divisions all together?

The benefit would be being way more likely to have the best teams meet later in the postseason rather than earlier. Aside from being more fair, I'd simply think that this would make for better drama and MOST IMPORTANTLY better TV ratings.

Other than "its just tradition" can anyone name a decent reason for having them?

[Hollywade]

the development of rivalries that would not occur otherwise

???

[THAY3R]

I think the NBA in a 18 team/12 team relegation style league would be fun.

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
I think the NBA in a 18 team/12 team relegation style league would be fun.

[/ QUOTE ]

I would respond to this but I would just be trolling.

[THAY3R]

Nice trollish response!

[Dominic]

[ QUOTE ]
Nice trollish response!

[/ QUOTE ]

are u trying to re-level me?

[tuq]

Assani,

Travel comes to mind, for one thing. Which is the reason the NBA stupidly enacted the 2-3-2 format for the Finals back in the 80s. But generally speaking I would like to see a seeding system reflect record, not geography, as it does in the NFL. That way something like last year won't happen, where the best five teams in the NBA are beating each other senseless in one conference, while a one-man team is making it to the Finals fairly easily in the other.

[tuq]

BTW that travel excuse is pretty stupid...NBA playoff games have 2+ days between all of them, whereas with MLB's 2-2-1 format they often play game five the day after game four, even if it's all the way across the country. No reason that world-class athletes can't get rest on a team chartered plane and fully recover to play two days later.

[Billy Bibbit]

Basketball (and hockey) are a lot more physically demanding than baseball though, so it makes sense that those are the two sports that divide their conferences by geography.

[gusmahler]

[ QUOTE ]
Assani,

Travel comes to mind, for one thing.

[/ QUOTE ]Travel was a good excuse in the 50s, when traveling across the country was burdensome. These days, where all the clubs are so rich, they have chartered flights, the travel excuse is stupid.

Why should the Phoenix Coyotes and San Jose Sharks play each other 8 times in a season (including 3 games in a row at one point!) while not playing some of east coast teams even once? Is a 6 hour chartered flight really that more burdensome than a 2 hour chartered flight?