Restructuring/Playoffs

CFL Talk
1

This is NOT an expansion thread.
Don't even bring the topic up.

Now that the league is pretty solidly set at 8 teams, I'd like to open discussion on changing the format of the competition so that it is more even.

If the CFL got rid of the two divisions, several negatives would be eliminated:

  1. Teams could never play each other FOUR times in the regular season.
  2. The crossover rule would be gone.
  3. The playoffs would be seeded accurately.
  4. Cross-country rivalries would be encouraged.

I would also like to see the number of playoff teams lowered, preferably to 4. While the two-team-bye is a commonly accepted football playoff system, having only two teams not make it is a joke. They could even keep the first-round-bye and have just three teams in the playoffs.

2

Would you like to see all the threads for division restructuring?

I will never understand the need to change everything.

3

this is dumb.. I WANT teams to play their divisional Rivals 4 times!!

Saskatchewan vs Edmonton 4 times this year is AWESOME!!

that's how it Oughtta be.. none of this 1 divisional crap.

4

I really dont see the need for the change either.. its only an 8 team league, with lots of parity. Last year,the team with best record had 13 wins, you needed at least a .500 record to have any chance of making the playoffs. 3 teams were at 10-8 and two at 9-9, and you want those teams with .500 records out?

I dont agree with the crossover being eliminated either. If the 4th place team in either division has a better record, why not let them in instead? When Ottawa was in the league, and still called the Rough Riders, they the Argos and Als would be lucky to have 5 or 6 wins(early 80's), but would still make the playoffs, but the 4th place team in the West would be out, with a far superior record. Any playoff format should include the best teams, no matter what division they are in. You can find past records in the Standings section of this site.

5

1 division----6 playoff teams--would be great if the league were to have an unbalanced number of teams.

6

Why fix what aint broke? What we have now strikes a good balance between having a good number of playoff teams and rewarding good regular season play.

7

the cfl needs to simplify things. There are only 8 teams, so whats the point of two divsions, its better to put all teams in a single table similar to soccer, the top two teams get a bye, and teams 2-6 play each other in wild card games, then you play the semi-finals, and then the grey cup, this system would eliminate teams with losing records playing in the grey cup, also if the cfl moves to expansion to 10 teams, then you could have a 8-team playoff, or if the cfl only goes to 9 teams, you could still have the 6-team playoff and eliminate winnipeg moving from one division to another.

8

The playoff format, with the crossover is desinged that way already! Its like the old saying-- “If it aint broke, dont fix it!” The format is fine, no need to change it at all.

9

No doubt

10

Aslong as the CFL has 8-11 teams 2 Divisions is the right setup.

if the league gets to 12 teams 4 divisions + 2 conferences is needed.

Now buddy, this idea of lowering the amount of playoff games has it never occered to ya that perhaps it would be bad to do that finacially?

1.the bye weeks ensures the top seeded team in each division gets a near sell-out as fans have more then 5 days to sell tickets(needed for if TO and BCL place first)

2.The other semi-final allows for the team placing second to get a home playoff game.

Reducing the number of playoff teams takes an average of 500K$ away from 2 teams.
It also likely hurts a few teams end of year attendance due to their team being eliminated from the playoffs early.

What the CFL needs to make the playoffs "look" better is a 10 team league, then top 40% of teams get home playoff games, top 20% get a bye, top 60% make the playoffs.(compared to 50, 25 and 75 now)

However the Cross-over SHOULD ALWAYS EXIST!!!

Divisions also allow for teams out east to have really really low travel costs + ensure teams play their local rivals most.

TO should always be playing Hamilton and Montreal the most.
Edmonton should always be playing Calgary and Sask the most.

The only issue is that Winnipeg isn't player the Green Priders 3-4 times a year, but that would be solved should another team or two be added.

SO AGAIN NO CHANGING THE FORMAT WITHOUT EXPANSION!

11

If you only had 4 playoff teams, then some would be eliminated sooner and they would have less to play for in their remaining games and that would suck.

12

4 divisions of 3 barnes?
Yuk
How about 3 divisions if a 12 team league did exist?

13

always should be even number of division.

Keep it at 2 for the next 100 yrs or so until the league has at least 16 teams.

However, once there is 12 teams, go with 8 playoff spots.

14

No matter what anyone says, the likelyness of the cfl ever having more then 10 teams is very unlikely. Even if we do, 2 divisions of 5 teams each is the only way to go. and then keep the 6 team playoff, it'll make those regular season games so much more important.

15

Lose the crossover!
It was designed to keep the whiners happy

16

no, it was designed to give teams who play in the tougher division a chance in teh playoffs, and so that teams with worse records wouldnt be in the playoffs in front of them.

17

I disagree, it was desinged so that teams that win only a third or less of its games dont make the playoffs.

18

Alright, time to rebut:

I never said anything about killing the crossover, but the rule isn't perfect. One division ends the need for it.

One division ALSO makes a more even schedule. I'm sure that fans AND players don't want to play the same teams 4 times in a season (even though some of you are jerks and like the idea).

The reason I suggested a smaller playoff field is because I'd rather not see a sub-.500 team in the playoffs in a game whose only purpose is to wear down the home team in preparation to get destroyed the next week at the house of the division champions.

Just because there were two teams last year with horrible records doesn't mean that every playoff qualified is going to be 9-9 or better every year.

19

Barons, 4 division of 3 works pretty good. well of course depending who that 12th team is. But that is a long long ways away.

Playoff sloting should be based on Division play.

Thus in a 4 divisions of 3 format the reg season can be:
6 games vs division rivals(3 games vs. each)
6 games vs. conference rivals(2 games vs. each)
6 games vs. non-Converence teams(1 game vs. each or 2 games vs. 3 rotating yearly)

it works nicely.
Playoff format is:
top team in each division gets a home playoff game
the 3rd and 4th ranked teams in each confernce win “wild card” slots to play the division winners.(likely the second place team in each division but cross overs are possible)

4 winners play in 2 conference final matchups
2 conference final winners play in the grey cup.

“too many teams make the playoffs” don’t care, it’s more MONEY. that’s all that matters. More TV time due to 2 extra playoff games, 2 more teams get that 11 game Revenue + there is a chance for those division winners to get an extra home game in the Conference final.

mo money mo money mo money.

However the big problem is the only way this really works is if the 12 team is either Saskatoon, Thunder Bay or possibly Sudbury.

Or else it’s really wierd to have a division of Regina, Winnipeg and like Windsor or London as part of the Western Conference.

3 Divisions of 4 really messes up the playoff format… also makes the schedualing rather hard.

9 games vs. Division rivals and 9 vs. the 8 non-division rivals ?

That schedual doesn’t work at all.
Winnipeg and Saskatoon are again seperated unless some team out west gets a team(like Victoria, Red deer or Lethbridge) Which is really not cool.

Again league is far off rom 12 teams so doesn’t matter.

What matters right now is the fact that the 6 team playoff format works very well for this league and any change to say a 4 team playoff system completely removes over 1M$ a year in Ticket Revenue + I’m not even sure how much of Sponsorship Revenue.

TSN isn’t going to pay as much if you eliminate a whole round of the playoffs. That is specificly what they payed so much for is the playoffs.

Moving to 1 division eliminates more teams alot faster. if your 8th in a 1 division league by game 14, your pretty much garanteed to be out, even with say a 3-11 record(best possible 7-11)

in the current setup especially if the end of the season was made more Divisional Rival heavy teams can make the end of the season push to sneak into the playoffs.

It’s great for the fans and that is what the leagues about.
It’s all about the better you do in the season, the better your advantage is in the playoffs.

If you finish first your advantage over the team who visits you is very high, and that’s how it should be.
Your team has less injuries, more prep time, cannot be tired at all due to travel. aslong as the coach keeps his players in game shape a Win should be pretty easy.
The Big issue with the CFL right now is the pre-season, it should be a 3 game pre-season to allow teams 1 pre-season game vs. each divisional opponent. Get the complete rotation in during the pre-season.

20

The minimum amount of wins has nothing to do with it.
It was designed to make the whiners happy