The NFL's Improved Schedule-Making Process

The NFL's decision to expand to 32 teams and align into eight divisions of four teams each as of 2002 has removed much of the complication and inequity that used to plague its schedule-making process. Before the new system, some teams, even those in the same conference but a different division, would go a decade or more without playing each other. For example, Dan Marino and John Elway, two of the league's top all-time quarterbacks, never faced each other in a regular season game. That's because their respective teams, the Miami Dolphins and the Denver Broncos, went more than a decade without squaring off in the regular season.

Thankfully, this kind of schedule quirk can't happen anymore. Teams in the same division still play each other twice a season. But now, teams in the same conference, but in a different division, play each other at least once every three seasons. Teams in opposite conferences play each other every four years, guaranteed.

So now the bulk of schedule is structured as follows: Two games against each of the other three teams in the same division; one game against each of the four teams from a rotated division in the same conference; and one game each against each of the four teams from a rotated division in the opposite conference.

For an example of how the rotation would work, let's look at the NFC East. Teams in that division might play all four teams in the NFC South in 2006, all four teams in the NFC North in 2007, and then all four teams in the NFC West in 2008. In addition, they might play all four teams in the AFC East in 2006, all four teams in the AFC South in 2007, all four teams in the AFC North in 2008, and then all four teams in the AFC West in 2009.

But all of this only adds up to 14 games. So how is the schedule rounded out with the other two games? Each team plays one team each from the two divisions in their conference that are out of their rotation. For example, if the teams in the NFC East are playing everyone from the NFC South this year, they would play one team each from the NFC North and NFC West.

The teams that they would play are determined by their order of finish the previous season. First place teams play first place teams, second place teams play second place teams, third place teams play third place teams, and fourth place teams play fourth place teams. So let's say the Washington Redskins are playing everyone from the NFC South this season. Since they finished second in their division last year, they would play the team that finished second last year in the NFC North as well as the team that finished second last year in the NFC West.