Just heard an interesting topic on one of the NFL podcasts I subscribe to via i-tunes.  I was talking about the NFL re-aligning divisions to create more state rivalries like they have in the college ranks.  Since hearing this, I’ve wondered how the division might be constructed, so went ahead & gave it a go (cuz I’m bored at work) – this is what I cam up with (I have used the AFC & NFC tags purely to separate the divisions!):

Chicago Bears        AFC East
Indianapolis Colts AFC East
Kansas City Chiefs AFC East
St. Louis Rams        AFC East

Baltimore Ravens AFC North
Cleveland Browns AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers AFC North
Washington Redskins AFC North

Jacksonville Jaguars AFC South
Miami Dolphins        AFC South
New Orleans Saints AFC South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers AFC South

Oakland Raiders        AFC West
San Diego Chargers AFC West
San Francisco 49ers AFC West
Seattle Seahawks AFC West

New England Patriots NFC East
New York Giants        NFC East
New York Jets        NFC East
Philadelphia Eagles NFC East

Buffalo Bills        NFC North
Detroit Lions        NFC North
Green Bay Packers NFC North
Minnesota Vikings NFC North

Atlanta Falcons        NFC South
Carolina Panthers NFC South
Cincinnati Bengals NFC South
Tennessee Titans NFC South

Arizona Cardinals NFC West
Dallas Cowboys        NFC West
Denver Broncos        NFC West
Houston Texans        NFC West

Ok, so in the case of Seattle, it’s hard to put them with a team close by.  Also, my geography might not be too good, but I think the above has teams bunched together as closely as they could be.  How would you guys react if the NFL actually changed their divisions & how would you construct them?  

--Last edited by Beats on 2006-08-12 03:38:25 --

why not go further from the east west south north directions (pardon the pun) and go for stuff like "midwest" "great lakes" "dessert" "pacific"

the following is off the top of my head so don't flame me if I am misconcieved somewhere:

1 Great Lakes
Vikings
Lions
Bears
Packers

2 Pacific
Chargers
49ers
Seahawks
Raiders

3 Old West
Cards
Texans
Cowboys
Broncos

4 Atlantic
Eagles
Panthers
Giants
Ravens

5 Appalacian (spp) aka bible belt
Steelers
Browns
Colts
Bengals

6 New England
Redskins
Patriots
Bills
Jets

7 Missisippi Delta
Titans
Chiefs
Saints
Rams

8 Everglades
Fins
Bucs
Falcons
Jaguars

In most cases the teams are a tight little cluster, which would make traveling for games easy, especially for fans!
For example New York Philly Carolina and Baltimore are just a stones throw away, as are pitt, cleveland, cinci and indy.  

--Last edited by alex on 2006-08-12 02:49:03 --

what happen's when teams up and move i.e the saints go marching on to L.A

The NFC Central is already set for location now that Tampa have been moved on.

Quote :

greg salmon wrote : what happen's when teams up and move i.e the saints go marching on to L.A

they can go and get stuffed!

Quote :

they can go and get stuffed!

Can see how it would make it easier for fans to have the divisions more tightly clustered, but you'd break up some great rivalries in the process.

Are there any more signs of LA getting a team any time soon BTW? I used to quite like the LA Rams (in fact, they were my one and only team in Gameplan back in the 90s due to Dolphins, Bengals etc. apparently being unavailable), but cooled on them quite a lot when they moved to St Louis. Although it would be a shame to see another team disappear to make way for them (presumably the NFL has no plans for further expansion in the near-future), I'd really love to see LA with an NFL franchise once more.