The time has come for the best to qualify for the  play-offs each and every NFL season.

That means abolishing the divisions and removing the seeding of teams based on a qualifying number of victories to gain entrance into each conference tournament.

While the conferences still hold some limited value in terms of setting up the play-off system, what is the value of a divisional title when a team with more wins can be excluded from the post season?

A glaring example of such inequity was the 2008 season in which the San Diego Chargers finished a mediocre 8-8, yet qualified over both the New York Jets (9-7) and the New England Patriots who finished 11-5!

San Diego would not only go to the play-offs, but they would host a Wildcard play-off in which the Indianapolis Colts at 12-4 were forced to play on the road and thus lose a first round opener to the .500 Chargers, 23-17!

How can any reasonable NFL fan agree with a play-off system that doesn't use best record as the universal standard for making the play-offs?

How can anyone justify an 8-8 franchise not only making the tournament, but hosting a first round play-off contest against a team that won four more games in the regular season?

With 32 teams, the time to simplify the schedule as well as the play-off process is way overdue.

Everyone should play the same schedule.

The days of weaker squads getting easier schedules and better squads playing better teams for the sake of television ratings needs to cease.

Wouldn't it be much more exciting to see the Saints and the Colts match-up sooner rather than later or possibly not at all thanks to obsessed television producers creating the schedule for the sake of ratings?

More importantly, what is the value of division title in 2009, anyway?

A team that can go to the play-offs from a division where no club reaches .500 is a pass not only to the play-offs, but hosting of a first-round game? Who can justify such a lopsided emphasis on divisional play than actual wins and losses?

Can any NFL fan even remember what they called the four divisions in the pre-merger era (For those too young to remember: Capital, Century, Coastal, & Central)?

Do most fans even realize the Seattle Seahawks were orginally an AFC franchise? Do they realize that the Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Colts, and Cleveland Browns were imported to the AFC from the old NFL for the sake of balancing the conferences?

The only standard for play-off entrance should be wins and losses.

Having said that, a 10-win season would make any NFL team play-off eligible much like the 6-win threshold in the NCAA makes one bowl eligible.

This will eliminate .500 clubs from contention and the seedings would then be based a series of tie-breakers to determine home field advantage and the rankings in both conferences.

Should an unven number of teams qualify the No.1 seeds would receive an automatic by.

The play-offs will become much more competitive and the overall process producing a better game on the field. It makes no sense for the NFL to hold on to the divisional standings when in fact the division titles themselves lack the weight to provide the best teams for the post season.