Am I The Only One? A Look at NFL Scheduling

There is a lot of talk about the NFL going to a 17-game regular season. There are multiple reasons given for this conversation, and I don't care what they are.

I love the present 16-game NFL schedule and the rotating opponent system. It works. Maybe that's why people want to change it. Chaos over order. Nonsense over sense. Mayhem over symmetry.

In fairness, let's explore the reasons for an expanded NFL schedule. The reason is money. One more game is one more chance for revenue.

The idea, I believe, is to take a preseason game and turn it into a regular season game. While I salute the elimination of at least one preseason game (I have covered several of them, and there is fewer activities less productive), I don't believe it needs to be replaced by a regular season game.

But more importantly, the 16-game schedule works like a charm. All teams play 14 of their 16 games against the same teams their divisional opponents play (something that makes sense from a competitive standpoint) and all teams play two games against opponents who had the same sort of success or lack of success as they had the previous season (which creates all sorts of controversy, which is also beneficial).

You probably know the basics. There are 32 teams in eight divisions of four teams each, and most of the teams are situated in geographically sensible alignments, Miami, Dallas and St. Louis notwithstanding.

Each team plays the three teams in their division twice, making up six games. Then, each division is paired with two other divisions, one in the same conference and one in the other conference, and each team plays each team from those divisions once, making up eight more games. Those division pairings are rotated annually.   

That's 14 games in which every team plays the same teams as their divisional opponent.

The final two games are scheduled according to the place each team finished within the division. First place teams play two first place teams from divisions not already scheduled, second place teams do the same. While this creates an imbalance in the division (and allows for all sorts of great debate) it is supposed to give teams a chance to have more success than they had in the past season (although this hasn't worked for the Detroit Lions).

This is a system that just makes so much sense! While it is perhaps not perfect, the only perfect solution is a 31-game season, so every team plays every other team, and that's just dumb (although some fans might not mind).

Besides, 17 is a prime number, and any numerologist will tell you prime numbers are spooky. They are sinister, significant in some paranormal way, but ineffective in real world uses. O.K., I'm stretching here, but really, 16 games for a 32-team league just looks more sensible.

So here is an idea. Le's have three preseason games, a 16-game regular season, and to take the place of the removed preseason game, let's have a big autograph and photograph session. Fans will pay to get in, the players will complain just like they do about the preseason, but there will be no injuries to worry about, and there will truly be just about as much progress toward the upcoming season as there is in a preseason game.

The NFL is the most successful league in America these days. They have their division and conference alignments right, and they have a system of scheduling that makes more sense than any system before it, or any system suggested to replace it.

So don't fix it. It ain't broken.