Setting the Brackets - The Final 12

The plan all along here has been to get to a playoff style format, set up the same as the NFL's with the top 12 teams, eventually getting down to just 1. Here's the problem - we've got 14 teams left (easily fixable by cutting 2) but only 5 are NFC. Since the plan has to been to set this up similar to the NFL (i.e. NFC and AFC brackets), this leaves me with a decision: a) Cut 3 AFC teams to get to 6 and bring one NFC team back from the dead b) Cut 2 AFC teams and move the lowest-ranked over to the NFC bracket or c) cut the AFC/NFC idea altogether and just seed the top 12.

After much consideration, I think option C is the way to go. After all, it's not about figuring out my favorite team in a division or my favorite team in a conference, but which single team will capture my heart from here til eternity. If I restrict this by conference or division, maybe I'm forced to pit 2 teams tugging at my heart-strings against each other too early, leading to a decision I end up regretting a couple of weeks later. Sure, it's going to be a hard decision either way, but at least this way the toughest decisions can (theoretically) be saved for last.

So with that said, we've got to get down to 12 teams, which means 2 have to go. With that said, the Packers, the Steelers, the Cardinals, and the Ravens are the current top 4, thereby escaping the dreaded Bottom 10:

Bottom 10

Miami Dolphins - 71
Denver Broncos - 69
San Francisco 49ers - 68
Tennessee Titans - 66
Kansas City Chiefs - 66
Buffalo Bills - 63
Washington Redskins - 60
San Diego Chargers - 60
Indianapolis Colts - 59
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 57

So which 2 are missing the playoffs?

Indianapolis Colts - I like the tradition.  I like the jerseys.  I even like the new stadium.  Still, the Colts have a couple of problems here.  First, The Band That Wouldn't Die documentary on ESPN wounded me.  I know it was a long time ago and all of those guys are long gone, but that thing was powerful.  Second, "Colts fans" have popped up a little too often here in recent years, and why not?  They're in one of the best runs of franchise history and have been one of the best teams in the last decade.  They're mind-blowingly consistent, and they've got one of the greatest QBs of all time.  Oh, but about him...that's  number 3.  I don't have anything against Peyton Manning as a person.  He seems to be a good enough guy.  His commercials make me laugh.  But, when I look at him, all I see is orange...an ugly, pale, Tennessee orange...

San Francisco 49ers - An e-mail I received from a lad named Andrew puts this into words better than I can:

As a SF Giants and 49er fan since birth, I am writing to you in regards to a team that you should NOT choose. Please, with all due respect, do not choose the 49ers. Although, the fan base would welcome you as a fan, once they find out that you are a “fanatical relationship” with the Dodgers and Lakers, they will turn on you like an Eagles fan. The fact that I even typed “Dodgers” and “Lakers” makes me want to chop my hands off.

Being a fan of So Cal teams is pretty much blasphemy to those fans of Bay Area teams and vice versa in So Cal. It also looks (due to the lack of posts about the 49ers—other than the NFC west breakdowns) that you would be fighting yourself if you were to choose the 49ers. So why be a fan of a team that, internally, you secretly despise? Plus, the 49ers have something good going now. They look like they have turned the corner and are not a bottom barrel team anymore. The one thing they do not need is someone brining that negative Dodger / Laker loyalty to the team.

You are still welcome to visit the city, eat the cuisines, and cheer for your teams against the Giants, 49ers, Warriors, Kings, etc. But please, please, please don’t ever don the red and gold. Do us all a favor and eliminate them from your list ASAP.

Thanks for your time,

Andrew

Andrew, you're absolutely right. It'd never work. See ya San Fran...

Next up:  The playoff bracket itself....