Playoff Format Hurts Thanks to Money

The NHL and NBA seasons are winding down and playoffs are set to get under way over the next couple weeks. And with the end of any professional regular season comes the beginning of the so-called second season. The Playoffs.

Most playoff systems bring the most exciting games and plays of the entire season. Mentally tired players with battered bodies put their physical ability to the test as they head down the stretch run for the most important games of the season and a chance to win and play for the championship.

Unfortunately, over the next couple months we have to deal with hockey and basketball playoffs, the two worst playoff systems in sports (BCS is obviously THE WORST – but you can’t really call it a playoff system since that is what everyone is fighting for in the first place).

The NHL and NBA both have it very wrong. Their playoffs are set up all for money, money, money and as a result, they are watered down by too many games and too many teams, including many that don’t deserve to be there.

The first problem is that 16 teams make the playoffs in both sports. That is over half the teams in the entire sport. The tournaments are comprised of the Eastern and Western Conferences, each with eight teams fighting to come out on top and play the best team from the other Conference in the championship series.

A direct opposite: Major League Baseball. Baseball has only four teams from each League that make the playoffs making it a true accomplishment to be playing in the postseason. And in the NFL, only two teams other than the division champions get the right to play to go to the Super Bowl, making it a more selective bunch. In the NBA and NHL, teams with losing records can sneak into the eighth spot in the playoffs creating lopsided first round series and boring games.

Then comes the scheduling. The road to the NHL Stanley Cup Finals or the NBA Finals (both best-of-7 series) consists of winning three best-of-7 game series. Teams could potentially be playing 28 games in the playoffs, about a third of the amount of games they played in the regular season.

And the schedule is so spread out to accommodate television ratings that there are such large breaks in between games. The Lakers could play Game 1 at home on a Saturday and have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week to play Game 2, which would also be at home.

The playoffs should be an exciting time with tons of wall-to-wall basketball. These guys can play on back-to-back days. They did so all year so why not in the playoffs.

Both systems won’t change because of money, but they should change because of quality.