FAQs

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From Deb is New York City: I am getting very confused about ‘divisions’ and ‘conferences.’ Are they called different things for the different sports? Is it always geographic? How many teams are in each? I guess since the football season is nearing its end it would also be useful to know how playoffs work for that.

Every sport is different. Sorry. Baseball has two leagues (American and National) that are not divided by region, but by historic affiliation. Within those leagues are three divisions (East, Central and West) which are divided by region of the country.

Football has the two conferences American Football (AFC) and National Football (NFC) and these are also divided by historic affiliation. Within these conferences are 4 divisions based on region (East, North, West, South).

In basketball and hockey it’s a little bit easier. They each have two conferences that are divided by region (Eastern and Western conferences). Within those conferences are divisions (northeast, atlantic, southeast and central in the Eastern Conference and Mid West, Pacific, Mountain and Northwest in the Western conference).

In all of these sports, teams play teams from the other major group (conference or league), but teams from their own group more so. At the end of the season there are the playoffs when the best teams in each group (which is made up by the best team in each division and a certain number of “wild cards” who are the best non division winners in the group) play each other. In the playoffs, teams only play teams from their group until there is a winner in that group. The two group winners play each other in the championship. In football the winners of the NFC playoffs and the AFC playoffs play in the Super Bowl.

I hope this helps. In How to Pick a Team (a different page for each sport) there are these break downs of every team and which division/conference/league they play in.

What does it mean when a player is a free agent?

Just like with any other profession, athletes (the employees) enter into a contractual agreement with their team (organization; the employer). When a player first joins a team, the player’s agent and the team’s general manager negotiate terms of a deal. There are many complex issues that are placed into sports contracts, that we only hear about when the theoreticals written into the contract become reality, but the basic idea is that a player is payed a certain amount of money to agree to exclusively play for the one team as long as the contract is written for (anywhere between 1-7 seasons). When a player’s contract has expired, the player becomes a “free agent” and is welcome to sign a contract with any new team. The best players will often shop around for what team will give him the most money, although money is not the only factor in choosing a team (location, chances of winning a championship etc). When a team and a player are both happy for the player to stay on the team, then the player is welcome to re-negotiate their contract, often adding money and years, to avoid them becoming a free agent.

Free agency only gets complicated when you talk about restricted free agents. The free agents that I described, meaning players that can sign with any team when their initial contract is up, are called unrestricted free agents because their choices are not restricted. Restricted free agents can sign with any team, but when the new team makes an offer the former team has an opportunity to match that price. If the original team matches the price then the player must stay with their original team, otherwise the player can change teams. When a player can be a restricted free agent is written into their contract and they are only a non restricted free agent when their contract is up or they are released (fired). All of the rules and regulations are decided between the Players Union and the Owners. When there are disputes between these two groups, about standards for contracts and free agency and such, either the players union goes on strike or the owners “lock out” the players. Fans hate both of those things!

What are the playoffs?

Professional Baseball, Football, Basketball and Hockey all have a regular season and a playoff. The best teams from the regular season play each other in the playoffs to determine who will play in the championship game or series. Each sport has slightly different standards about who makes the playoffs.  All four major professional team sports are divided into two groups (leagues in baseball, conferences in football, basketball and hockey). Within the leagues and conferences there are divisions. The team with the best record in each division, as well as a fixed number of “Wild Cards” or teams with good records but not the best in the division (1 wildcard in baseball, 2 in football, 5 in basketball and hockey) make the playoffs. The teams play elimination style games or “best of” serieses (either 5 or 7) against other playoff teams from their league or conference. The last team to be eliminated is the winner of their league or conference and plays the winner from the other league or conference in the championship game/series. The winner of the championship is often considered the best team in that sport until the next regular season begins.

Is the yellow line that we see on TV during football games real?

No! That yellow line is a relatively new invention by television producers to indicate the point on the field that the offensive team must pass in order to get a new set of downs (See How to Watch football). In real life there are sticks, connected by a ten yard long chain, that are moved along the side lines by referees so that the players, coaches and other referees know, when there is a first down. The sports commentators always admit that the yellow line is not official, but it is often close to accurate and a very clear indicator for fans watching on television of when a first down has occurred.

What is the deal with all of the College Conferences? How does that work?

Within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the overall governing body for all competitive college sports, there are different conferences, normally based on general location and/or similar talent level and marketability. For instance the Pac 10 is a conference made up of 10 teams from the Pacific coast. There are many more schools along the Pacific coast than just the 10, but the Pac 10 is comprised of the 10 most marketable, and historically most talented, teams. The other teams along the pacific coast belong to various other conferences. Generally, although not exclusively, an individual University will be in the same conference for all athletics, anywhere from the highly televised football and basketball teams to the track and field or water polo teams. Just like in professional sports, school teams play other school teams in their conference (as well as against some non-conference opponents) to see who is the best team in the conference. In college football being the best team in the conference is simply a bragging right and good for recruiting good players in the future (this is very important to the teams) but there is no playoff system and the championship is played between the number 1 and number 2 team in all of college football (Look up Bowl Championship Series for more details) . In college basketball winning the conference means bragging rights AND a guaranteed spot in the 64 team national tournament that gets everybody buzzing in March!