The difference between the third and fourth seeds in a football playoff tournament depends largely on the number of teams in the playoffs and the structure of the tournament. A look at how the National Football League and college football's lower divisions structure their playoffs gives an indication of the relative advantages of No. 3 over No. 4 in various systems.
Seeding
"Seeding" refers to ranking teams in order of perceived strength. In the NFL, for example, playoff teams earn their seeds based only on their on-field performance: The team with the best record in each of the NFL's two conferences gets the highest seed in that conference, the team with the second-best record gets the No. 2 conference seed, and so on. In the college football divisions that hold playoffs, teams are selected and seeded based partially on their records and, because teams play in different conferences with varying levels of quality, partially on the evaluation of a selection committee.
NFL
In the NFL, the winners of each conference's four divisions get the top four seeds, in order of their records. The fifth and sixth seeds are the non-division-winning teams with the best records, known as wild cards. The top two seeds in each conference get a bye in the first round of the playoffs. The third seed hosts a playoff game against the sixth seed, while the fourth seed hosts the fifth seed. The difference really lies in the quality of the wild cards. If one wild card is markedly better, then the third seed has a distinct advantage because it plays the weaker sixth seed. In the next round, the lowest seed plays the No. 1 seed -- so if both the third and fourth seed advance, the No. 4 team will have to take on the conference's top team.
NCAA Football Championship Subdivision
The NCAA Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA, is the highest level of college football with a playoff system. The playoff consists of 20 teams, but only five of them are seeded. The tournament is divided into four regional tournaments, with the winner of each regional advancing to the semifinals. Each of the top four seeds is assigned to a separate regional. The rest of the teams are assigned to regionals based roughly on geography -- but the No. 5 seed is assigned to the fourth seed's regional. So under this system, the third seed has an advantage because it doesn't have to face a seeded team within its regional.
NCAA Division II
The NCAA's Division II, a step below the Championship Subdivision, holds a 24-team playoff, split into four regionals of six teams each, with the winners of each regional advancing to the semifinals. Within each regional, teams are seeded No. 1 through No. 6. From there, the format is the same as in the NFL's playoff system: Nos. 1 and 2 get a first-round bye, while No. 3 plays No. 6 and No. 4 plays No. 5.
NCAA Division III
The lowest level of NCAA football, Division III, has a 32-team playoff consisting of four regionals of eight teams each. Teams within each regional are seeded No. 1 to No. 8. The first-round seeding matchups are: 1 vs. 8, 2 vs. 7, 3 vs. 6 and 4 vs. 5. The third seed might hold an advantage because it gets to play a significantly lower-seeded team, while the fourth seed plays an opponent that the selection committee considers to be of nearly equal strength.
Member Comments