Please indulge me here. I'm just going back the basics with the divisions and conference set up when I was a teenager coming up (the 1980s-1990s) ... but with the newer teams added in. What would we be looking at?
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
NL EAST: Chicago Cubs, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals, Washington Nationals.
NL WEST: Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds, Colorado Rockies, Houston Astros, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants
AL EAST: Baltimore Orioles, Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Detroit Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Toronto Blue Jays
AL WEST: Anaheim Angels, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Oakland Athletics, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers
(We go back to the 1993 setup with two divisions in each league. I kept with the original divisional members ... including the horrible Atlanta, Cincinnati, Houston trifecta in the NL West. I put the Brewers back in the AL East where they were at. I also put both of the 1998-expansion Diamondbacks and Rays in the American League. When I was growing up, the AL always had the more teams.
The dynamic of MLB would be some interesting division races. The Phillies and Cardinals in the NL East; the Dodgers/Rockies/Braves/Giants in the NL West; the Yankees and Red Sox rivalry will be joined with the Tigers; and how about an Angels/Twins run in the AL West?)
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
ATLANTIC DIVISION: Boston Celtics, Miami Heat, New Jersey Nets, New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Philadelphia 76ers, Washington Wizards.
CENTRAL DIVISION: Atlanta Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors.
MIDWEST DIVISION: Dallas Mavericks, Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, New Orleans Hornets, Oklahoma City Thunder, San Antonio Spurs.
PACIFIC DIVISION: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazers, Sacramento Kings, Utah Jazz.
(Now, I wanted to go with the original format that was used prior the the Bobcats entry into the league six years ago. To accomodate the new Bobcats and the relocation of the Seattle SuperSonics to Oklahoma City, I had to make a few changes. The Atlantic Division is exactly the same as it was back then. The Central Division is essentially the same, though I kept "Charlotte" there and move the "Hornets" to the Midwest Division. Also, I switched the Jazz and Thunder in the Western Conference.)
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
NFC EAST: Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins.
NFC CENTRAL: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFC WEST: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers.
AFC EAST: Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets.
AFC CENTRAL: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Pittsburgh Steelers, Tennessee Titans.
AFC WEST: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, Seattle Seahawks
(Interesting since I basically made few changes to the format. Remember how jacked up the NFL divisions were back then: Arizona and Dallas in the East; Atlanta and Carolina in the West? I have the divisions set up exactly how they were just before Houston joined the league a few years ago. That meant that I added the Texans to the NFC West because, well that's where they make the most sense. )
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
ADAMS DIVISION: Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning
PATRICK DIVISION: Atlanta Thrashers, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, New York Islanders, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals
NORRIS DIVISION: Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs.
SMYTHE DIVISION: Anaheim Ducks, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers, Los Angeles Kings, Phoenix Coyotes, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks
(The Winnepeg Jets move to Phoenix was easy, as was the Hartford Whalers move to Carolina and Minnesota North Stars move to Dallas. But with all the expansion since 1990 -- nine teams have been added since -- and Quebec's move to Coloardo, it was tough to keep things sane.
I put the two Florida teams in the Adams Division because Carolina was already there. Ottawa joining them made just as much sense. That meant Atlanta and Nashville got sent to the Patrick Division. Pretty easy to put Minnesota and Columbus in the Norris. Even simpler to put Anaheim, San Jose and the relocated Colorado in the Smythe.)
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