Is a 19-1 Superbowl Winning Season possible?

jasonb

I'm not sure why this came up, but I was talking to a mate of mine during the Superbowl, looking at the Pats at 18-0 ( before the game! ) and the Giants at 13-6.

I reckoned it was possible for a team to go 19-1 in a season and win the superbowl, he reckoned it wasn't.

The way I see it, if two teams finish 15-1 in the same division ( unlikely I know ) then they'd be sorted by some criteria ( I'm guessing points difference or something, but I'm not certain ). The team in second place would then be a Wildcard team, so would therefore play the extra game, and could reach the Superbowl with an 18-1 record, and winning the Superbowl would give them a 19-1 record.

I know it's all an exercise in theory, but I just thought I'd check to make sure I'm right? I reckon a team couldn't get to the superbowl with a 19-0 record, as there's no way they could go 16-0 in the season and come second in their division...

J.

Wrecking Crew

jasonb wrote: »

I'm not sure why this came up, but I was talking to a mate of mine during the Superbowl, looking at the Pats at 18-0 ( before the game! ) and the Giants at 13-6.

I reckoned it was possible for a team to go 19-1 in a season and win the superbowl, he reckoned it wasn't.

The way I see it, if two teams finish 15-1 in the same division ( unlikely I know ) then they'd be sorted by some criteria ( I'm guessing points difference or something, but I'm not certain ). The team in second place would then be a Wildcard team, so would therefore play the extra game, and could reach the Superbowl with an 18-1 record, and winning the Superbowl would give them a 19-1 record.

I know it's all an exercise in theory, but I just thought I'd check to make sure I'm right? I reckon a team couldn't get to the superbowl with a 19-0 record, as there's no way they could go 16-0 in the season and come second in their division...

J.

It is theoretically possible to finish with a 19-1 record, but then it's also theoretically possible a team could also go 20-0. If you had three divisional winners all going 16-0, two of them would get the first round bye, and the third would have to go into the Wild Card round, giving them the chance to go 20-0.

Spongey1975

Wrecking Crew wrote: »

It is theoretically possible to finish with a 19-1 record, but then it's also theoretically possible a team could also go 20-0. If you had three divisional winners all going 16-0, two of them would get the first round bye, and the third would have to go into the Wild Card round, giving them the chance to go 20-0.

Dont think its possible for 3 teams to go 16-0 in a conference (2 yes). As far as i'm aware (i may be wrong) a team will play all 4 teams in another division in their conference therefore its impossible for all 3 teams to avoid each other in the regular season

Wrecking Crew

Spongey1975 wrote: »

Dont think its possible for 3 teams to go 16-0 in a conference (2 yes). As far as i'm aware (i may be wrong) a team will play all 4 teams in another division in their conference therefore its impossible for all 3 teams to avoid each other in the regular season

Yep, you're right I'd forgotten about that, AFC East plays the AFC West, and South plays the North next season. Wonder what will happen after 2009, though?

jasonb

Ah, I hadn't thought of different teams from different Divisions going 16-0, I just went with the 'if you come second in your divison then you don't get a bye'. Of course, only the top two teams get a bye, so as you say Wrecking Crew, if three teams come 16-0, then it's possible for the third team to still have to play in the Wildcard Weekend, and then they could finish 20-0!

So, I suppose the question is now, can three teams in one Conference go 16-0?

That said, I think this confirms for me that a team could win the Superbowl and have a record of 19-1, which was my original question! You could top your Division with 15-1 and two other teams could have 16-0 and you still wouldn't get a bye...

J.

Spongey1975

Wrecking Crew wrote: »

Yep, you're right I'd forgotten about that, AFC East plays the AFC West, and South plays the North next season. Wonder what will happen after 2009, though?

The divisions just rotate each season. As you say the AFC West plays the East next season, they will play the North and South in the next 2 seasons and so forth.

hanton12

jasonb wrote: »

So, I suppose the question is now, can three teams in one Conference go 16-0?

J.

I wouldnt have thought 3 teams can go 16-0. If you have to play one whole division in your conference, that means one of the teams has to lose. And as 2 divisions in each conference squares up to each other, that means 2 teams have to have lost, thereby meaning only 2 at most can go 16-0.

Open to correction here!

jasonb

I think you're right there Hanton, I posed that question before seeing Spongey's earlier post.

So, 2 teams can go 16-0, but not three. Which, I think, means that a 20-0 record is impossible ( as I reckoned ) but a 19-1 record is doable. In fact, if your record is 19-1, you must have won the superbowl, as it's impossible to get to the Superbowl with a 19-0 record!

J.

dulpit

I'm going to have to agree with everyone else, based on the current scheduling it is only possible for 2 teams in a conference to go undefeated in the regular season, and that is dependant on a number of factors.

1. Teams cannot be in same division (as these teams will play each other twice)
2. Teams cannot be in divisions drawn against each other (as these teams will play once)
3. Teams cannot have finished in the same place in their respective divisions last year (as these teams will play once)

If all of the above are fulfilled, it is possible for 2 teams from same conference to go undefeated in the regular season.