How deep is the Conference? It varies year by year. Do you want to give the #1 and #2 teams rest before the quarters or not? Or is it more important to have the #7 and #8 teams participate. Frankly, last year, the #7 could well have won the whole thing the way SP was playing at the end of the season. #8 would not have been in the mix, given LB was beaten handily by teams #1-4.
No one getting a bye dilutes the importance of the regular season. Do you limit the first round by to #1 and expand the first round field to seven teams? No question, the current format makes every regular season game more important. Just ask the Crussies. | 
