Over the years, they've come and gone. Some have changed cities or suffered grueling deaths only to find that home was truly where the fans were. Oakland...or Cleveland...or -- you get the picture. Our beloved NFL teams. These 32 professional football teams offer a slice of pride, or perhaps shame, to every adoring fan. From coast to coast, the NFL boasts some of the finest athletes on the face of the planet, all playing for a chance to make it to the Super Bowl and to call themselves world champions.
The NFL is presently made up of two football conferences: the AFC and the NFC. This has been true since the NFL merged with the former AFL (American Football League) to create the NFL as we now know it. Within each conference there are four divisions (North, South, East and West), with each division consisting of four teams.
Each team competes with their inter-divisional rivals two times yearly, making up roughly 1/3 of their regular season schedule. This is greatly beneficial to a solid team playing in a weak division, as their playoff chances greatly increase with every win over divisional opponents. As inter-division toughness fluctuates on a seemingly yearly basis, it's always interesting to see who may come storming out as a divisional champ. (This could all change, of course, if and when another expansion team is added to the league.)
Following the regular season, playoff teams match-up against the other top teams from their respective conference, vying for a conference championship. The conference champions (from the NFC and the AFC) will represent the two teams playing in the Super Bowl.
