NCAA Meets NBA: An Interesting Idea

Read about an intriguing way to change the NBA playoff format. Give the top seven guaranteed spots and decide the 8th spot with a single-game elimination tournament for the rest. For example, right now in the East Detroit, Miami, NJ, Cleveland, WA, IND, and MIL would all make the playoffs. And PHI, BO, TOR, NY, CHI, OR, ATL, and CHA would play a mini 3-game tournament to decide who gets the 8th seed.

Now I don't really see anything wrong with the current format, but I think this is a great idea. No team would ever be statistically out of it and that can do a lot for a fan's psyche. When following a bad team, sometimes the only time you feel even part of the NBA is during the draft lottery. Other than that, it's all development and next year. I think this would also motivate teams to play better basketball throughout the entire season. If you finally got it together at the end, it could be rewarded by more than a rosier predictions for next year. Maybe teams would alos be less likely to sit out players for the remainder of a season gone bad.

I can't really see any reason not to. It's not as if the 8th seed is really all so deserving. Presently, the East's entry would be Philadelphia, who is 5 games under .500. Not a a whole lot of entitlement there. And, even if the winner of the loser tournament got swept, you don't think that team wouldn't be totally psyched about getting to feel the playoffs for a year? I think it would be fun to watch, motivating for the teams, and more interesting. Win-win-win situation.