20:
472:
Championship. For the first season under the URC name in 2021–22, the competition reorganized into four regionally based pools, though no longer using the word "conference". Three of the pools are made up of teams from one country—Ireland, South Africa, and Wales. The fourth features the teams from Italy and
Scotland. Each regional pool competes for a secondary trophy called a "shield" (Irish, Scottish/Italian, South African, Welsh), with the overall league table used to determine playoff participants. The winner of each shield, however, is assured a place in the following year's
63:. The league was divided into two conferences, based on ladder position in the previous season. Not every team could play each other due to the limited number of rounds, so conferences were introduced so that teams were only measured against the teams they played. The system was controversial because it allowed some weak teams to make finals, and strong teams from the other conference missed out on finals. It was because of this that the conference system was removed for the
468:, following the addition of the two South African teams dropped from Super Rugby. The competition split into two conferences, each featuring two teams from Ireland and Wales, plus single teams from Italy, Scotland and South Africa. Following the league season, the teams that top each conference table received berths in the semifinals, with the next two teams in each conference playing off for semifinal berths.
225:
final round, leaving only two teams for the finals (one from each conference/league) and the records of teams outside a conference/league are ignored, which can allow teams with inferior records to make the playoffs while teams in the other conference with better records do not get in. An extreme example of this has occurred three times in the NFL, when the
258:, the terms "league," "conference" and (generally at lower levels) "athletic association" can be used interchangeably to refer to a group of teams (generally eight to twelve colleges and/or universities, occasionally as high as sixteen) that regularly play against each other within a national governing body, the most significant of which is the
224:
In all five sports, the champion of one conference (or league in MLB's case) plays the champion of the other conference for the final round championship, this is guaranteed to occur because the rules for the playoffs require play to be exclusively within the conference/league in all rounds before the
447:
for South Africa, the competition reorganised into a new four-conference system. In 2016 and 2017, Australia and New
Zealand formed separate conferences within an Australasian group; the South African teams were joined by the Jaguares and Sunwolves in a "South African" group, with that group also
451:
For 2018, Super Rugby will revert to a 15-team format, following the dropping of two teams from South Africa and one from
Australia. The new format features three conferences—Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, each with five teams; the Sunwolves will join the Australian conference and the
471:
After the 2020–21 season, South Africa fully aligned its club rugby structure with that of Europe. The then-existing Pro14 franchises from South Africa were replaced by the country's four Super Rugby franchises, which moved into Pro14 and led to the competition's rebranding as the United Rugby
349:
This does not strictly meet the definition indicated in the previous sections of this article, as each individual league mentioned in this section is a separate competition. The only times that teams from different leagues compete against one another in meaningful matches are in knockout cup
237:
reached the playoffs by winning their respective divisions despite losing records (7–9 for the
Seahawks and Washington, 7–8–1 for the Panthers). These are the only teams ever to qualify for the playoffs with losing records in seasons that were not shortened by strikes (as in
242:, which was shortened from 16 to 9 games). In addition, a team's regular season schedule is weighted towards more games against other teams within their own division and to a lesser extent their own conference; NBA and NHL teams play at least two games (one at each home
159:(NFC). Both conferences have 16 teams, and each conference is divided into 4 divisions of 4 teams each. These conferences, for the most part, derive from the fact that they were once separate organizations: the original National Football League and the 1960s
112:) Conferences, with multiple divisions within each conference (two in each NHL conference, three in each NBA conference). In both leagues, a total of sixteen teams (eight from each conference) qualify for the league's postseason playoffs. In the
452:
Jaguares will play in the South
African conference. The conference winners will continue to receive playoff berths, with additional berths going to the top five teams in the overall competition table that were not already qualified.
448:
being divided into two conferences. The winner of each conference continued to receive a playoff spot, with additional berths going to the next three best
Australasian teams and the next best team of the South African group.
177:(MLB) does not use the word "conference." Instead, it is divided into two separate leagues which are identical to the conferences listed above in all but name (which, although their operations have been integrated via the
411:
is the highest level of provincial competition in
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, the highest domestic level in Japan, and the only professional domestic level in Argentina. From the creation of Super Rugby in
326:(EFL)—was known as the Football Conference from the 1986–87 season through the end of the 2014–15 season. In turn, from 2004, the Conference was divided into three leagues—Conference Premier, at the fifth tier of the
294:. The NCAA itself is divided into divisions and subdivisions based on athletic scholarship eligibility, which can lead to redundancy when these conferences also have divisions of their own. For instance, the
680:
246:) against every other team in their league in a regular season, MLB teams play at least one 3-game series against every other team (as of the 2023 season), but the NFL teams do not.
330:, and Conference North and Conference South, which made up the sixth tier. Starting with the 2015–16 season, the Football Conference and its component leagues were renamed. The
519:
The term "conference" referring to a single tournament does not apply if there's only one tournament in a season, such as in the case of the college sports leagues, the
541:
163:; the two entities merged in 1970, with each league forming the basis of the NFC and AFC respectively. The NFL allocates seven teams from each conference for the
485:
116:, since the 2013–14 season, the top 3 in each division are guaranteed to qualify and division winners are awarded the highest seeds, meaning they will have
167:; the four division winners (guaranteed one of the top four seeds, based on winning percentage), and the three best-non division winners, also known as
43:, with the best teams competing at successively higher levels. Conferences often, but not always, include teams from a common geographic region.
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spots go to the eight top teams in each conference by overall record, with home-court advantage in each playoff series based solely on record.
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488:, where teams are represented by companies instead of geographical entities, and there are multiple tournaments held sequentially in a
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435:. The winner of each conference received a playoff spot, as did the three next best teams overall. With the addition of Argentina's
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140:, though it does not have divisions within them; it too allocates an equal number of teams from each conference to play for its
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217:, with each division winner also guaranteed one of the top three seeds, even if their record is lower than the league's top
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420:, only Australia, New Zealand and South Africa participated; the competition added teams in the latter two countries in
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which play competitively against each other in a sports league. In many cases conferences are subdivided into smaller
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492:, a conference refers to a single tournament. This has since been carried over by other leagues, such as the
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in modern times, were originally separately managed organizations with an intense rivalry). These are the
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603:"AFLW scraps controversial conference system, introduces ticketed matches for 2021 season"
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From 2011 through to 2015, the competition had one conference based in each of its
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630:"AFLW 2021 season: Conferences out, $ 10 tickets, start date revealed"
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189:(NL), with 15 teams each. Each league is divided into the Eastern (
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High school sports conferences and leagues in the United States
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List of college athletic conferences in the United States
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spots. In the NBA, starting with the 2015–16 season, the
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competition used a non-geographic conference system in
27:(A-10), an example of a collegiate athletic conference
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Manila
Industrial and Commercial Athletic Association
270:) refer to themselves as conferences, although the
655:"MLB schedule is out, and there's a twist for '23"
314:In English association football, the top level of
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144:(since 2019, this has been seven teams each).
578:"AFLW 2019: How the conference system works"
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262:(NCAA). Most of these groups (including the
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476:regardless of its overall league position.
464:, adopted a conference system effective in
460:In the same sport, Pro14, now known as the
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428:, it has operated on a conference system.
260:National Collegiate Athletic Association
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525:Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League
354:(open to teams from all levels), the
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382:. This is similar to the
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304:Football Bowl Subdivision
151:(NFL) is divided into an
47:Australian rules football
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328:English football pyramid
268:College Football Playoff
264:"Power Five" conferences
179:Commissioner of Baseball
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149:National Football League
71:United States and Canada
324:English Football League
296:Southeastern Conference
231:2014 Carolina Panthers
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344:National League South
340:National League North
227:2010 Seattle Seahawks
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332:Football Conference
316:non-League football
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35:is a collection of
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609:. 10 December 2020
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380:Eastern Conference
376:Western Conference
336:Conference Premier
302:(specifically the
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155:(AFC) and a
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409:Super Rugby
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399:Super Rugby
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298:is part of
65:2021 season
53:AFL Women's
675:Categories
634:womens.afl
582:AFL.com.au
563:References
523:, and the
276:Ivy League
169:wild cards
92:(NHL) and
441:Sunwolves
360:FA Trophy
185:(AL) and
122:wild card
41:divisions
607:ABC News
531:See also
437:Jaguares
416:through
660:MLB.com
639:24 July
613:24 July
587:24 July
466:2017–18
378:and an
356:EFL Cup
134:Eastern
126:playoff
80:In the
508:, the
504:, the
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374:has a
366:Russia
352:FA Cup
233:, and
88:, the
86:Canada
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240:1982
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59:and
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