Its exactly how it happens in the NFL.
Top 4 seeds in each conference are the division winners.
No asks you who played; they award those 4 in each conference then they award the best of the rest seeds 5 and 6.
People whine about it, but it maintains importance in the regular season which also boosts ratings.
The Byes proved this year to mean jack squat. The 5-8 seeds won and advanced.
The title game is seeds 7 vs 8. Seeds and rankings are clearly not great at this.
Conf championships are won on the field, not in eye tests or public opinion polls.
Same way tourneys are won.
