What Are AFC And NFC Divisions?

The history of the NFL is quite interesting. Before the current system came into fruition, there were two different leagues in the United States famous for playing gridiron football. One of them was the National Football League (NFL) while the other was the American Football League (AFL). In 1970 the two leagues merged into one and with it gave rise to the new NFL league consisting of 32 teams.

Prior to the merger, the AFL had ten teams and the NFL had 16 teams. To distribute the teams evenly, all ten teams from the AFL along with three from the NFL were put in the AFC (American Football Conference) whereas the remaining thirteen teams went to the NFC (National Football Conference). Over the years, a few more franchises were added to the league and as of now the total number of teams in the NFL are 32 (16 in each conference).

What are divisions in the NFL?

As we have already established, the NFL is divided into the AFC and the NFC. Both conferences are further divided into four divisions each. Each division consists of four teams. The NFL has made these divisions in order to make it easier to schedule the games as well as to seed the teams for playoffs. All the teams in one division will play the other teams twice in a season, with one home and one away game. That means the divisional games are of utmost importance to each franchise and it has also given rise to some of the greatest rivalries in the game. For example, the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears probably have the most intense rivalry in the game as they both belong to the NFC North division.

How is the NFC and AFC divided?

Both the NFC and the AFC conferences are divided into 4 divisions each. Each division has 4 teams meaning each conference has 16 teams. The four divisions of the NFC are the NFC East, NFC West, NFC North, and NFC South. Similarly, the four divisions in the AFC are the AFC East, AFC West, AFC North, and AFC South.

AFC Division

The AFC conference is made up of four divisions of four teams each. The below table represents the four divisions and the teams that are part of them.

Looking at the AFC divisions table, the AFC South stands out due to the fact that it has newly added franchises in the Houston Texans (2002) and the Jacksonville Jaguars (1995). For the other divisions, there are many existing rivalries such as the Patriots vs. Dolphins in the AFC East, the Steelers vs. the Browns in the AFC North and probably the most bitter rivalry between the Chiefs and the Raiders from the AFC West.

NFC Division

Similar to the AFC, the NFC conference is also divided into four divisions of four teams each. The teams which are part of each division can be seen in the table below.

The NFC South is one division that features the new expansion team Carolina Panthers (1995) and is not known for the biggest rivalries. However, the NFC division with the most intense rivalry is the NFC East as it has many rivalries with the Cowboys and Giants featuring near the top. The NFC North also features some great ones as all four cities are close to each other creating even more animosity between themselves.

Who are the most valuable teams in the AFC and NFC?

Depending on the era of football that is being talked about, the most valuable teams do change as several teams hit a period of consistency for a number of years before going through the tough lean patches. Of course, success on the field is not the only criteria for judging the most valuable teams in the league but it does play some part in it.

Overall though, the most valuable team in the AFC is the New England Patriots with a valuation of $7 billion while that in the NFC is the Dallas Cowboys who have a valuation of $9 billion according to the latest Forbes' NFL Team Valuations.