KingsFan7824
Registered User
The other big reason for divisional games in the first rounds, which is the often forgotten one, is start times for the Western Conference.
That's the main reason. Detroit and Columbus were originally going to stay in the Central, until they came up with the wild card idea, which then linked the Central and Pacific again. Which is why I still think the best solution is an adaptable one, not one size having to fit all. The East can easily be 1-8, with no divisions if need be. It's all one time zone, with some north/south travel, but that part is a reality for all 31 teams. Let the West vote on the format that works best for western teams. The CTZ is not necessarily west, but everything west of the ETZ gets grouped into the west. That's just my crazy idea though.
Since one size has to fit all, the East has to weirdly be involved in the wild card, even though the reasons for the wild card, or even the new alignment in general, has nothing to do with the reality that eastern teams exist in. Detroit and Columbus were in a 4 time zone conference though, and Dallas was in the Pacific division, despite being physically closer to Washington and Carolina than they are SJ or LA. But then every alignment since 1967 hasn't made much sense.