Through 12 weeks, the NFC East has proven to be the best division in football with an average win percentage of .731. So it made us wonder, has there been a better division in American sports in 2022?
There’s been lots of parity in football this season. A handful of teams from the NFC and AFC seem worthy of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy.
But no division holds a candle to the NFC East, which has the best-combined record in the NFL. So let’s expand our search to other sports to see if another division can go toe to toe with the NFC Beast.
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Can the SEC compete?
The SEC is widely regarded as the best conference in college football. The top teams are loaded with four and five star recruits.
The College Football Playoff has been won by SEC teams in five of the eight seasons since the format was installed in CFB. SEC representatives have also won the last three CFPs.
But the SEC beat up on itself this season. For a while, it looked like the Georgia Bulldogs and Tennessee Volunteers would be CFP finalists.
But after the Bulldogs put a beating on the Volunteers in the regular season, it looks like Georgia will likely be the lone representative.
For this reason, the NFC East gets the nod over the SEC.
Does the MLB have a shot?
The best division in baseball was the NL East. At the end of the regular season, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets had identical 101-61 records. But it was actually the Philadelphia Phillies who had the best season.
The Phillies landed a wildcard spot in the playoffs, and advanced all the way to the World Series but fell short to the Houston Astros.
Had Philadelphia won it all, we’d have to give the NL East the nod over the NFC East. But the bottom dwellers of the division weigh down the NL East’s overall rating.
The Miami Marlins finished 24 games under .500, and the Washington Nationals were 52 games under .500.
The NBA lacks a strong division
You thought the NFL had parity? It’s nothing compared to what’s happening in the NBA right now.
A look at the standings shows each conference is top-heavy, but as you go down the list the playoff-bound teams are only a few games above .500.
The NBA’s best division is the Pacific. Four of its five teams are at or above .500, with the conference-leading Phoenix Suns holding a 14-6 record.
Dallas Mavericks fans certainly remember the 123-90 whomping their team put on the Suns in game seven of the Western Conference Semifinals last season. After that lowly performance in the biggest game of the season, we’ll take the NFC East over the Pacific.
The NHL has an equal
The division that puts up the best fight against the NFC East is the NHL’s Atlantic division. It’s got the league-leading Boston Bruins who hold a 19-3 record. Next up is the Toronto Maple Leafs with a 14-5 record, the fourth-best mark in hockey.
The Atlantic also has six teams above .500, the most of any division in the NHL. Maybe it’s our homerism to football that can’t put an NHL division above an NFL’s. So we’ll call them equal and see how things shake out in each sports postseason to see who can be crowned the best division in sports.
