IFL Reestablishes Divisional Alignments

[David]

9.22.15 - 

The Indoor Football League have concluded their yearly Board of Directors Meetings. During the yearly two-day event in Las Vegas, Nevada, the IFL Board of Directors voted and agreed upon new conference alignments and reestablish divisional alignments in order to emphasize on regional rivalries. 

The IFL, which began play in 2009 after the Intense Football League and United Indoor Football merged into one entity, will return to divisional alignments for the first time since the 2011 regular season. The league shifted to a two-conference format with no divisions in 2012 after the league lost nine teams that either folded, hibernated, or moved to a different league.

The additions of the Spokane Shock from the AFL and the expansion Minnesota Havok increased the number of teams to 12 for the 2016 season, up from 10 in 2015, and prompted the league to create two divisions in the Intense and United Conferences (named after the two leagues that would merge into the current IFL).

Here's what the Board of Directors established for divisional alignment: 

UNITED CONFERENCE

North Division
Bemidji Axemen
Cedar Rapids Titans
Green Bay Blizzard

Midwest Division
Iowa Barnstormers
Minnesota Havok (expansion team)
Sioux Falls Storm

INTENSE CONFERENCE

Central Division
Colorado Crush (rebranded; formerly Colorado Ice)
Nebraska Danger
Wichita Falls Nighthawks

West Division
Billings Wolves
Spokane Shock (dropped from AFL)
Tri-Cities Fever

With the new conference and divisional alignments, the IFL's Board of Directors tweaked the playoff format for the upcoming season. A total of 6 teams (3 per division) will qualify for the playoffs. All four of the divisional winners will earn an automatic playoff bid and there will be one wild card team for each conference.

The playoff format for each round are as follows:

ROUND 1:
#1 seeds in each conference have a BYE
#2 seeds in each conference will host #3 seeds

ROUND 2 (Conference Finals):
#1 seeds in each conference host the Round 1 winner of the #2/#3 seeded game.

The winners of Round 2 are named Conference Champions of the Intense and United Conferences.

ROUND 3 (United Bowl):

The highest seeded conference champion will host the lower seed conference champion in the United Bowl. 

The IFL did not list what would happen should a #1 seed play a #1 seed in the United Bowl, but one would assume overall record would be the tiebreaker.

The league has announced that the 2016 schedules will be released in a couple of weeks. 

-DKH

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[Kasey]

i like the rivalry possibilities here. there's no reason why it would not lead to increased attendance and interest in those games.

[SurferGirl]

This makes a lot of sense from a geographical standpoint. I can see how it will cut down on travel time. I can also see the potential for growth in each division without disrupting the alignment.

[David]

Sept 24, 2015 20:21:20 GMT -8 SurferGirl said:

This makes a lot of sense from a geographical standpoint. I can see how it will cut down on travel time. I can also see the potential for growth in each division without disrupting the alignment.

Agreed. Especially if Boise somehow returns and if Portland drops to the IFL in the future.