Each conference seeds seven playoff teams. Division winners get one through four by record. Wild cards get five through seven, also by record.
What Each Seed Is Worth
| Seed | What it gets you |
|---|---|
| 1 | First-round bye and home field throughout the conference playoffs |
| 2 | Home game in the first round, hosts the lowest remaining seed after that if the top seed loses |
| 3 | Home game in the first round |
| 4 | Home game in the first round, usually against the strongest wild card |
| 5, 6, 7 | Road game in the first round, road games after that |
The Gap Between One and Two
Since the field expanded to 14 in 2020, only the top seed gets a bye. That makes the difference between the one and two seeds larger than the difference between any other pair: three wins for a title instead of four, plus a week of rest.
Division Winners Always Rank Higher
A 9-8 division champion is seeded fourth. A 12-5 wild card is seeded fifth and plays at that 9-8 team. This is deliberate and unchanged for decades, on the reasoning that winning your division should be worth something concrete.
Tiebreakers
For two tied teams in the same division: head-to-head, then division record, then common games, then conference record.
For two tied teams in different divisions: head-to-head if applicable, then conference record, then common games with a minimum of four, then strength of victory.
If three or more teams are tied, the league applies the same criteria in sequence, eliminating teams one at a time and restarting the process with those remaining.
Reseeding After Each Round
The bracket is not locked. After the wild card round the top remaining seed plays the lowest remaining seed, so an upset reshuffles the matchups.
Related
How the playoffs work · Wild card explained · Divisions explained
The Bottom Line
Division winners one through four, wild cards five through seven, one bye, and reseeding after each round. Head-to-head is the first tiebreaker in almost every case.