In honor of Super Bowl XL--or,as Nuriko likes to call it,Super Bowl Extra Large--starting today I'm going to use the SimMatch feature at WhatIfSports.com to run a virtual tournament of some of the NFL teams that have won or contended for the Lombardi Trophy over the past four decades.Here's the setup:
1)There are four brackets representing the four eras of Super Bowl history,and each bracket will be comprised of four teams.Bracket A will be comprised of SB champions from the first years of the game's existence;Bracket B will feature Super Bowl winners from the '70s and '80s;Bracket C will include champions from the late '80s and early-to-mid '90s;and Bracket D will cover the current era.
2)The winners of the preliminary round games will square off in a series of quarterfinal matchups to determine a champion in each bracket.
3)The Bracket A winner will face off against the Bracket B winner in the tournament semifinals;Bracket C's champion will meet the Bracket D winner.The victors in the semis will then go head-to-head for the first-ever RKMBs.com Virtual Tournament championship.
4)The teams are seeded according to chronological order,which means that the most recent clubs will get the #1 seed,the second most recent will get the #2 seed,etc.
5)The teams in each bracket are:
Bracket A-- - #1 seed:1972 Dolphins
- #2 seed:1969 Chiefs
- #3 seed:1968 Jets
- #4 seed:1966 Packers
Bracket B-- - #1 seed:1985 Bears
- #2 seed:1984 49ers
- #3 seed:1976 Raiders
- #4 seed:1974 Steelers
Bracket C-- - #1 seed:1996 Packers
- #2 seed:1995 Cowboys
- #3 seed:1990 Giants
- #4 seed:1987 Redskins
Bracket D-- - #1 seed:2004 Patriots
- #2 seed:2002 Buccaneers
- #3 seed:1999 Rams
- #4 seed:1997 Broncos
