Super Bowls that included the top seed in each conference
Year
AFC
NFC
1993
Buffalo
Dallas
1991
Buffalo
Washington
1989
Denver
San Fran
1984
Miami
San Fran
1983
L.A.
Washington
1981
Cincinnati
San Fran
1977
Denver
Dallas
1976
Oakland
Minnesota
Note: Winning teams in bold.
By Jacob Luft, CNNSI.com
The Steelers and Rams dominated their conferences during the regular season. They earned home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, rolled to second-round victories last week and are one game away from meeting in the Super Bowl.
As likely as a Pittsburgh-St. Louis matchup may seem, having the top seeds in each conference advance to the Super Bowl has been the exception rather than the norm in recent years. The best regular-season AFC and NFC clubs have not met in the Super Bowl since 1993.
From 1933-74, sites for league or conference championship games alternated by division, not according to regular-season record. The NFL changed the format in 1975 to give home-field advantage to teams with the best records. Since then, the top seeds in each conference have met in the Super Bowl eight times out of a possible 26 matchups. The NFC has a 6-2 advantage in those meetings.
In general, top dogs from the NFC have been dominant in Super Bowl play. Of the 16 No. 1 seeds from the NFC to advance to the Super Bowl, 13 took home the the Lombardi Trophy, including a stretch of four in a row from 1993-96. Only five of the AFC's 14 top seeds to make it to the Super Bowl have won.
Combined, the conference's top seeds account for 18 of the past 26 Super Bowl champions, so even though the No. 1 teams don't always meet in the big game, their regular-season success gives them a much better chance of winning it all.
AFC
A breakdown of conference titles in the AFC since seeding began in 1975:
A breakdown of conference titles in the NFC since seeding began in 1975:
Seed
Titles
Teams, Years
1
16
New York '00, *St. Louis '99, *Green Bay '96, *Dallas '95, *San Francisco '94, *Dallas '93, *Washington '91, *San Francisco '89, *New York '86, *Chicago '85, *San Francisco '84, Washington '83, *Washington '82, *San Francisco '81, *Dallas '77, Minnesota '76
2
7
Atlanta '98, Green Bay '97, *Dallas '92, *New York '90, *San Francisco '88, Philadelphia '80, Dallas '78
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