The assumption that seems to be behind such discussions is that if there had been a rule-change, and we were taking the best 16 records, then the records would be pretty much what they are now. But that's extremely dubious. If the rules had changed such that we were taking the best 16, and if Eastern teams in the 7,8 spot had inferior records to Western teams at 9, 10, the Eastern teams would be inclined to make some changes in order to get more competitive. As it stands, they don't have to.

Everyone knows what they have to do at the start of the season, and this dictates how things play out for teams on the cusp. If you change the rules at the start of the season, you get a different set of goals, and thus, a different set of games.