I’m all for rivalry games but maybe allow 2 rivalry games per season and 8 games randomly chosen and slotted among those who qualify for Division 1. Assuming a normal distribution (which they’d probably find a way to mess up), we’d be able to see pretty clearly at the end of the year who the teams are that deserve a playoff bid. Give the top 4 teams a bye and have 24 additional teams pound it out for the remaining 12 spots. Allow 2 weeks between games.

Now we’re in business.