`  == Re: Rules and innovations ==  ``Expansion to 18 teams in 1974 caused the league to realign into two conferences and four divisions, each named after important figures in league history.``  As the new divisions often defied geography, naming them was problematical.  For a time, the designation was simply ``Division I,`` ``Division II,`` ``Division III,`` and ``Division IV,`` but that must have carried qualitative connotations.  By the time the season began, they had installed the names of the notable owners and builders.   `