I just think the soccer model you laid out is a bad map that would not be popular here. It rarely happens that the team with the best record wins the championship and that’s why we all love the playoffs. You’re proposing to eliminate the things people care about most in sports (look at ratings and fans begging for CFB to adopt a playoff format). Even with only 58 games it would make the regular season less bearable (I do agree that there should be fewer games). A quarter of the way through the season 90% of teams would know they have no shot at the championship and it would be awful to watch. It would basically be exciting for like 4-6 teams at that point, besides 20 teams that are hoping to at least get in the playoffs. Sorry, it’s just a bad idea for fans, players, owners and most important, TV contracts.