And now, finally, it's time for the real season to tip off.
Think of it this way: In a dinner-banquet sense, essentially, the past seven months was the appetizer, with seven teams failing to secure an invitation to the main feast, aka the playoffs.
The Takamatsu Five Arrows (2-50), Miyazaki Shining Suns (22-30) and Oita HeatDevils (23-29) were the bottom three in the Western Conference; the Eastern Conference's Saitama Broncos (16-36), Chiba Jets (18-34), Shinshu Brave Warriors (18-34) and Iwate Big Bulls (19-33) also missed the cut.