I can see scenarios where teams might be willing to tank in order to get more favorable matchups in a potential playoff. how would you get a better matchup by losing? seems unlikely. Maybe it'd be a rare situation, but bear with me. Let's say a team is ranked #3 with the top two teams maintaining their spots. The #3 team matches up really well with the teams hovering around the 7-10 area, but really does not like any potential matchups with teams who could finish the season ranked #13. So, instead of going out and winning their conference championship game, they tank and attempt to move down a few spots in order to get the better draw. Again, it's unlikely, but not unheard of (see: NBA playoffs).