How many teams try to get to the Super Bowl in a season?

Answer 1

The NFL has 32 teams: all 32 teams try to get to the Super Bowl.
The 32 teams are divided into 2 conferences (the American Conference & the National Conference.) The 16 teams in each conference are then subdivided into 4 divisions (North, East, West & South)
12 teams (6 from each conference) will compete in three rounds of playoffs to determine which 2 teams (1 from each conference) will compete in the Super Bowl.
The 6 from each conference are composed of the 4 division leaders (those with the best winning percentages, determined by a formula designed to eliminate ties) and the 2 teams with the best winning percentage of the remaining 12 conference teams, the "Wild Cards".
In the first round of the playoffs, the 2 teams with the best winning percentage in each conference are given a "bye" which means 4 of the 12 are not required to play the first round. The 2 remaining division winners in each conference then play the Wild Cards, the team with the best percentage playing the Wild Card with the worst, provided that the 2 teams are not in the same division, with the remaining teams playing each other. Home field advantage goes to the division winners.
In the second round, the winners of the first round play the division leaders who were given the bye, again best record versus worst. Home field advantage goes to the team given the bye.
In the third round the 2 winners of the 2nd round play each other to determine the Conference Champion. Home field advantage goes to the team with the best winning percentage.
The Champions from each Conference then meet in the Super Bowl, whose location has been predetermined so home field is not an issue.
The end result is that in the Super Bowl, the best team in the American Conference faces the best team in the National Conference, and those 2 teams are not necessarily the 2 best teams in the NFL.