NFL owners don't like change, so realignment is a shock to their world. That's why they will wait until the final days before a June 1 deadline to align the 32 teams in eight divisions for the 2002 season.

NFL's realignment plan

AFC North Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers AFC South Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans AFC East Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets AFC West Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers NFC North Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings NFC South Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers NFC East Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins NFC West Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks Possible Swaps Seattle for San Diego Houston for Baltimore Tennessee for New Orleans Baltimore for Indianapolis Votes go to Commissioner proxy Baltimore Houston Tennessee St. Louis

Realignment is an agenda item for conversation but not for voting at the NFL owners meeting, which begins Monday in Palm Desert, Calif. Over the past two years, the league has orchestrated realignment in order to make the process easier. Divisions will shrink from five to four teams. An extra division will be added in each conference. Ticket revenue sharing was balanced so that relocated teams won't suffer losses by moving.

Approximately 30 plans have been circulated, but ultimately the change won't be drastic. The Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks will move to the NFC West. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will leave the NFC Central to join the New Orleans Saints, Carolina Panthers and Atlanta Falcons in the NFC South. The AFC Central will become the AFC North and lose the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans, who each move to the AFC South.

Unfortunately, some franchises don't like the change. Cardinals owner Bill Bidwell doesn't want to break his longtime ties in the NFC East with Cowboys, Giants, Eagles and Redskins. His trouble is trying to gain enough of a block vote to prevent such a move. Three quarters of the 32 owners must come together to pass a realignment plan.

The Seahawks also aren't in favor of moving out of the AFC West and switching conferences. Coach Mike Holmgren echoes the standard statements of those not wanting to move.

"Our stance is that we don't want to move, we like our rivalries, we don't want to do anything," Holmgren said.

The same words are being said by the Colts, the Rams and others. The Houston Texans prefer not to play in the same division as the Titans because Bud Adams moved the franchise out of Houston.

In the end, though, the league's plan will garner the most votes. It works geographically. It works as far as maintaining rivalries. The NFC rivalries of the Packers, Lions, Vikings and Bears don't change. There is no need to break up the AFC West quartet of Kansas City, Oakland, San Diego and Denver. They all came over from the American Football League.

Where the conversations will be focused over the next couple of months will be tradeoffs. The Seahawks might be able to convince the Chargers to move to the NFC West instead of them. The Ravens and Texans may be interchangeable in the new AFC North, a division consisting of the Ravens, Bengals and Browns. The Ravens could swap with the Colts so that the Colts can go into the AFC North with Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

If necessary, the league could order a few moves. The Ravens, Texans, Rams and Titans don't have votes. That's not preferable. The league wants most teams to come together on a plan that works for everyone.

It explains why the league office has been so meticulous in building toward the realignment. They've set up a scheduling format that assures that a team will see every team in the league over a four-year period.

The results, however, won't be known until late May.

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.