The Seattle Seahawks' evolution into Super Bowl contenders has required a series of astute decisions.

From the Qwest Field architects who foresaw the benefits of crowd noise to the college scouts who identified the muscle-car engine hidden inside undersized rookie linebacker Lofa Tatupu, the franchise's run to a 9-2 record has been a triumph of design.

But one key move was made for them, and it received less groundswell support at the time than a motion to install former play-by-play announcer Lee "Hacksaw" Hamilton in the Seahawks' Ring of Honor: On May 22, 2001, the NFL owners voted to return the Seahawks to their original conference roots, thus ending the team's 25-year association with the AFC.

Realignment was needed to accommodate the reborn Cleveland Browns, the AFC's 16th team, as well as the expansion Houston Texas, who were on the clock to become the AFC's 17th team.

One problem: the NFC still had 15 teams. In order to achieve the balance necessary for a quartet of four-team divisions in each conference - a kind of numerical nirvana the late Pete Rozelle prophesied as league commissioner in 1969 - an AFC franchise would be forced to switch to the NFC.

All eyes turned toward the Seahawks. Except the Seahawks, who suggested that maybe the San Diego Chargers would be eager to take the plunge off the high dive. But Seattle's new owner, Paul Allen, had little cache with his old-wealth peers except his $35 billion.

So the Seahawks were transferred from the AFC West to the NFC West, forming a new, geographically logical consortium with the San Francisco 49ers, St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals, and everybody was happy.

Well, almost everybody.

"Change - any type of change - makes things more difficult," Seahawks coach and then-general manager Mike Holmgren told ESPN's Bob Ley on an "Outside the Lines" segment that aired May 20, 2001. "I think if you asked anybody in this organization, they don't want to go. We like where we are. We like the AFC West."

Two days later, the Seahawks were voted off the island.

Reaction among the local populace was divided. One faction of diehard loyalists presumed it another case of Eastern Establishment snobs ordering a team in the Pacific Northwest to make things jake. They wondered: Doesn't anybody care about the Seahawks' rich and storied West Coast rivalry with the Raiders?

Another, quite larger faction of casual fans was too busy following baseball - specifically, a Mainers team on its way to finishing May with a 40-12 record - to pay attention to a matter as insignificant as NFL conference realignment.

The AFC versus the NFC? Uh, whatever. Figure it out, arrange a schedule, and wake us after the last pitch of the baseball season.

It turns out the NFL's insensitive, you'll-go-where-we-tell-you posture toward the Seahawks was a blessing. No sooner was the move approved transferring them to the NFC than the conferences underwent a cyclical seismic shift in balance - exemplified by the AFC's New England Patriots, whose 2001 team won the first of their three Super Bowl crowns.

The transfer nobody in Seattle was keen on has evolved into a gift that keeps on giving. Since they switched conferences for the 2002 season, the Seahawks are 6-8 against the AFC (.429), and 29-16 against the NFC (.644).

There's more: Since moving to the NFC, the Seahawks, who earned one postseason appearance between 1988 and 1999, now have advanced twice in three years - and are poised not only to clinch their division title, but to hold down home-field advantage against any NFC playoff foe.

The Seahawks' 9-2 record insists they could be Super Bowl contenders in either conference, but let's not forget they escaped what's considered to be a division steeped in talent and production (the Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers are a collective 13 games over .500 ) to a division of lightweights whose seasons have unraveled like cheap sweaters (the Rams, Cardinals and 49ers are a collective 13 games under .500).

Put it this way: ESPN released its weekly NFL power rankings Tuesday, and while Seattle held ground at third, six of the top nine teams are in AFC, including undefeated Indianapolis at No. 1.

If the Seahawks were allowed to hold onto their tradition four years ago - if the league owners determined, say, San Diego was a better fit for the NFC - there would be no buzz about the possibility of the Seahawks getting to the Super Bowl. The fun run would end on the road. It would end at Indy.

Although conference realignment ended Seattle's rivalry with the Raiders, Holmgren didn't belabor the issue. He wasn't crazy about it, but he was a good soldier who put forth the chance the Seahawks might develop a rivalry with another team from the Bay Area.

"The 49ers," he said four years ago, "now that's an exciting team."

But not a particularly good one in 2005.

It takes some dumb luck to dream about a Super Bowl, and the Seahawks have had their share: During a musical-chairs episode that found the reborn Browns and expansion Texans bloating the AFC to an unworkable 17-team operation in 2001 - when only 16 would do - NFL owners had to target somebody who was standing.

They targeted the Seahawks.

Which is kind of a hoot, because after the conference championship games Jan. 22, the Seattle Seahawks might be the only NFC team still standing.