There's reason for optimism heading into the third week of the season. The current expanded playoff format has been in place since 1990. In the 14 seasons that have followed, 24 teams have started a campaign with at least two losses and eventually made the playoffs. Some even made deep playoff runs.
Rome and Han. One similarity between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty were that they were both very advanced societies, with a great political system. The difference between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty was that the Romans were sort of a republic, where they got to choose their leader.
The Roman empire was not unique. It was one of the classical empires of the Old World. Four classical empires -- Han China, Mauryan India, Parthian Persia and the Roman -- arose in the period 200-100 BC.