I think your memory is slipping Brin.
At this stage last year in The Championship, Burnley and Sheff Utd were all but up and 12 teams still had a chance (on paper) of making one of the 4 playoff spots. Hull who were only 2 places and 7pts above us even had an outside chance.
L1 was a bit more cut and dried with, similar to this year, just 5 teams chasing the last 2 playoff spots and in L2 8 teams were still in the mix for the 4 spots.