Thursday, October 18, 2007

MLS playoff race

The final weekend of the 2007 regular season is here and there are still a number of questions as to what which two teams will earn the final playoff spots. In all, four teams have a chance but only Chicago and Kansas City hold their destiny in their own hands.

Anyway, here is the way the playoff picture currently looks:

Current standings:
7 - Chicago - 37pts
8 - Kansas City - 37pts
9 - Colorado - 35pts
10 - Columbus* - 34pts
11 - LA - 33pts

Schedule:
Chicago hosts LA on Sunday
Kansas City travels to Dallas on Saturday
Colorado hosts Salt Lake on Saturday
LA hosts New York tonight and travels to Chicago on Sunday

Tie breakers**:
Chicago beats KC with 2 wins from their 3 matches
Colorado beats Chicago on goal difference (they tied both games)
LA beats Chicago with 1 win but they still have one game to play
KC beats Colorado on goal difference (they tied both games)
LA beats KC with 1 win and 1 tie from their 2 matches
Colorado beats LA with 2 wins from their 3 matches

So how do they get to the playoffs?
Chicago
If they win, they are in.
If they tie, they are in if Colorado or KC does no better then a tie.
If they lose, they can still advance if KC loses and Colorado does no better then a tie.

Kansas City
If they win, they are in.
If they tie, they are in if Colorado does not win their match by more then two goals and either Chicago loses or if LA fails to get at least 4 points from their remaining two matches; or if Colorado does no better then a tie and if Chicago loses.
If they lose, they can still advance if Colorado does no better then a tie and LA fails to get at least 4 points from their remaining two matches.

Colorado
If they win, they are in if both KC lose; or if LA and Chicago tie and KC loses or ties if Colorado wins by more then 2 goals and KC ties.
If the tie or lose, they are out.

Los Angeles
If they get 6 points from their two matches, they are in.
If they get 4 points from their two matches, they are in if KC loses and Colorado does no better then a tie.
If they get less the 4 points, they are out.

There is one scenario I'm not 100% sure about. If Chicago and KC tie while Colorado wins by no more then 2 goals, then all their teams will be tied on points and each team beats another in a tie-breaker (Chicago beats KC who beats Colorado who beats Chicago).

No matter what happens, at least one team will enter the playoffs with a losing record and unless Chicago win on Sunday, the number will stand at two.

* Columbus is out due to head-to-head results against both Chicago and KC.
** Tiebreakers go head-to-head, goal difference, goals scored for the season

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