First, the easy ones: [size=+1]LOS ANGELES[/size] #1 seed: Win or tie at San Jose. #3 seed: Lose at San Jose. [size=+1]SAN JOSE[/size] #1 seed: Win vs. LA. #3 seed: Lose vs. LA and Colorado doesn't make up the 16-goal difference in their and San Jose's goal differentials. #4 seed: Lose vs. LA and Colorado makes up the 16-goal difference in their and San Jose's goal differentials. [size=+1]COLORADO[/size] #3 seed: Win vs. Kansas City, San Jose loses vs. LA and loses the 16-goal difference in their and Colorado's goal differentials. #4 seed: Win vs. Kansas City, San Jose loses vs. LA and doesn't lose the 16-goal difference in their and Colorado's goal differentials. Draw or lose vs. Kansas City and Dallas draws or loses at DC United. #5 seed: Draw or lose vs. Kansas City and Dallas wins at DC United. [size=+1]DALLAS[/size] #4 seed: Win at DC United and Colorado draws or loses vs. Kansas City #5 seed: Win at DC United and Colorado wins vs. Kansas City. Draw or lose at DC United.
Now it gets a little tougher, but not much: [size=+1]COLUMBUS[/size] #2 seed: Win or draw at Chicago. Lose at Chicago, and the MetroStars either draw at New England or win at New England but don't make up the five-goal difference in their and Columbus' goal differentials. #6 seed: Lose at Chicago, and the MetroStars win at New England and make up the five-goal differerence in their and Columbus' goal differentials. Lose at Chicago, and New England wins vs. the MetroStars.
Still tougher: [size=+1]METROSTARS[/size] #2 seed: Win at New England, Columbus loses at Chicago and loses the five-goal advantage in goal differential over the MetroStars. #6 seed: Win at New England, Columbus wins or draws at Chicago. Draw at New England, Kansas City draws or loses at Colorado, and Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus. #7 seed: Draw at New England, Kansas City wins at Colorado, and Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus. Draw at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus Lose at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, Chicago loses vs. Columbus, and DC United draws or loses vs. Dallas. #8 seed: Draw at New England, Kansas City wins at Colorado, and Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus. Lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, Chicago loses vs. Columbus, and DC United draws or loses vs. Dallas. Out of playoffs: Lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus. Lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus, and DC United wins vs. Dallas. (In case of a Chicago draw, DC United wins the 3-way tiebreaker for #8 vs. Chicago and MetroStars.)
[size=+1]KANSAS CITY[/size] #6 seed: Win at Colorado and MetroStars draw or lose at New England. #7 seed: Win at Colorado and MetroStars win at New England. Draw at Colorado and Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus, any result between MetroStars and New England. Lose at Colorado, MetroStars win at New England, and Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus #8 seed: Draw at Colorado, Chicago wins vs. Columbus, any result between MetroStars and New England. Lose at Colorado, MetroStars win at New England, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus Lose at Colorado, MetroStars draw or lose at New England, and Chicago loses vs. Columbus. Lose at Colorado, MetroStars draw at New England, Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus, DC United wins vs. Dallas. Out of playoffs: Lose at Colorado, MetroStars lose at New England, Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus. Lose at Colorado, MetroStars draw at New England, Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus, DC United draws or loses vs. Dallas.
[size=+1]NEW ENGLAND[/size] #2 seed: Win vs. the MetroStars and Columbus loses at Chicago #6 seed: Win vs. the MetroStars, Columbus draws or wins at Chicago, Kansas City draws or loses at Colorado. #7 seed: Win vs. the MetroStars, Columbus draws or wins at Chicago, Kansas City wins at Colorado. Draw vs. the MetroStars, Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus, Kansas City loses at Colorado. #8 seed: Draw vs. the MetroStars, Chicago wins vs. Columbus, and Kansas City loses at Colorado Draw vs. the MetroStars, Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus, and Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado Lose vs. the MetroStars, Chicago loses vs. Columbus, and any result by Kansas City. Out of playoffs: Draw vs. the MetroStars, Chicago wins vs. Columbus, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado Lose vs. the MetroStars, Chicago win or draws vs. Columbus, and any result by Kansas City.
[size=+1]CHICAGO[/size] #6 seed: Win vs. Columbus, MetroStars draw at New England, and Kansas City draws or loses at Colorado. #7 seed: Win vs. Columbus, MetroStars win or lose at New England, and Kansas City draws or loses at Colorado. Win vs. Columbus, MetroStars draw at New England, and Kansas City wins at Colorado. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars lose at New England, and Kansas City loses at Colorado. #8 seed: Win vs. Columbus, MetroStars win or lose at New England, and Kansas City wins at Colorado. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars draw at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, and DC United draws or loses vs. Dallas. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars win or lose at New England, and any result by Kansas City. Out of playoffs: Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars draw at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars draw at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, and DC United wins vs. Dallas. Lose vs. Columbus
[size=+1]DC UNITED[/size] #7 seed: Win vs. Dallas, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, and Chicago loses vs. Columbus #8 seed: Win vs. Dallas, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, and Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus Win vs. Dallas, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago loses vs. Columbus. Either win vs. Dallas by 13 goals or more or win vs. Dallas by 12 goals, but by scoring 14 goals more than Chicago scores, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago draws at Columbus Out of playoffs: Win vs. Dallas, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus. Win vs. Dallas, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus. Either win vs. Dallas by 11 goals or fewer or win vs. Dallas by 12 goals, but failing to score 14 goals more than Chicago scores, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and Chicago draws at Columbus. Win vs. Dallas and MetroStars win or draw at New England. Draw or lose vs. Dallas
Thats nuts... The Revs and the Metros can either be the #2 seed or out of playoffs...talk about polar opposites
So basically what you're saying is that United is a shoo-in for the playoffs? Well, as long as there is a shoestring chance for United, I'll continue to have hope. Hey, none of those results (necessary for United to make the playoffs) is absurd, so even if they are extremely unlikely to all happen, it is plausible. Thanks for the playoff possibilities rundown El Jefe. -Tron
Muchas gracias, El Jefe. I did run across a possible mistake/typo in your charts that might need correcting. In the post concerning the MetroStars, if the Metros tie NE, KC wins at Colorado, and Chicago draws Columbus, NY/NJ is listed as getting both the 7th seed and getting the 8th seed under this scenario.
I came across another conflicting scenario. Under the Chicago post, if Chicago draws vs. Columbus, the Metros lose at NE, and KC loses at Colorado, the thread states that Chicago will finish in both the 7th seed and in the 8th seed. I've also run across a few scenarios that were not considered, and if you're interested in adding them to your thread, I could either post them here or PM/email you.
Unfortunately, I can't correct it, but here we go. The bullet under #7 seed is correct: Draw at New England, Kansas City wins at Colorado, and Chicago draws or loses vs. Columbus. In that event, Kansas City is #6, Metros are #7, New England is #8, and Chicago and DC United are out. However the bullet under #8 seed Draw at New England, Kansas City wins at Colorado, and Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus. is a bit off. It should be: Draw at New England, Kansas City wins at Colorado, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus. In that event, Columbus is #2 with 38 points, Kansas City is #6 with 38 points, Chicago is #7 with 37 points, Metros are #8 with 36 points, New England is out with 36 points because of the head-to-head with Metros, and DC United is out.
Got one question, and hoping against hope that Dustin has the answer. Let's say San Jose is the third seed, and wins their first series. Let's say the Eastern winner actually wins their first series. San Jose has more points. Which team gets home advantage? I'm guessing MLS goes by the seed. I know one other American league that actually gives home advantage to the team with the better record. Travel plans are at stake here.
This is correct under the #7 seed: Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars lose at New England, and Kansas City loses at Colorado. In this event, Columbus is #2 with 39 points, New England is #6 with 38 points, and Chicago, Kansas City, the MetroStars, and possibly DC United are all tied with 35 points. The first tiebreaker is head-to-head. If DC United wins on Thursday and is part of the four-way tie: Chicago: 5 wins, 3 draws, 2 ties (1.7 points per game) DC United: 5-4-3 (1.5 ppg) Kansas City: 3-3-2 (1.375 ppg) MetroStars: 3-6-1 (1.0 ppg) Chicago finishes #7, DC United finishes #8, and Kansas City and the MetroStars are out. If DC United draws or loses on Thursday night, here's the three-way tie: Chicago: 4-2-0 (2.0 ppg) MetroStars: 2-3-1 (1.17 ppg) Kansas City: 1-2-1 (1.0 ppg) Chicago finishes #7, MetroStars finish #8, and Kansas City and DC United are out. I got a bit sloppy with this bullet under #8 seed, which needs a bit of correction: Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars win or lose at New England, and any result by Kansas City. This should be: Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars win at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, DC United draws or loses vs. Dallas. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars win at New England, Kansas City loses at Colorado, any result by DC United. Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars lose at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, any result by DC United except DC United beating Dallas by 13 goals or more. And there's one additional scenario for Chicago to not make the playoffs: Draw vs. Columbus, MetroStars win at New England, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, DC United wins vs. Dallas. In this evet, MetroStars are #6 with 38 points, Kansas City is #7 with 36 or 38 points, New England is #8 with 35 points, and Chicago and DC United are out. New England wins the three-way head-to-head with a record of 4-3-1. Chicago is second with 3-2-3. DC United third with 2-4-2. I'm interested. Post them here.
OK. In going through the threads carefully, it looked to me as though a few scenarios were omitted. Some of the corrections are rather minor and might have been inferred from what you had originally; others were a bit more significant and didn't seem to have been covered. These omissions/corrections include: San Jose: #3 seed: Tie vs. LA, or lose vs. LA and Colorado... Colorado: #4 seed: Win vs. KC, SJ ties or loses vs. LA and ... Columbus: #2 seed: Lose at Chicago and the MetroStars either lose or draw at NE or win at NE but .... MetroStars: #6 seed: Win at New England, Columbus wins or draws at Chicago or Columbus loses at Chicago but maintains its goal-differential advantage over the MetroStars A couple of scenarios involving the Metros didn't appear to have been considered: What happens to the Metros if they draw NE, KC draws Colorado, and Chicago wins vs. Columbus? What happens to the Metros if they lose at NE, KC loses at Colorado, and Chicago wins or draws vs. Columbus? What happens to the Metros if they lose at NE, KC loses at Colorado, Chicago loses at Columbus, and DC wins vs. Dallas? What happens to the Metros if they lose at NE, KC wins or draws at Colorado, Chicago draws vs. Colorado, and DC draws or loses vs. Dallas? Kansas City: What happens to KC if they lose at Colorado, the MetroStars draw at NE, Chicago wins vs. Colorado, and DC wins? New England: How does DC's result vs. Dallas affect the various scenarios? DC United: The scenario immediately below "Out of Playoffs" looks like it was superceded by the scenario immediately above it and the two immediately below it. Hope this is helpful. I wouldn't be surprised if one or two of the scenarios I mentioned were already covered by you but I just didn't see it. And though I went through your posts pretty thorougly, it's very possible that there still may be a scenario or two that's slipped by both of us.
Dang it. Good eye. See above. If Columbus loses to Chicago and the MetroStars lose to New England, Columbus and New England will both have 38 points and New England will win the East, because they own the head-to-head against Columbus. Good catch. Good catch. Columbus: 38 points, #2 seed Chicago: 37 points, #6 seed Metros, New England, Kansas City: 36 points Metros are 4-0-2 = 2.33 ppg versus New England and Kansas City and would get #7. Kansas City is 2-1-1 = 1.75 ppg versus New England and Metros and would get #8. New England is 0-5-1 = 0.17 ppg versus Metros and Kansas City and would be out. Of course, DC United, even if they win, would still be out. With either a Chicago win or draw in that scenario, Metros finish #8. Metros are out. Metros are out. Kansas City and DC United are out. Interestingly, not one bit. The only scenarios in which it would include them losing to the MetroStars and DC United beating Dallas. And in all those scenarios, DC United's result makes no difference in the overall outcome. I guess I should've stated that in the various scenarios. You're right. I wrote that, and then I stopped and considered that there it was theoretically possible for them to actually make the playoff if they beat Dallas, Chicago draws at Columbus, Kansas City wins or draws at Colorado, and MetroStars lose at New England. It's just very, VERY, VERY unlikely. Thanks.
Which league? The NFL, NHL, and NBA all give a division winner home field over a non-division winner. The #2 seed will have "home field advantage" as long as they survive.
The NBA doesn't. The lesser division champion gets placed in the bracket as the #2 seed, but does not get home court advantage if they play a team with better record and a lower seed.
At least the top 8 teams in MLS make the playoffs based on their records. Imagine having to sit at home during the post-season knowing your team had a better record than others who made it into the post-season, a scenario possible a la MLB.