Monday, October 13, 2008

East too?

That Galaxy breakdown I did earlier was, I should have written, was for the Galaxy to finish third in the Western Conference. But I realized while I was writing it and as others have since pointed out that there is actually a chance the Galaxy can finish ahead of all but three Eastern Conference teams and claim one of the two wild-card playoff spots.

How is that possible? Well, this is MLS after all and as I wrote earlier, anything can happen. It doesn't matter what you've done from April to September, because everything is amplified tenfold now.

Statistically, though, it is possible.


- First and foremost, the Galaxy must win at Houston and against FC Dallas. Two wins gives the Galaxy 38 points.
- Kansas City must not win. The Wizards host San Jose and travel to New England. Two losses keeps them at 36 points. Two draws gives them 38 points, and it would go to a tiebreaker. Each team beat the other once so tiebreaker then is goal differential, and if the Galaxy win out and KC doesn't win, LA wins that tiebreaker.
- New York is home to Columbus and at Chicago. New York needs to either lose both or draw one and lose the other. The latter gives them 37 points. NY holds the tiebreaker over the Galaxy.
- DC United has 34 points. A win and draw would give DC 38 points but LA would have the tiebreaker. Two wins puts DC at 40 points, anything short of that gives LA the edge.
- Toronto needs to not win out. Toronto beat the Galaxy twice this year and two wins would give them 38 points.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Luis! That was a very comprehensive breakdown, and now I can watch each game this week knowing who to root for!

So basically, the Galaxy made the playoffs, but they start this week, and any losses now them out. :)

Frank Macomber said...

Reminds of the playoff format used in Baseketball.