NEW YORK (Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2007) - Exactly two months remain in Major League Soccer's regular season and teams are vying for spots in the MLS Cup Playoffs. Currently five Eastern Conference teams are in position to qualify, essentially stealing a wildcard slot away from the Western Conference where three teams sit above the fault line. But in the past two weeks, the Colorado Rapids rang up two big home wins against Houston Dynamo and the New England Revolution, and have closed within two points of the Columbus Crew for the eighth and final playoff spot.

The two conference leaders, New England Revolution and Houston Dynamo, have played the most games in MLS so far; each club has just eight games remaining to fend off challengers. Conversely, the two lowest-ranked teams in the standings, LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, are among those with the most games left to play. The Galaxy has 14 games remaining while RSL and Chivas USA each have 12 to play.

A mere six points separate the top five teams overall, so every game matters in determining playoff positioning.

The MLS regular season ends on Oct. 21, but if it were to end today this is what the playoff picture would look like:

Automatic berths:

EASTERN CONFERENCE
1 New England Revolution 39 points
2 D.C. United - 33 points (ranks above NY due to goal differential)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
1 Houston Dynamo 37
2 FC Dallas 36

Wildcard berths:
New York Red Bulls 33
Chivas USA 30
Kansas City Wizards 29
Columbus Crew 26

The pairings for the two-leg Conference Semifinal series would be:

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS:
1 New England Revolution vs. 4 Kansas City Wizards
2 D.C. United vs. 3 New York Red Bulls

WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS:
1 Houston Dynamo vs. 4 Columbus Crew*
2 FC Dallas vs. 3 Chivas USA

*See qualification and seeding procedure below.

These matchups are hypothetical, especially since not all teams have played an equal number of games. Teams currently on the outside looking in (with the minimum number of points they need to make up) are: Colorado Rapids (2), Chicago Fire (3), Toronto FC (6), LA Galaxy (12), and Real Salt Lake (14).

The qualification and seeding are as follow:

&149; Eight teams qualify for the 2007 MLS Cup Playoffs

&149; Playoff berths will be determined by points in the standings upon the completion of the regular season on Oct. 21; all 13 teams will have played 30 games.

&149; If two teams are tied on points, the first tiebreaker is head-to-head results, the second tiebreaker is goal differential, and the third is goals scored for the season. (Subsequent tiebreakers are available in the Fact and Record Book).

&149; The top two teams in each conference qualify and are seeded 1 & 2 in their respective four-team playoff conference brackets.

&149; The four MLS teams with the next most points, regardless of conference, receive "wildcard" berths.

&149; The four wildcard teams will be seeded according to conference first.

&149; If more than four teams qualify from one conference, those finishing lower than fourth in their conference will shift over to the other conference bracket.

&149; A team switching conference brackets will be seeded below all other teams in its new conference playoff bracket.

NOTE: The seeding is incorrectly described in the 2007 Fact and Record Book.

A busy week of MLS action - nine games - begins tomorrow:

(All times Eastern)

Wednesday, August 22
New York Red Bulls at D.C. United, 7:30 p.m.
Chicago Fire at Kansas City Wizards, 8:00 p.m.

Thursday, August 23

Chivas USA at Los Angeles Galaxy, 10:00 p.m. (ESPN2)

Saturday, August 25
D.C. United at Toronto FC, 7:30 p.m. (FSC, FSE, CBC) New York Red Bulls at New England Revolution, 7:30 p.m. Columbus Crew at Houston Dynamo, 8:30 p.m. Kansas City Wizards at Chicago Fire, 8:30 p.m. (HDNet)

Sunday, August 26
Los Angeles Galaxy at Colorado Rapids, 7:00 p.m. (Galavision)
Real Salt Lake at Chivas USA, 9:00 p.m.