Western Conference Ramblings

I feel a bit like splitting hairs today. So here goes:

The Rapids have been in first place in the West for a good portion of the year. I have little doubt that they will finish the season there, unless something big changed. But a question comes to mind when thinking about the postseason: do the Rapids want to finish first in the West?

Here’s why: there’s no real secret that the East is far better than the West this year. There’s a very good chance that the playoffs will feature five teams from the East, in which case the first place West team would face the fifth place East team. Would it be easier to beat the third place West team or the fifth place East team? I honestly don’t know. The point is that the second place West team faces another team from the West and the first place West team probably faces a team from the East. Considering the depth of the East, does this penalize the first place Western finisher?

On the other hand, the first place team guarantees home field for the whole of the conference playoffs, and probably gets SuperLiga and Champions League spots next year, so it’s probably still better to be in first place. So let’s put it this way:

Reason 10,002 to love MLS: If the only reason you’re the best is because your conference stinks, you probably won’t make it through postseason. You can’t say that of a certain Boston team in another sport right now.

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