------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHICAGO FIRE (CHI)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1998 - COL LAG DCU
1999 - dal --- ---
2000 - NER NYR skc
2001 - DAL lag ---
2002 - ner --- ---
2003 - DCU NER sje
2004 - --- --- ---
2005 - DCU ner ---
2006 - ner --- ---
2007 - DCU ner ---
2008 - NER clb ---
2009 - NER rsl ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
Colorado 1-0 (W 1998)
Los Angeles 1-1 (W 1998, L 2001)
DC 4-0 (W 1998, W 2003, W 2005, W 2007)
Dallas 1-1 (L 1999, W 2001)
New England 4-4 (W 2000, L 2002, W 2003, L 2005, L 2006, L 2007, W 2008, W 2009)
New York 1-0 (W 2000)
Kansas City 0-1 (L 2000)
San Jose 0-1 (L 2003)
Columbus 0-1 (L 2008)
Salt Lake 0-1 (L 2009)
MLS Cup Final 1-2
Semifinals 3-5
Quarterfinals 8-3
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 12-10
Playoffs 11 of 14
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CHIVAS USA (CHV)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2005 - --- --- ---
2006 - hou --- ---
2007 - skc --- ---
2008 - rsl --- ---
2009 - lag --- ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
Houston 0-1 (L 2006)
Kansas City 0-1 (L 2007)
Salt Lake 0-1 (L 2008)
Los Angeles 0-1 (L 2009)
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-4
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-4
Playoffs 4 of 7
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COLORADO RAPIDS (COL)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - --- --- ---
1997 - SKC DAL dcu
1998 - chi --- ---
1999 - lag --- ---
2000 - skc --- ---
2001 - --- --- ---
2002 - DAL lag ---
2003 - skc --- ---
2004 - lag --- ---
2005 - DAL lag ---
2006 - DAL hou ---
2007 - --- --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - CLB SJE DAL
2011 - CLB skc --- ---
Kansas City 1-3 (W 1997, L 2000, L 2003, L 2011)
Dallas 5-0 (W 1997, W 2002, W 2005, W 2006, W 2010)
DC 0-1 (L 1997)
Chicago 0-1 (L 1998)
Los Angeles 0-4 (L 1999, L 2002, L 2004, L 2005)
Houston 0-1 (L 2006)
Columbus 2-0 (W 2010, W 2011)
San Jose 1-0 (W 2010)
MLS Cup Final 1-1
Semifinals 2-3
Quarterfinals 5-6
Wildcards 1-0
OVERALL 9-10
Playoffs 11 of 16
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COLUMBUS CREW (CLB)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - tbm --- ---
1997 - TBM dcu ---
1998 - NYR dcu ---
1999 - TBM dcu ---
2000 - --- --- ---
2001 - sje --- ---
2002 - SJE ner ---
2003 - --- --- ---
2004 - ner --- ---
2005 - --- --- ---
2006 - --- --- ---
2007 - --- --- ---
2008 - SKC CHI NYR
2009 - rsl --- ---
2010 - col --- ---
2011 - col --- --- ---
Tampa Bay 2-1 (L 1996, W 1997, W 1999)
DC 0-3 (L 1997, L 1998, L 1999)
New York 2-0 (W 1998, W 2008)
San Jose 1-1 (L 2001, W 2002)
New England 0-2 (L 2002, L 2004)
Kansas City 1-0 (W 2008)
Chicago 1-0 (W 2008)
Salt Lake 0-1 (L 2009)
Colorado 0-2 (L 2010, L 2011)
MLS Cup Final 1-0
Semifinals 1-4
Quarterfinals 5-5
Wildcards 0-1
OVERALL 7-10
Playoffs 11 of 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DC UNITED (DCU)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - NYR TBM LAG
1997 - NER CLB COL
1998 - MIA CLB chi
1999 - MIA CLB LAG
2000 - --- --- ---
2001 - --- --- ---
2002 - --- --- ---
2003 - chi --- ---
2004 - NYR NER SKC
2005 - chi --- ---
2006 - NYR ner ---
2007 - chi --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
New York 3-0 (W 1996, W 2004, W 2006)
Tampa Bay 1-0 (W 1996)
Los Angeles 2-0 (W 1996, W 1999)
New England 2-1 (W 1997, W 2004, L 2006)
Columbus 3-0 (W 1997, W 1998, W 1999)
Colorado 1-0 (W 1997)
Miami 2-0 (W 1998, W 1999)
Chicago 0-4 (L 1998, L 2003, L 2005, L 2007)
Kansas City 1-0 (W 2004)
MLS Cup Final 4-1
Semifinals 5-1
Quarterfinals 6-3
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 15-5
Playoffs 9 of 16
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FC DALLAS (DAL)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - skc --- ---
1997 - LAG col ---
1998 - lag --- ---
1999 - CHI lag ---
2000 - nyr --- ---
2001 - chi --- ---
2002 - col --- ---
2003 - --- --- ---
2004 - --- --- ---
2005 - col --- ---
2006 - col --- ---
2007 - hou --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - RSL LAG col
2011 - nyr --- --- ---
Kansas City 0-1 (L 1996)
Los Angeles 2-2 (W 1997, L 1998, L 1999, W 2010)
Colorado 0-5 (L 1997, L 2002, L 2005, L 2006, L 2010)
Chicago 1-1 (W 1999, L 2001)
New York 0-2 (L 2000, L 2011)
Houston 0-1 (L 2007)
Salt Lake 1-0 (W 2010)
MLS Cup Final 0-1
Semifinals 1-2
Quarterfinals 3-8
Wildcards 0-1
OVERALL 4-12
Playoffs 12 of 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
HOUSTON DYNAMO (HOU)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2006 - CHV COL NER
2007 - DAL SKC NER
2008 - nyr --- ---
2009 - SEA lag ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- PHI SKC lag
Chivas 1-0 (W 2006)
COlorado 1-0 (W 2006)
New England 2-0 (W 2006, W 2007)
Dallas 1-0 (W 2007)
Kansas City 2-0 (W 2007, W 2011)
New York 0-1 (L 2008)
Seattle 1-0 (W 2009)
Los Angeles 0-2 (L 2009, L 2011)
Philadelphia 1-0 (W 2011)
MLS Cup Final 2-1
Semifinals 3-1
Quarterfinals 4-1
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 9-3
Playoffs 5 of 6
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
LOS ANGELES GALAXY (LAG)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - SJE SKC dcu
1997 - dal --- ---
1998 - DAL chi ---
1999 - COL DAL dcu
2000 - TBM skc ---
2001 - NYR CHI sje
2002 - SKC COL NER
2003 - sje --- ---
2004 - COL skc ---
2005 - SJE COL NER
2006 - --- --- ---
2007 - --- --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - CHV HOU rsl
2010 - SEA fcd ---
2011 - --- NYR RSL HOU
San Jose 2-2 (W 1996, L 2001, L 2003, W 2005)
Kansas City 2-2 (W 1996, L 2000, W 2002, L 2004)
DC 0-2 (L 1996, L 1999)
Dallas 2-2 (L 1997, W 1998, W 1999, L 2010)
Chicago 1-1 (L 1998, W 2001)
Colorado 4-0 (W 1999, W 2002, W 2004, W 2005)
Tampa Bay 1-0 (W 2000)
New York 2-0 (W 2001, W 2011)
New England 2-0 (W 2002, W 2005)
Chivas 1-0 (W 2009)
Houston 2-0 (W 2009, L 2011)
Salt Lake 1-1 (L 2009, W 2011)
Seattle 1-0 (W 2010)
MLS Cup Final 3-4
Semifinals 7-4
Quarterfinals 11-2
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 21-10
Playoffs 13 of 16
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MIAMI FUSION (MIA)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1998 - dcu --- ---
1999 - dcu --- ---
2000 - --- --- ---
2001 - SKC sje ---
DC 0-2 (L 1998, L 1999)
Kansas City 1-0 (W 2001)
San Jose 0-1 (L 2001)
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-1
Quarterfinals 1-2
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 1-3
Playoffs 3 of 4
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION (NER)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - --- --- ---
1997 - dcu --- ---
1998 - --- --- ---
1999 - --- --- ---
2000 - chi --- ---
2001 - --- --- ---
2002 - CHI CLB lag
2003 - NYR chi ---
2004 - CLB dcu ---
2005 - NYR CHI lag
2006 - CHI DCU hou
2007 - NYR CHI hou
2008 - chi --- ---
2009 - chi --- ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
DC 1-2 (L 1997, L 2004, W 2006)
Chicago 4-4 (L 2000, W 2002, L 2003, W 2005, W 2006, W 2007, L 2008, L 2009)
Columbus 2-0 (W 2002, W 2004)
Los Angeles 0-2 (L 2002, L 2005)
New York 3-0 (W 2003, W 2005, W 2007)
Houston 0-2 (L 2006, L 2007)
MLS Cup Final 0-4
Semifinals 4-2
Quarterfinals 6-4
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 10-10
Playoffs 10 of 16
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NEW YORK RED BULLS (NYR)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - dcu --- ---
1997 - --- --- ---
1998 - clb --- ---
1999 - --- --- ---
2000 - DAL chi ---
2001 - lag --- ---
2002 - --- --- ---
2003 - ner --- ---
2004 - dcu --- ---
2005 - ner --- ---
2006 - dcu --- ---
2007 - ner --- ---
2008 - HOU RSL clb
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - sje --- ---
2011 - DAL lag --- ---
DC 0-3 (L 1996, L 2004, L 2006)
Columbus 0-2 (L 1998, L 2008)
Dallas 2-0 (W 2000, W 2011)
Chicago 0-1 (L 2000)
Los Angeles 0-2 (L 2001, L 2011)
New England 0-3 (L 2003, L 2005, L 2007)
Houston 1-0 (W 2008)
Salt Lake 1-0 (W 2008)
San Jose 0-1 (L 2010)
MLS Cup Final 0-1
Semifinals 1-1
Quarterfinals 2-10
Wildcards 1-0
OVERALL 4-12
Playoffs 12 of 16
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PHILADELPHIA UNION (PHI)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- hou --- ---
Houston 0-1 (L 2011)
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-1
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-1
Playoffs 1 of 2
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PORTLAND TIMBERS (POR)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2011 - --- --- --- ---
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-0
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-0
Playoffs 0 of 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REAL SALT LAKE (RSL)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2005 - --- --- ---
2006 - --- --- ---
2007 - --- --- ---
2008 - CHV nyr ---
2009 - CLB CHI LAG
2010 - fcd --- ---
2011 - --- SEA lag ---
Chivas 1-0 (W 2008)
New York 0-1 (L 2008)
Columbus 1-0 (W 2009)
Chicago 1-0 (W 2009)
Los Angeles 1-1 (W 2009, L 2011)
Dallas 0-1 (L 2010)
Seattle 1-0 (W 2011)
MLS Cup Final 1-0
Semifinals 1-2
Quarterfinals 3-1
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 5-3
Playoffs 4 of 7
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES (SJE)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - lag --- ---
1997 - --- --- ---
1998 - --- --- ---
1999 - --- --- ---
2000 - --- --- ---
2001 - CLB MIA LAG
2002 - clb --- ---
2003 - LAG SKC CHI
2004 - skc --- ---
2005 - lag --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - NYR col ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
Los Angeles 2-2 (L 1996, W 2001, W 2003, L 2005)
Columbus 1-1 (W 2001, L 2002)
Miami 1-0 (W 2001)
Kansas City 1-1 (W 2003, L 2004)
Chicago 1-0 (W 2003)
New York 1-0 (W 2010)
Colorado 0-1 (L 2010)
MLS Cup Final 2-0
Semifinals 2-1
Quarterfinals 3-4
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 7-5
Playoffs 7 of 14
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SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC (SEA)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2009 - hou --- ---
2010 - lag --- ---
2011 - --- rsl --- ---
Houston 0-1 (L 2009)
Los Angeles 0-1 (L 2010)
Salt Lake 0-1 (L 2011)
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-3
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-3
Playoffs 3 of 3
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SPORTING KANSAS CITY (SKC)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - DAL lag ---
1997 - col --- ---
1998 - --- --- ---
1999 - --- --- ---
2000 - COL LAG CHI
2001 - mia --- ---
2002 - lag --- ---
2003 - COL sje ---
2004 - SJE LAG dcu
2005 - --- --- ---
2006 - --- --- ---
2007 - CHV hou ---
2008 - clb --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- COL hou ---
Dallas 1-0 (W 1996)
Los Angeles 2-2 (L 1996, W 2000, L 2002, W 2004)
Colorado 3-1 (L 1997, W 2000, W 2003, W 2011)
Chicago 1-0 (W 2000)
Miami 0-1 (L 2001)
San Jose 1-1 (L 2003, W 2004)
DC 0-1 (L 2004)
Chivas 1-0 (W 2007)
Houston 0-2 (L 2007, L 2011)
Columbus 0-1 (L 2008)
MLS Cup Final 1-1
Semifinals 2-4
Quarterfinals 6-4
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 9-9
Playoffs 10 of 16
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TAMPA BAY MUTINY (TBM)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
1996 - CLB dcu ---
1997 - clb --- ---
1998 - --- --- ---
1999 - clb --- ---
2000 - lag --- ---
2001 - --- --- ---
Columbus 1-2 (W 1996, L 1997, L 1999)
DC 0-1 (L 1996)
Los Angeles 0-1 (L 2000)
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-1
Quarterfinals 1-3
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 1-4
Playoffs 4 of 6
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TORONTO FC (TOR)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2007 - --- --- ---
2008 - --- --- ---
2009 - --- --- ---
2010 - --- --- ---
2011 - --- --- --- ---
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-0
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-0
Playoffs 0 of 5
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC (VAN)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WC QF SF CUP
2011 - --- --- --- ---
MLS Cup Final 0-0
Semifinals 0-0
Quarterfinals 0-0
Wildcards 0-0
OVERALL 0-0
Playoffs 0 of 1
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HEAD-TO-HEAD RESULTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHI CHV COL CLB DCU DAL HOU LAG MIA NER NYR PHI POR RSL SJE SEA SKC TBM TOR VAN
CHI --- 0-0 1-0 0-1 4-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 4-4 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
CHV 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
COL 0-1 0-0 --- 2-0 0-1 5-0 0-1 0-4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 1-3 0-0 0-0 0-0
CLB 1-0 0-0 0-2 --- 0-3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 1-1 0-0 1-0 2-1 0-0 0-0
DCU 0-4 0-0 1-0 3-0 --- 0-0 0-0 2-0 2-0 2-1 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0
DAL 1-1 0-0 0-5 0-0 0-0 --- 0-1 2-2 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
HOU 0-0 1-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 --- 0-1 0-0 2-0 0-1 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
LAG 1-1 1-0 4-0 0-0 0-2 2-2 1-0 --- 0-0 2-0 2-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 2-2 1-0 2-2 1-0 0-0 0-0
MIA 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
NER 4-4 0-0 0-0 2-0 1-2 0-0 0-2 0-2 0-0 --- 3-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
NYR 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-2 0-3 2-0 1-0 0-2 0-0 0-3 --- 0-0 0-0 1-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
PHI 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
POR 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
RSL 1-0 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
SJE 1-0 0-0 0-1 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 2-2 1-0 0-0 1-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 0-0
SEA 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0
SKC 1-0 1-0 3-1 0-1 0-1 1-0 0-2 2-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0 0-0
TBM 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0 0-0
TOR 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 --- 0-0
VAN 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 ---
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PLAYOFF RECORD SUMMARY
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ALL WC QF SF CUP Playoffs PP-EPP
HOU 9-2 0-0 4-1 3-1 2-1 5 of 6 +1.589
LAG 20-10 0-0 11-2 7-4 3-4 13 of 16 +0.954
RSL 5-3 0-0 3-1 1-2 1-0 4 of 7 +0.410
DCU 15-5 0-0 6-3 5-1 4-1 9 of 16 +0.384
CHI 12-10 0-0 8-3 3-5 1-2 11 of 14 +0.250
COL 9-10 1-0 5-6 2-3 1-1 11 of 16 -0.035
SJE 7-5 0-0 3-4 2-1 2-0 7 of 14 -0.107
SKC 9-9 0-0 6-4 2-4 1-1 10 of 16 -0.121
NER 10-10 0-0 6-4 4-2 0-4 10 of 16 -0.128
CLB 7-10 0-1 5-5 1-4 1-0 11 of 16 -0.136
SEA 0-3 0-0 0-3 0-0 0-0 3 of 3 -0.206
DAL 4-12 0-1 3-8 1-2 0-1 12 of 16 -0.330
NYR 4-12 1-0 2-10 1-1 0-1 12 of 16 -0.364
MIA 1-3 0-0 1-2 0-1 0-0 3 of 4 -0.400
TBM 1-4 0-0 1-3 0-1 0-0 4 of 6 -0.550
PHI 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 of 2 -0.583
CHV 0-4 0-0 0-4 0-0 0-0 4 of 7 -0.614
POR 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 of 1 -1.000
VAN 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 of 1 -1.000
TOR 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 of 5 -1.000
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REMARKS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All records are on a series basis, not a per game basis. The series structures/rules at the time of the competition are not taken into consideration in the statistics here.
Los Angeles has the most playoff series wins with 21.
Los Angeles have made the playoffs the greatest number of times (13).
Los Angeles has the record for consecutive playoff appearances (10).
Los Angeles are 11-2 in quarterfinal series.
Colorado is 5-0 against Dallas in playoff series.
Los Angeles is 4-0 against Colorado in playoff series.
Chicago is 4-0 against DC United in playoff series.
Houston has only lost three playoff series ever.
DC United and San Jose are tied with missing the playoffs the greatest number of times (7).
Seattle are the only team to make it to the playoffs every year of their existence.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PP-EPP EXPLANATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PP-EPP is Playoff Performance Minus Expected Playoff Performance. It is a statistic I created to gauge the overall performance of a team in the post-season. To get an idea of how it works, imagine a league with ten equally skilled teams that has a eight team playoff post-season that runs for exactly ten years. Under this system, you would expect any given team to make it to the playoffs eight times, make it to the semifinals four times, make it to the final twice, and win the playoffs once. If a team from this league had these exact results from ten years of experience, their PP-EPP would be 0.00, since their actual performance and the expected performance were exactly equal. However, if a team made it to the final every year, they would have a positive PP-EPP and if they never made the playoffs at all, they would have a negative PP-EPP. Furthermore, since the playoff structure is single elimination, we can assume that making it to the quarterfinals is twice as likely as making it to the semifinals, which is twice as likely as making it to the finals, which is twice as likely as winning the final. One other thing we need to consider is the number of teams in a given season. In a ten team league, it is much easier to make an eight team playoff than it is in a 16 team league. Likewise, winning MLS Cup against 15 other clubs is worth more than winning MLS Cup against 9 other clubs. So we need to take this into consideration when we create our expected values. Now I'll show you how I go about calculating these numbers.
In 1996, there are 10 teams and 8 playoff spots. We need to allocate points to all teams based on playoff finish. Let X be the number of points we allocate to the MLS Cup Winner. Then the runner up gets X/2 points, the semifinalists get X/4 points each, the quarterfinalists get X/8 points each, and the teams that did not make the playoffs get 0 points. We then want to "normalize" these point values so that their average (or expected value) is 1. So we set up the following equation:
[X + X/2 + 2(X/4) + 4(X/8)] / 10 = 1
Solving, we get:
X + X/2 + X/2 + X/2 = 10 => (5/2)X = 10 => X = 4.
So for 1996, (and 1997, 2002, 2003, and 2004 - since they had the same number of teams), winning the playoffs gets you 4 points, being runner-up gets you 2 points, being a semi-finalist gets you 1 point, and being a quarterfinalist gets you 0.5 points. To see how this changes with the total number of teams, suppose we have 16 teams (as in 2010). Solving our equation again we get (5/2)X = 16 => X = 6.4. So then the champion gets 6.4 points, the runner-up gets 3.2 points, the semifinalists get 1.6 points, and the quarterfinalists gets 0.8 points.
In 2011, it becomes a little more rigorous because we have to deal with 10 teams in the playoffs. We can't say that a team is twice as likely to be a wildcard than a quarterfinalist, because there are only two wildcard losers. We set up our equation to note that there are 10 teams that make the playoffs (i.e. X/10) and that two teams will lose the wildcard matches (i.e. 2(x/10)). So we get:
[X + X/2 + 2(X/4) + 4(X/8) + 2(X/10)] / 18 = 1 => (27/10)X = 18 => X = 20/3.
So a quarterfinalist will receive 5/6 points, and a wildcard loser will receive 2/3 points.
A summary of points allocated per year is in the following table:
1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Champion 4.00 4.00 4.80 4.80 4.80 4.80 4.00 4.00 4.00 4.80 4.80 5.20 5.60 6.00 6.40 6.67
Runner-Up 2.00 2.00 2.40 2.40 2.40 2.40 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.40 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.33
Semifinalist 1.00 1.00 1.20 1.20 1.20 1.20 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.20 1.20 1.30 1.40 1.50 1.60 1.67
Quarterfinalist 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.60 0.60 0.65 0.70 0.75 0.80 0.83
Wildcard 0.67
Remember that we "normalized" every year so that the average (or expected value) is one for every year, so the overall expected value is one as well. Points earned in all years are then added up for each team and divided by the number of years that team has been in the league. Finally, our expected value (one) is subtracted. For example, Miami Fusion made it to the quarterfinals in 1998 and 1999, failed to make the playoffs in 2000, and made it to the semifinals in 2001. The point values for those years are 0.60, 0.60, 0.00, and 1.20. So Miami's PP-EPP is [0.60 + 0.60 + 0.00 + 1.20] / 4 - 1 = -0.400. If a team has never made the playoffs, their performance is 0, and their PP-EPP is 0 - 1 = -1.000. The PP-EPP for each team is in the final column of the PLAYOFF RECORD SUMMARY exhibit.
