With the 2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup added to their trophy cabinet, Sporting Kansas City can donate full attention to the pivotal stretch run of the MLS regular season. And thanks to consecutive home wins over the New England Revolution and LA Galaxy in league play, Manager Peter Vermes' men are within touching distance of a club-record seventh straight playoff appearance.
In fact, Sporting Kansas City can clinch a spot in the MLS Cup Playoffs as early as Saturday night, when the side welcomes Western Conference leaders Vancouver Whitecaps FC to Children's Mercy Park at 8 p.m. CT. Without further ado, let's break things down in our first edition of Playoff Math.
Sporting KC's magic number is 5
If Sporting KC take five points from their last five MLS matches, they will be guaranteed a playoff berth — regardless of how other teams fare in the Western Conference.
That playoff berth could come as soon as Saturday, however, if any one of 25 scenarios come to fruition. PlayoffStatus.com lists those scenarios here.
How Sporting KC can clinch on Saturday
For the sake of simplicity, we will look at the simplest and most feasible way Sporting KC can secure a place in the MLS Cup Playoffs by the end of Saturday night.
Sporting KC will clinch a playoff spot if...
- SKC beats Vancouver on Saturday, AND
- Real Salt Lake drops points at LA Galaxy on Saturday, AND
- San Jose drops points vs. Chicago Fire on Wednesday OR San Jose drops points vs. Portland Timbers on Saturday
If Sporting KC tops Vancouver and both Real Salt Lake and San Jose lose or tie — and remember, the Earthquakes have two opportunities to drop points this week — Vermes' squad will guarantee a spot above the red line.
The standings below list each club's magic number as well as their best potential point total, based on possible points remaining (PPR). A win on Saturday would give Sporting KC 50 points. An RSL draw that same night would drop their best possible point total to 48. Similarly, a San Jose draw against either Chicago (Wednesday) or Portland (Saturday) would drop theirs to 49.
Western Conference Playoff Picture
<strong>Team</strong> |
<strong>Points</strong> |
<strong>GP</strong> |
<strong>PPR</strong> |
<strong>Potential</strong> |
<strong>Magic Number</strong> |
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
48 |
29 |
15 |
63 |
4 |
Portland Timbers |
47 |
31 |
9 |
56 |
5 |
Sporting KC |
47 |
29 |
15 |
62 |
5 |
Seattle Sounders FC |
44 |
30 |
12 |
56 |
8 |
Real Salt Lake |
41 |
31 |
9 |
50 |
11 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
39 |
30 |
12 |
51 |
13 |
Houston Dynamo |
39 |
29 |
15 |
54 |
13 |
FC Dallas |
38 |
29 |
15 |
53 |
14 |
Minnesota United FC |
32 |
29 |
15 |
47 |
20 |
LA Galaxy |
27 |
30 |
12 |
39 |
25 |
Colorado Rapids |
26 |
29 |
15 |
41 |
26 |
Remarkably, Sporting Kansas City can even clinch a top-four spot in the West — and the home playoff game that comes with it — as soon as Saturday night. Likewise, there are 25 possible scenarios to play out this weekend that would result in Sporting KC sealing a top-four finish. Click here to view each of those scenarios.
Tickets for Saturday's all-important showdown with Vancouver are available at SeatGeek.com. Sporting KC is currently riding a 24-game home unbeaten run in the MLS regular season, the third-longest such streak in MLS history.
