In three of this season's quarterfinal series, the lower seeded team prevailed. That means one of this year's MLS Cup finalists will be a team that didn't have a winning record in the regular season: Los Angeles and Colorado, who face off in Western Conference final, each finished at 13-13-6.
Three times in MLS history has a team with a .500 regular-season record or worse reached MLS Cup:
2002 New England (12-14-2)
lost, 1-0, to Los Angeles (16-9-3) in MLS Cup.
1997 Colorado (14-18-0)
lost, 2-1, to D.C. United (21-11-0) in MLS Cup.
1996 D.C. United (16-16-0)
won, 3-2, against Los Angeles (19-13-0) in MLS Cup.