By falling 2-1 to the Dallas Burn Wednesday night (Aug. 2) in Foxboro Stadium, the New England Revolution fell out of the playoff picture, at least temporarily. Coupled with a 2-1 Columbus win over San Jose, the result dropped the Revs to ninth place on the playoff ladder, one point behind Colorado, which lost 3-1 to Kansas City. The top eight teams make the playoffs. The Wizards, leaders in the Western Division, took clear possession of the No. 1 seed and lead the pack with 44 points. The Eastern Division-leading MetroStars, 3-2 losers to D.C. United in overtime, are second with 41 points. Chicago pulled into a tie with Tampa Bay atop the Central Division by nicking a 1-0 win over the Mutiny. Both teams have 38 points, but the Fire lead the division — and thus hold the No. 3 playoff seed — since it leads the season series with Tampa. For the playoffs, the three division winners will be seeded by points into the top three slots. The remaining five places are determined strictly by points, without regard to divisional placing. The regular season ends Sept. 10. Following the matches of Aug. 2, the playoff picture looks like this: 1. Kansas City 44 points; 2. MetroStars 41; 3. Chicago 38; 4. Tampa Bay 38; 5. Los Angeles 37; 6. Dallas 34*; 7. Columbus 34; 8. Colorado 33. (*Dallas currently holds the series edge over Columbus. The first MLS tiebreaker is head-to-head results, not goal difference.) The chasers are: 9. New England 32; 10. Miami 26; 11. D.C. 24; 12. San Jose 23. In the MLS playoffs, teams will be placed in a pre-determined bracket, and will not be reshuffled after each round. This is the bracketing: No. 1 plays No. 8, No. 4 plays No. 5. Winners meet. No. 2 plays No. 7, No. 3 plays No. 6. Winners meet. The first and second rounds will be best-of-three series, with the higher-seeded teams playing the first and third (if necessary) games at home. The MLS Cup 2000 final will be played Oct. 15 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. Playoff matchups as of Aug. 3: 1. Kansas City-8. Colorado vs. 4.Tampa Bay-5. Los Angeles 2. MetroStars-7. Columbus vs. 3. Chicago-6. Dallas By Ridge Mahoney