Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney puts the MLS playoff picture into focus as the regular season heads into its final weekend: A crazy final weekend rife with tiebreakers is on tap for MLS fans. But the situation couldn’t be clearer for Colorado. If the Rapids beat Los Angeles, they’re in the playoffs. If the Rapids tie or lose, there will still be hope for Columbus and Miami. But the Rapids will face a Galaxy team playing on less than 48 hours’ rest. The final spot will be decided on the final day of play Saturday unless Colorado beats the Galaxy at home on Friday. Los Angeles lost its chance to win the Western Division by losing to the Burn after Kansas City had won on Wednesday. It still has a chance to get homefield advantage in the first round by grabbing the No. 4 seed. Tampa Bay and Los Angeles will meet in the first round as the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds, yet which team will host two games, if necessary, hasn’t been determined. If L.A. ties Colorado and the Mutiny loses, the No. 4 seed would go to the team with the better goal difference since the teams split the season series 1-1-0. The Mutiny leads plus 12 to plus 11 and thus the teams would finish tied on goal difference if Tampa lost by one goal. The next tiebreaker is total goals scored. The Mutiny has a huge edge (60 to 47). Wednesday’s games proved decisive for two teams. New England backed into the playoffs despite losing 1-0 at home to Kansas City when Columbus lost 3-1 at Chicago, and Dallas earned a postseason slot by beating a depleted Galaxy team 1-0 in Los Angeles. Miami slipped to the brink of elimination Tuesday night by falling to the MetroStars 2-1 at the Meadowlands. Miami finishes the regular season at D.C. United on Saturday. It must win and hope for help. Colorado would win the head-to-head tiebreaker against Columbus (1-0-1), but it loses the tiebreaker against Miami (1-3-0). Kansas City regained the No. 1 seed by beating New England and also clinched the Western Division crown when the Galaxy lost. It can clinch the No. 1 seed with a win in Tampa Bay Saturday. The Mutiny cannot win the Central Division title. The Fire and the Mutiny can still finish the season tied on points, but Chicago won the season series 2-0-2. The Eastern Division title assures the Metros a spot in the top three seeds and it can still capture the No. 1 seed by beating New England Saturday. The head to head results for the top three seeds are: ò Kansas City vs. MetroStars: KC won 2-1-1. ò Chicago vs. MetroStars: Tied 1-1-0. ò Kansas City vs. Chicago: Series tied 1-1-0. If the three teams finish tied with 57 points, Kansas City would win the No. 1 seed by virtue of its 3-2-1 record versus the other two teams since the other two series are tied. Goal differential would be needed to decide the No. 2 seed between Kansas City and the Metros. The ladder as of September 8: The ladder as of September 7: Clinched: 1. *Kansas City 56 points Last game: @Mutiny 2. *Chicago 54 points @Crew 3. *MetroStars 54 points @Revs *Division winners. Chicago won season series vs. Metros. 4. Tampa Bay 51 points Wizards 5. Los Angeles 50 points @Rapids 6. Dallas, 43 points Quakes 7. New England 42 points Mutiny. Still alive: 8. Colorado, 40 points Galaxy could be tired in finale. 9. Columbus, 38 points Fire has won all three previous meetings. 10. Miami, 38 points United is 1-2-0 vs. Fusion this year. D.C. United (30) and San Jose (29) are eliminated. The playoff brackets would look like this: The playoff brackets would look like this: 1. Kansas City vs. 8. Colorado winner plays winner of 4. Tampa Bay vs. 5. Los Angeles 2. Chicago vs. 7. New England, winner plays winner of 3. MetroStars vs. 6. Dallas Here’s the weekend scenario for the three teams fighting for one spot: If Colorado beats the Galaxy, the Rapids clinch and the Saturday games are irrelevant. In case of a Rapids-Galaxy tie, Colorado clinches if Miami fails to win regardless of what Columbus does. If Colorado loses, and both Columbus and Miami win and thus finish tied with 41 points, the playoff spot would go to the Crew, since it swept the Fusion 2-0-0 in the regular season. Miami gets in if it wins, and Columbus and Colorado do not win. If all three teams finish with 41 points, Columbus wins the tiebreaker by its 2-1-1 record vs. the other two teams. Miami is 3-3-0 against the other two, and Colorado is 2-3-1.