MLS Playoffs & News

Well, it's not exactly "bracket season" but that's the bracket for the MLS playoffs that start this week. The first round is a two-game home-and-home series with the aggregate score of the two games determining who advances to the conference finals.

DC United is the favorite to advance from the Eastern conference to the MLS Cup and Houston will be a tough team to knock out in the Western conference with their years of playoff experience. I'm not even letting myself get excited for my Red Bulls chances since they'll only crush my hopes with some miserable exit from the playoffs.

The games start Thursday on ESPN2 with DC United at Chicago (8:30pm EST).

The other exciting news is that following the best attendance season ever for MLS, they have announced another round of expansion with San Jose rejoining the league next year and Seattle & Philadelphia joining a few years after that. Philly's future owners had a big announcement today with plans for a new soccer stadium to be built south of the city along the Delaware River.

If the final stadium looks as nice as these renderings, it'll be a great place to see a game. That roof will keep the noise which should make for some fun atmosphere.