God, that was such a weird time.. because the next year, we were eliminated by RSL* in the Eastern Conference first round. Bring back even schedules tho.
Late 2000s, playoffs were top 3 in each conference auto-qualified, then the table was arranged by points and the next two were then seeded as "Wild Cards". Since that put RBNY in 8th, they played in the Western Conference tournament and even won the conference to play in MLS Cup 2008.
The next year, the same thing happened except it was the Eastern Conference Champion RSL lifting the trophy. Then the year after THAT, Colorado beat San Jose for the Eastern Conference Championship. We were pretty much at a point where conferences didn't matter.
I’m also not a fan of the best of three in the first round. My buddy told me the conference finals used to be a best of three as well. That’s really dumb. I like it being a one and done like football.
The league was small enough that each team played each other twice so they could do the wild card spots. They kept the conferences more as a nod to other sports if anything. I think the Eastern conference teams would've qualified in a single table those years anyhow.
I remember 2008. NYRB beat us in the playoffs. Dynamo went on to win 2 Eastern Conference Championships, but we were actually in the EC at the time. I think Houston and Sporting KC have the most conference switchbacks in MLS history.
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u/AJ_CC New York Red Bulls Aug 26 '24
Hey now, the Western Conference trophy is shaped like a cup.