We knew going into the weekend we could end up with some craziness but after the dust settled it ended up not being nearly as crazy as it could have been. Real Salt Lake and New England came away with key wins and got a little help from some other clubs to sneak their way into the playoffs.

In a year that we expected to not see a losing club, Real got in as the only club with a losing record (11-12-7). One has to wonder who has the hotter hand going into the playoffs right now. Some could make the case for Jason Kreis’ club but others could say Seattle or LA have a hotter hand right now.

I plan on breaking down each series later on today or this week but here is this year’s playoff bracket:

EAST

(1) Columbus Crew vs. (4) Real Salt Lake

(2) Chicago Fire vs. (3) New England Revolution

WEST

(1) Los Angeles Galaxy vs. (4) Chivas USA

(2) Houston Dynamo vs. (3) Seattle Sounders

As you see RSL goes to the Eastern side of things, which I honestly think makes a tough first round for Columbus. RSL could be able to sneak into the conference finals again this year with this match up if the Crew don’t show up at Rio Tinto Stadium. Once again we get New England and Chicago in the first round, tell me we didn’t see that match up coming at the start of the year.

Out west should be exciting. LA and Chivas will certainly provide a solid first round series but look at that Houston-Seattle series, I really expect that one to be the best of the first round in the entire playoffs.

What do you make of the playoff bracket? See a club that you think has an easier road than others?