Every 2002 MLS playoff matchup, three ways: the season race carried on into the postseason, who beat their seeding, and the bracket.
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The same race these clubs ran all season, carried on through the postseason on one scale and on real dates.
Where each club finished the season against how far it went, ranked on record rather than seed.
Who played whom, round by round, which no line chart can say.
LA Galaxy won the 2002 title from a regular season record of 16-9-3. 8 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 3 rounds. Every matchup below is taken from the MLS stats API except which two matches went to extra time, which the API does not record before 2011, written in from Wikipedia's MLS Cup Playoffs article for the season, and that two matches that ended level played extra time first, which the API does not record, written in from the league's rule that season, that a level playoff match went to sudden-death extra time, and how one series was settled, in sudden-death extra time after finishing level on points, a goal the API adds to the last match's score, written in from Wikipedia and the RSSSF; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarterfinals | LA Galaxy | 2-1 in games | Kansas City Wizards | September 25 to October 2, 2002 |
| Quarterfinals | Columbus Crew | 2-0 in games | San Jose Earthquakes | September 25 to September 28, 2002 |
| Quarterfinals | Colorado Rapids | 1-1-1 in games, won in sudden-death extra time | Dallas Burn | September 25 to October 2, 2002 |
| Quarterfinals | New England Revolution | 2-1 in games | Chicago Fire | September 26 to October 2, 2002 |
| Semifinals | LA Galaxy | 2-0 in games | Colorado Rapids | October 5 to October 9, 2002 |
| Semifinals | New England Revolution | 1-0-2 in games | Columbus Crew | October 6 to October 12, 2002 |
| MLS Cup | LA Galaxy | 1-0 after extra time | New England Revolution | October 20, 2002 |
The left column ranks this field by regular season record, not by seed number: seeding rules differ by era, so this site uses records everywhere instead. The right column groups clubs by the round they went out in, which is not the same as the number of rounds they won, because a bye carries a club further without it winning anything. The figure beside a name is places moved between the two columns, and part of it is only where a club sat inside its band. Nothing here is a prediction. The data notes carry the whole method, and a standings race and the playoffs that followed it says what each of the three views is for.
The races that filled this bracket: Supporters' Shield