Every 2012 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 2012 title from a regular season record of 16-12-6. 10 teams reached the playoffs and the bracket ran 4 rounds. Every matchup below is taken from the MLS stats API; nothing on this page is estimated.
| Round | Won by | Result | Opponent | Played |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Knockout Round | Houston Dynamo FC | 2-1 | Chicago Fire FC | October 31, 2012 |
| Knockout Round | LA Galaxy | 2-1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | November 1, 2012 |
| Conference Semifinals | LA Galaxy | 3-2 on aggregate | San Jose Earthquakes | November 4 to November 7, 2012 |
| Conference Semifinals | Houston Dynamo FC | 2-1 on aggregate | Sporting Kansas City | November 4 to November 7, 2012 |
| Conference Semifinals | D.C. United | 2-1 on aggregate | Red Bull New York | November 3 to November 8, 2012 |
| Conference Semifinals | Seattle Sounders FC | 1-0 on aggregate | Real Salt Lake | November 2 to November 8, 2012 |
| Conference Finals | Houston Dynamo FC | 4-2 on aggregate | D.C. United | November 11 to November 18, 2012 |
| Conference Finals | LA Galaxy | 4-2 on aggregate | Seattle Sounders FC | November 11 to November 18, 2012 |
| MLS Cup | LA Galaxy | 3-1 | Houston Dynamo FC | December 1, 2012 |
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.