Columbus Crew SC secure second seed and a bye

Leaving no doubt after a commanding 5-0 win over D.C. United, Columbus Crew SC locked down the second seed and the bye that comes with it. They finished with 15 wins, 11 losses, and eight ties for 53 points. Despite missing Federico Higuain and Kei Kamara, the offensive outburst pushed Crew SC's goal differential to +5 on the year. Columbus will now face the remaining highest seed after the midweek knockout matches. They will travel next Sunday and host the return match starting at either 5pm or 7pm on the evening of Sunday, November 8th.

In the rest of the Eastern Conference, New York Red Bulls locked in the Supporters Shield with a 2-1 win over the worst team in MLS for 2015, the Chicago Fire.

Montreal grabbed the third seed after edging Toronto FC 2-1 at Stade Saputo. The loss dropped Toronto to the sixth seed and the teams will play on Thursday at 7pm, again at Montreal.

The loss at MAPFRE Stadium dropped D.C. United down to the fourth seed. They will now host the New England Revolution at RFK Stadium on a Wednesday 7:30pm knockout match. New England was able to claw into the fifth spot as they dominated in New York, beating NYCFC 3-1.

Only one game in the East didn't have a playoff impact. The Philadelphia Union downed Orlando City 1-0 as both sides missed the playoffs.

Crew SC will have to wait until the winner of the Montreal/Toronto match. They will play the best seeded team remaining in the field while New York gets the lower seed.

Western Conference

Only F.C. Dallas was locked into their spot, they defeated San Jose to knock them from playoff competition. The rest of the West was wild. LA started in second, but dropped all the way to fifth after their loss to Sporting Kansas City. KC was out of the playoffs as the matches unfolded, but eventually scraped in as the sixth seed.

Vancouver jumped to second after a convincing 3-0 win over playoff-less Houston. While Portland vaulted to third with a comfortable 4-1 win over the Colorado Rapids who also missed the playoffs.

Seattle Sounders also jumped up the standings, to fourth as they beat another team who's season is over, Real Salt Lake 3-1.

Seattle will now host LA in Wednesday's knockout game while Portland hosts Sporting Kansas City on Thursday night in the other knockout.

MLS Cup and CONCACAF Champions League

The dominating win also vaulted Crew SC up the total MLS standings. They finished at 53 points in a three way tie with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers. Due to goal differential, Crew SC sit just below Vancouver and ahead of Portland.

The fourth spot earns them the right to host MLS Cup if FC Dallas and Vancouver Whitecaps fail to advance to MLS Cup from the Western Conference and impacts Crew SC's chances to get back into the CONCACAF Champions League if they fail to win MLS Cup.

Correction: An earlier version of the article incorrectly placed Crew SC third in the total MLS Standings. They finished tied for third, but due to tiebreakers, they finished fourth in the table.