The playoff system in Major League Soccer has been called needlessly complicated and some other uncomplimentary adjectives. Because MLS insists on a two-conference set-up, perhaps a vestige of Commissioner Don Garber's days working for the NFL, the top two teams in each conference (East: New York and Columbus; West: Los Angeles and Real Salt Lake) earn automatic berths. The next four teams with the most points, regardless of conference, also advance. The Red Bulls are the No. 3 seed, at least on paper, and benefit because they get to play the No. 8 seed, San Jose. (Consider that Los Angeles, No. 1 overall, will play No. 6 Seattle.) The Earthquakes finished tied with Colorado with 46 points, but the Rapids have a plus-12 goal differential; San Jose's is only plus-1. Other than the Red Bulls and Crew, no other teams from the Eastern Conference qualified for the playoffs. The crossover of teams in the playoffs has happened the last two seasons. Last year, Real Salt Lake won the title as the Eastern Conference champion and in 2008 the Red Bulls lost to Columbus in the title game as the Western Conference champion. Each first-round series is a home-and-away, total-goals affair, leading to a single game conference final and then MLS Cup '10 in Toronto on Sunday, Nov. 21. Here is a look at each first-round series: New York Red Bulls (15-9-6, 51 points) vs. San Jose Earthquakes (13-10-7, 46): The Red Bulls completed one of the most stunning single-season turnarounds in league history, winning 10 more games and totaling 30 more points than in 2009, to win the Eastern Conference. With the midseason additions of Thierry Henry and Rafael Marquez, the Red Bulls have emerged as one of the league's most attractive and dangerous teams. Henry has missed several games with an injured right knee but is expected to play in the series opener Saturday night in California. The team boasts star power, but it really has been the play of two rookies -- Tim Ream and Tony Tchani -- and the emergence of Dane Richards and in particular the steady play of Joel Lindpere that have helped the Red Bulls remain consistent in coach Hans Backe's first season. Playing the Earthquakes, however, could be perilous for the Red Bulls because they will be facing the league's hottest striker -- Chris Wondolowski, who finished the regular season with 18 goals, winning the Golden Boot award as the league's top goal-scorer. In his previous five MLS seasons, Wondolowski had never scored more than two goals. There will be a quick turnaround from the Saturday opener to the return match at Red Bull Arena, in Harrison, N.J., on Thursday, Nov. 4. Pick: Red Bulls Columbus Crew (13-8-8, 47) vs. Colorado Rapids (12-8-10, 46): The Crew has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Champions League, but the glut of league and regional games sent Columbus to a 5-5-1 MLS record since the start of September. Now it must play the postseason without its starting goalkeeper, Will Hesmer, who sustained a season-ending shoulder injury on Sunday. But the Crew is always dangerous with Guillermo Barros Schelotto as the maestro of the midfield and the wild card Steven Lenhart. Colorado finished 8-2-5 at home at altitude. The Rapids were led by Omar Cummings (14 goals) and Conor Casey (13), and tied Los Angeles as the second-highest scoring team with 44 goals. Love it or not, under coach Gary Smith, the Rapids stick to the English script of pounding the ball into the middle from the flanks. Pick: Rapids Los Angeles Galaxy (18-7-5, 59) vs. Seattle Sounders (14-10-6, 48): Coach Bruce Arena called David Beckham's performance in the regular-season finale -- in which he scored a goal -- his best of the season after coming back from a ruptured Achilles' tendon. The Galaxy finished first over all, winning the Supporters Shield, after a quick start and a lull during the World Cup with Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle with the U.S. in South Africa. Buddle finished with 17 goals; Donovan led the league with 16 assists. In only its second season, Seattle led the league in home attendance, averaging more than 36,000 at Qwest Field. Seattle went 10-2-2 after trading its designated player, Freddie Ljungberg, to Chicago at the end of July. The team went on to win the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. The Sounders were led by the striker tandem of Fredy Montero and Steve Zakuani, each with 10 goals. Pick: Galaxy Real Salt Lake (17-7-5, 56) vs. F.C. Dallas (12-4-14, 50): Dallas had the fewest losses in the regular season and the most ties in league history. Dallas goalkeeper Kevin Hartman, who tops in the league with an 0.62 goals against average, has not played since mid-September, when he injured his knee in a strange postgoal encounter with Thierry Henry of the Red Bulls. Jeff Cunningham led Dallas with 11 goals, even though he started only 12 games. Real Salt Lake, the defending league champion, led the league with 45 goals, and also allowed the fewest, 20. The Costa Rican international Alvaro Saborio, acquired on loan from a Swiss club, led the team with 12 goals. Pick: Real Salt Lake. Conference finals: Red Bulls over Rapids; Galaxy over RSL MLS Cup '10: Red Bulls over Galaxy AROUND THE LEAGUE Two veterans who retired after the regular season -- Chicago's Brian McBride and D.C. United's Jaime Moreno -- each scored goals in their final professional games. McBride's was on a nifty back-heel against Chivas USA, Moreno's on a penalty kick, the 133th goal of his MLS career, the most in league history. ... Other retirees include Chicago's C.J. Brown and the Galaxy's Eddie Lewis. ... Columbus midfielder Eddie Gaven played the final minutes in goal in the Crew's 3-1 victory over Philadelphia Sunday. The starter Will Hesmer left with an injury (later determined to be a fractured shoulder, which will sideline him for the rest of the season) in the 85th minute and Columbus had used its three substitutions, which mean an outfield player had to step between the posts. ... Chivas USA and United States international defender Jonathan Bornstein played his final game in MLS over the weekend. Bornstein, 25, the son of an American father and Mexican mother, will soon join Tigres UNAL of Mexico. 