Major League Soccer announced its conference realignment for the upcoming 2011 season. The Houston Dynamo will move from the Western Conference to the Eastern Conference in order to create two divisions of nine teams each. The Portland Timbers and the Vancouver Whitecaps enter the Western Conference as expansion teams this season.
↵Geographically, the Dynamo had been the eastern-most team in the Western Conference. Now they will be the western-most team in the Eastern Conference. However, this move may not be permanent since the Montreal Impact will enter the league in 2012.
↵In 2010, the Colorado Rapids went 1-0-1 against the Dynamo on their way to winning the Eastern Conference championship (in the MLS playoffs, it is possible for a Western Conference team, such as the Rapids, to win that) and eventually the MLS Cup.
↵The Rapids begin their defense of the MLS Cup with a home game against the Timbers on March 19 at 7 p.m. MT.
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