MLS Standings 2012: Rapids guaranteed to avoid bottom of West

The Colorado Rapids' 2-0 win over Chivas USA in their penultimate game of the season guaranteed them a couple of things, most of them relatively good. They are now guaranteed to avoid the bottom of the Western Conference, even with the Portland Timbers taking down the Vancouver Whitecaps below them. They're also guaranteed to not lose the most games in the history of the franchise, a mark of 21 losses that was accomplished by the inaugural 1996 squad.

Even with the win, though, Colorado is out of the playoff picture completely and can only hope to finish in seventh place at best. They are currently four points out of sixth place, where FC Dallas are stuck now that the Vancouver Whitecaps have clinched a playoff berth. In fact, the only movement that can happen below the playoffs would be Portland moving over Colorado, assuming that the Rapids lose to the Houston Dynamo and the Timbers win their final game.

Only one game remains until the playoffs and every MLS playoff berth has been clinched, so it's really just playing out the string and draft pick allocation at this point for teams like Colorado.