Columbus Crew to play Red Bulls in first round of MLS Cup Playoffs

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Columbus Crew's road to a second consecutive MLS Cup title is penciled in as the regular season concluded on Saturday.

Even before the Black & Gold's 3-2 win over New York Red Bulls on MLS Decision Day, the Crew were already locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. After Saturday's results, Columbus learned it will play No. 7 seed -- those same Red Bulls -- in the first-round series.

Last year, MLS expanded the playoff format to include nine teams from each conference. The league also tweaked the format to make the first round a best-of-three series before switching back to single elimination for the rest of the playoffs.

The Crew will host Game 1 and travel to Harrison, N.J., for Game 2. If those two games are split, a deciding Game 3 will take place back at Lower.com Field. The schedule and kickoff times for those games will be announced later. The Western Conference bracket will be finalized later Saturday night.

2024 MLS Cup Playoffs matchups (Eastern Conference)

No. 1 Inter Miami vs. winner of No. 8 CF Montreal and No. 9 Atlanta United

No. 4 Orlando City SC vs. No. 5 Charlotte FC

No. 2 Columbus Crew vs. No. 7 New York Red Bull

No. 3 FC Cincinnati vs. No. 6 New York City

Columbus is looking to become the first team in more than a decade to win back-to-back MLS Cup titles, a feat last accomplished in 2012 by the LA Galaxy.

The Crew's road to the 2023 title consisted of beating Atlanta United in a three-game series followed by road wins over Orlando City and FC Cincinnati in extra time to win the Eastern Conference. The Black & Gold were then able to host the MLS Cup final and beat Los Angeles FC 2-1 last December for its third MLS Cup title in club history.

Should the Crew advance past the first round, they could host rivals Cincinnati in a semifinal while Supporters' Shield winners Inter Miami, who are led by Lionel Messi, could host the Crew in the Eastern Conference final.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Miami is favored to win MLS Cup while the Crew sit with the fourth-best odds behind the Galaxy and LAFC.