The playoff race is getting very spicy now, and it's time to look at which teams have booked themselves a spot in the playoffs, who can do so this week, and who may very well face the chopping block. We'll go from the first team in the league to the last.

West Virginia Black Bears (52-24) Current Position: 1st in SBa, 1st in East

Cal's team has unsurprisingly been at the top of the league once again and is looking to three-peat. They locked themselves into a playoff spot last week, and would have cemented a divisional spot anywhere else.

Highest Lockable Seed This Week: 3rd

With a sweep of the Parrots this week, and the Jaguars being swept by the Moose, they would make it unassailable for their second-closest BotE rival and the Las Vegas Bandits to claim the top spot. A split would guarantee a home divisional series matchup, as could falters by either of QC or LV.

Lowest Possible Seed: 6th

BSG and QC must play each other this week, which will mean one of those teams cannot exceed 52 wins. The only other teams that can are the Jaguars, Kaiju, Los Muertos and Bandits. The Snow Geese and Questants would both lose out on tiebreakers, so Quezon City must sweep or else it will be a 5th seed, West Virginia's results notwithstanding.

Tokyo Kaiju, & Los Muertos de Monterrey (49-27) Current Position: =2nd in SBa, 2nd in East & 1st in Central

Both these franchises locked themselves into a playoff spot following a Bandits series win and Questants series win. With a tied record and no common opponents remaining, it'd be fairly simple to look at them simultaneously, given they have the same seed outcomes.

Highest Lockable Seed This Week: 4th

Even if the Jaguars get swept by the Moose, both franchises could fall back to the last home seed, especially with the Kaiju scheduled to face the Jaguars next week. Both teams hold tiebreakers over Quezon City, while Vegas is different - Tokyo owns the head-to-head, Los Muertos does not.

Lowest Possible Seed: 8th

Either of these teams could get it if the Snow Geese and Questants split followed by all other teams winning out where necessary while they lose out. A tie for the 7th seed would go to run differential, where Los Muertos currently holds the edge. If the Kaiju sneak a win, however, they could put the Mexican side into the 8th seed.

Jakarta Jaguars (47-29) Current Position: 4th in SBa, 3rd in East, WC1

A series split to the Parrots meant they could not keep pace with the other top franchises, and now are a couple of games away from locking in Indonesia's first playoff berth. Their series against a Moose looking to heat up in the wildcard race will be one to watch.

Highest Lockable Seed This Week: 4th

They'd need a few results to go their way here even if they do win out, but it's possible if the Bandits drop games to the Birds of War. They go to run differential against the Snow Geese, but have head-to-head on the Questants. A split locks them both out if Jakarta gets revenge for Game 89.

Lowest Possible Seed: 10th

It's still possible for them to finish this low. The Bandits playing both the Moose and the Bovines does rule out 11th as there aren't enough wins to be shared, but there is still a chance for the Zephyr, Black Diamonds, and aforementioned playoff contenders to throw their hat in the ring to lock them out again.

Quezon City Questants & Las Vegas Bandits (41-35) Current Position: =5th in SBa, 2nd in Central & 1st in West

Two playoff contenders that got series wins over dark horses to propel themselves clear of the main pack. Quezon holds the tiebreaker here on head-to-head if it comes down to a play-in. This is at the point where no team can claim regular season champion, due to tiebreakers and West Virginia having to play the Kaiju. Someone has to finish on 53 wins, and none of those four matchups hold favour for the currently highlighted.

Highest Lockable Seed This Week: 8th

They'd need to rely on exactly a series win from Wichita, to sweep themselves, plus a Jaguars and Kaiju sweep that would knock them out of contention for a home playoff series, but they could get themselves a ticket to the dance. It wouldn't be a good ticket if they get it now, though.

Lowest Possible Seed: 16th

Yeah, they could fall this low. With a lose out and a bunch of possibilities for teams to get to 42 wins, it's very much possible that they would only be ahead of the Drillers and Unicorns, the only teams who are known to be unable to catch them. There's only one other team that shares a sort of this scenario...

Big Sky Snow Geese (40-36) Current Position: 7th in SBa, 2nd in West

A team that has seen a total rebound in form has found their way into contention. Their buffer is a 4-game margin that could see them clear, but they cannot claim an outright spot this week. They could also finish as low as 17th, thanks to some fun three-team head-to-head tiebreakers that if them, the Angels and the Unicorns tie, would send them into second-last.

Highest Lockable Seed This Week: Play-In

Guaranteeing .500 isn't enough for a spot here, but it would be enough for an extra game. The Moose could still tie for 2nd spot in the West and force a play-in game, and being only 2 games ahead of the Black Diamonds means they can't extend the gap enough for them to lock a spot ahead of the current 8th seed.

Lowest Possible Seed: 17th

They do at least beat Dallas outright? That's...something?

All possible teams from here on can finish 18th or lower, and no teams can lock themselves into the playoffs.

And rather than looking at all the teams' potential routes into the playoffs (which is far too complex to look at for 11 different franchises), let's look at elimination potential!

And just in case you decide to do a Find for your team, here's basically all the teams that are in that middle of the pack that can't be eliminated and can't make playoffs this week:

South Burlington Black Diamonds (38-38), 8th in SBa, 4th in East, WC2

Yukon Moose (36-40), =9th in SBa, 3rd in West

Denver Zephyr (36-40), =9th in SBa, 3rd in Central

Milwaukee Bovines (35-41), 11th in SBa, 4th in West

Florida Flamingos (34-44), =12th in SBa, 5th in East, 2 extra GP

Vatican Angels (34-44), =12th in SBa, 5th in West, 2 extra GP

There could be play-in chances for the latter two if either of them lose out and the Black Diamonds sweep the Drillers. And similarly...

Philadelphia Birds of War, Sao Paulo Parrots & Wichita WonderWolves (33-43), =14th in SBa, 6th in East, 4th in Central, 5th in Central respectively

These are the teams that can be knocked out if swept and the Black Diamonds sweep. Any other scenarios where they win do keep their slim chances alive with their elimination numbers dwindling. Now let's look at some teams' glimmers at playoffs.

Glasgow Unicorns (28-48), 17th in SBa, 6th in West

With a magic number of 3, they cannot lose any more series to have a shot at the title. But they could still get 7th seed in the playoffs, as well as 2nd seed in the West, if they can scrounge up the run differential.

Firstly, win out (2^12). Then have the Snow Geese lose out (2^20). Now have the Moose win less than 4 games (2^29), the Bovines lose out their remainder of games (2^37), the Angels not winning out the remainder of their games (2^38), and then you go to run differential for 2nd in the West and potentially steal one on a tied head-to-head record. That's about the same as finding one byte in a quarter of a terabyte. Possible, but very unlikely.

Dallas Drillers (27-49), 18th in SBa, 6th in Central

This one is even worse. Win out (2^12), SBB loses out (2^20), FF loses their remainder (2^26), VA cannot win 4 more games (2^28), YKN cannot win 3 more games (2^35), MKE cannot win 4 more games (2^43), as well as possibilities for Wichita and Sao Paulo to spoil. Once in a petabyte, they make the playoffs.

Excited? Nervous? Math is wrong? Ping Socc#0001 in the server to tell me about your thoughts on the article.