# 2020 USL Championship playoffs

The 2020 USL Championship playoffs was the post-season championship of the 2020 USL Championship. It was the tenth edition of the USL Championship playoffs. The playoffs began on October 10, and originally scheduled to conclude with the USL Championship Final on November 1. The Final was then cancelled the day before because several Tampa Bay Rowdies players and staff tested positive for COVID-19. The championship would not be awarded.
Real Monarchs were the defending USL Championship champions, but failed to qualify for the playoffs.

## Qualified teams

Group A
* Reno 1868 FC
* Sacramento Republic FC
Group B
* Phoenix Rising FC
* LA Galaxy II
Group C
* El Paso Locomotive FC
* New Mexico United
Group D
* San Antonio FC
* FC Tulsa
Group E
* Louisville City FC
* Saint Louis FC
Group F
* Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
* Hartford Athletic
Group G
* Charlotte Independence
* Birmingham Legion FC
Group H
* Tampa Bay Rowdies
* Charleston Battery

### Format

The top two teams in each group will qualify for the 2020 Championship playoffs. They will begin on October 10, featuring a single-elimination, 16-team bracket. Under the revised season format, four group winners in each conference will earn hosting rights for the Eastern and Western Conference quarterfinals. Following the opening round, hosting rights will be determined by regular season record. All playoff matches will stream live on ESPN+ except the Championship final on ESPN.

## Conference tables
### Western Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification |
| 1 | Reno 1868 FC | 16 | 11 | 2 | 3 | 43 | 21 | +22 | 36 | 2.25 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Phoenix Rising FC | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 46 | 17 | +29 | 35 | 2.19 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 3 | San Antonio FC | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 30 | 14 | +16 | 33 | 2.06 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 4 | El Paso Locomotive FC | 16 | 9 | 2 | 5 | 24 | 14 | +10 | 32 | 2.00 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Sacramento Republic | 16 | 8 | 2 | 6 | 27 | 17 | +10 | 30 | 1.88 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 6 | New Mexico United | 15 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 23 | 17 | +6 | 27 | 1.80 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 7 | FC Tulsa | 15 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 25 | 1.67 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 8 | LA Galaxy II | 16 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 32 | −3 | 26 | 1.63 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 9 | Orange County SC | 16 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 18 | 18 | 0 | 24 | 1.50 | |
| 10 | San Diego Loyal SC | 16 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 17 | 18 | −1 | 23 | 1.44 | |
| 11 | Austin Bold FC | 16 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 30 | 26 | +4 | 22 | 1.38 | |
| 12 | Tacoma Defiance | 16 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 25 | 32 | −7 | 14 | 0.88 | |
| 13 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 16 | 2 | 7 | 7 | 19 | 28 | −9 | 13 | 0.81 | |
| 14 | Real Monarchs | 16 | 3 | 11 | 2 | 14 | 25 | −11 | 11 | 0.69 | |
| 15 | Las Vegas Lights FC | 16 | 2 | 9 | 5 | 24 | 34 | −10 | 11 | 0.69 | |
| 16 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 14 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 17 | 28 | −11 | 9 | 0.64 | |
| 17 | OKC Energy FC | 16 | 1 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 29 | −17 | 10 | 0.63 | |
| 18 | Portland Timbers 2 | 16 | 3 | 13 | 0 | 20 | 50 | −30 | 9 | 0.56 | |

### Eastern Conference

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Pts | PPG | Qualification |
| 1 | Louisville City FC | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 12 | +16 | 35 | 2.19 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 2 | Hartford Athletic | 16 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 31 | 24 | +7 | 35 | 2.19 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 3 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | 16 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 10 | +29 | 34 | 2.13 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 4 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 16 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 25 | 11 | +14 | 33 | 2.06 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 5 | Charleston Battery | 15 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 30 | 2.00 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 6 | Charlotte Independence | 16 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 24 | 22 | +2 | 28 | 1.75 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 7 | Birmingham Legion FC | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 29 | 19 | +10 | 25 | 1.56 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 8 | Saint Louis FC | 16 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 22 | 21 | +1 | 25 | 1.56 | Conference Quarterfinals |
| 9 | Indy Eleven | 16 | 7 | 7 | 2 | 21 | 19 | +2 | 23 | 1.44 | |
| 10 | North Carolina FC | 15 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 17 | 21 | −4 | 19 | 1.27 | |
| 11 | Memphis 901 FC | 15 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 24 | 31 | −7 | 16 | 1.07 | |
| 12 | Sporting Kansas City II | 16 | 5 | 10 | 1 | 21 | 30 | −9 | 16 | 1.00 | |
| 13 | Miami FC | 16 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 34 | −14 | 16 | 1.00 | |
| 14 | New York Red Bulls II | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 30 | 37 | −7 | 15 | 0.94 | |
| 15 | Atlanta United 2 | 16 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 23 | 33 | −10 | 12 | 0.75 | |
| 16 | Philadelphia Union II | 16 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 20 | 45 | −25 | 9 | 0.56 | |
| 17 | Loudoun United FC | 13 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 10 | 28 | −18 | 6 | 0.46 | |

## Bracket

| Conference Quarterfinals October 10 | Conference Quarterfinals October 10 | Conference Quarterfinals October 10 | | | Conference Semifinals October 17 | Conference Semifinals October 17 | Conference Semifinals October 17 | Conference Finals October 24 | Conference Finals October 24 | Conference Finals October 24 | | USL Championship Cancelled | USL Championship Cancelled | USL Championship Cancelled |
| A1 | Reno 1868 FC | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| B2 | LA Galaxy II | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| B2 | LA Galaxy II | 1 | | | A1 | Reno 1868 FC | 2 (4) | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | B1 | Phoenix Rising FC (p) | 2 (5) | | | | | | | |
| B1 | Phoenix Rising FC (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | B1 | Phoenix Rising FC (p) | 2 (5) | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Sacramento Republic FC | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| A2 | Sacramento Republic FC | 0 | | | | | | B1 | Phoenix Rising FC (p) | 1 (4) | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | B1 | Phoenix Rising FC (p) | 1 (4) | | | | |
| Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | Western Conference | C1 | El Paso Locomotive FC | 1 (2) | | | | |
| C1 | El Paso Locomotive FC (p) | 2 (4) | | | | | | | | | C1 | El Paso Locomotive FC | 1 (2) | | | | |
| D2 | FC Tulsa | 2 (2) | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| D2 | FC Tulsa | 2 (2) | | | C1 | El Paso Locomotive FC (p) | 1 (5) | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | C2 | New Mexico United | 1 (3) | | | | | | | |
| D1 | San Antonio FC | 0 | | | C2 | New Mexico United | 1 (3) | | | | | | | |
| C2 | New Mexico United (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| C2 | New Mexico United (a.e.t.) | 1 | | | | | | | | | | B1 | Phoenix Rising FC | Ø |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Ø |
| E1 | Louisville City FC | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | Ø |
| F2 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 0 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| F2 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 0 | | | E1 | Louisville City FC | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | E2 | Saint Louis FC | 0 | | | | | | | |
| F1 | Hartford Athletic | 0 | | | E2 | Saint Louis FC | 0 | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Saint Louis FC | 1 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| E2 | Saint Louis FC | 1 | | | | | | E1 | Louisville City FC | 1 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | E1 | Louisville City FC | 1 | | | | |
| Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | Eastern Conference | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| G1 | Charlotte Independence | 1 | | | | | | | | | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 | | | | |
| H2 | Charleston Battery (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| H2 | Charleston Battery (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | H2 | Charleston Battery | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | | | | | | | |
| H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 4 | | | H1 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 1 | | | | | | | |
| G2 | Birmingham Legion FC | 2 | | | | | | | | | | | | |

## Schedule
### USL Championship Final

The Final was cancelled the day before because several Tampa Bay Rowdies players and staff tested positive for COVID-19. The championship would not be awarded.

## Top goalscorers

    As of October 31, 2020
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Corey Hertzog | Reno 1868 FC | 3 |
| 2 | Solomon Asante | Phoenix Rising FC | 2 |
| 2 | Leandro Carrijó | El Paso Locomotive FC | 2 |
| 2 | Sebastián Guenzatti | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 |
| 2 | Cameron Lancaster | Louisville City FC | 2 |
| 2 | Lucky Mkosana | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 2 |
| 2 | Kevin Partida | Reno 1868 FC | 2 |

## Awards

* Goal of the Playoffs: Jordan Doherty (TBR)
* Save of the Playoffs: Cody Mizell (NMU)