CHAMPAIGN, Ill.  -- Although three of the top four teams in the MPBA have known for several weeks that they are headed for postseason play, the playoff picture is still foggy. This weekend, however, should bring clarity.

The Champaign Swarm (14-4)  currently sit alone in first place and will play their final two regular season games this weekend in St. Charles, Mo., against the Gateway Steam (5-11) and the St. Louis RiverSharks (12-4).
If they win both games, the Swarm can do no worse than the second seed, and they will have home court advantage for at least the first round of playoffs.  But in order to have the number one overall seed, they need the Bloomington Flex (13-4) to lose at least once. Bloomington owns the tiebreaker against the Swarm and hosts Chicago Friday night.

The weekend games open with a 4 p.m. tipoff against the Gateway Steam on Saturday. The Swarm are aiming for a season sweep and back-to-back wins against them following a 123-88 victory on Wednesday. The Swarm used their trademark defense in that contest to force the Steam into 32 turnovers. As a team, Champaign averages almost 12 steals per game.The Swarm have won all three contests against the Steam this season in lopsided fashion by at least 14 points.

Offensively, Champaign is led by Avery Smith (21.0 ppg) and Aaron Weaver (20.8 ppg) in scoring, but four other players are averaging 10 points per contest or better. Mark St. Fort is the top rebounder (7.7), and newcomer Anthony Spencer has grabbed 14 boards in his first two games. He posted the only double-double for the Swarm on Wednesday night with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Gateway’s Tarvin Gaines has raised eyebrows around the league by averaging 31.0 points per game in just five games. However, the Swarm held him to his second-lowest output, 21 points, on Wednesday. Five others are scoring double digits. Gaines is also the leading rebounder with 8.1 per contest.

Champaign closes out the regular season against St. Louis at 4 p.m. on Sunday, March 29.

Both games will be broadcast on www.theMPBA.com. Jason Troop has play-by-play, and Scott Beatty has analysis.