If the Super Rugby regular season ended today...

Aaron Cruden and the Chiefs are running away with the top seed. Photo / Getty

The new Super Rugby competition structure is pretty confusing for fans trying to work out whether their side will make the playoffs.

After pulling out the calculator, tea leaves and crystal ball - the Herald worked out how the playoffs would play out if the season ended today:

The good news
Four New Zealand teams would be through to the quarter-finals - the Chiefs, Crusaders, Hurricanes and Highlanders.

The bad news
The way the playoffs work, only one New Zealand team can host a quarter-final so the Hurricanes and Highlanders would need to head to South Africa.

Home sweet home
A top seeding means the Chiefs would host home games through the playoffs should they win their quarter-final and semifinal match-ups.

Point-less
The conference system means the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th placed teams all have more competition points than the Brumbies in 4th.

The Blues?
The Blues would be third seed in the plate semifinals (if there was plate semifinals).

Playoffs schedule

Chiefs (Seed 1) vs Bulls (Seed 8)
Stormers (Seed 2) vs Highlanders (Seed 7)
Lions (Seed 3) vs Hurricanes (Seed 6)
Brumbies (Seed 4) vs Crusaders (Seed 5)