Wayne Pivac's side are in search of home advantage for week one of the playoffs but if Canterbury beat North Harbour with a bonus point in Albany today, the red and blacks will lock up second spot on the ladder.
That would leave Auckland in third, regardless of how their showdown against Otago on Sunday pans out.
Given Canterbury's imposing track record and Harbour's abysmal form this season, it's hard to see anything but a comfortable win for the defending champions today.
If Harbour were to cause an upset, or at least deny the Cantabrians a bonus point, Auckland could sneak in to second place with a bonus-point win over Otago in Dunedin.
Whichever way the results fall, Auckland will meet Canterbury in the semifinals next week, it's just a matter of who will have home advantage.
Auckland were soundly beaten 38-16 by Wellington in the capital last Saturday night and Pivac said the biggest thing he wanted from his side this weekend was an improvement in their accuracy on the field.
"It's important we get a result regardless of the situation,'' Pivac said. "Our focus is definitely going to be on a good performance. We know that Otago's got a lot to play for so we wouldn't want it any other way going in to the semifinals.
"We want a good, hard game and that's exactly what Otago's going to give us and we'll be expecting that.''
Auckland were smashed at the breakdown by Wellington last week but Pivac put that down to the interpretation of the officials rather than a lack of skill from his side. They will need to be more decisive against Otago tomorrow.
Otago are guaranteed to face Hawkes Bay in the Championship's semifinals next week but they could claim home advantage for the contest with a win over Auckland.
Tony Brown's Otago side have been a mixed bag during their five-win, four-loss season.
They show no fear in throwing the ball around on attack but they've conceded an average of 30 points per game, which could play in to the hands of a dangerous Auckland backline.
With the conditions not playing a part at the indoor Forsyth Barr Stadium, matches in Dunedin tend to be high-scoring and Pivac said his side wanted to finish on the right side of that scoreline.
"We certainly wouldn't want to go in to a semifinal after two losses. So it's about confidence too. They're human beings, they're rugby players and confidence is a big thing in a sports team. So we want to get back that winning feeling.''
Auckland: Lolagi Visinia, Tenina Sauileoge, Malakai Fekitoa, Hadleigh Parkes (captain), George Moala, Simon Hickey, Wayne Ngaluafe, Peter Saili, Kara Pryor, Sean Polwart, Jack Whetton, Liaki Moli, Ofa Tu'ungafasi, Tom McCartney, Sam Prattley. Reserves: Nathan Vella, Pauliasi Manu, Luke Braid, Sean Brookman, Angus Ta'avao, Piri Weepu, Vince Aso
Otago: Tony Ensor, Buxton Popoali'i, Kieran Moffat, Jayden Spence, Matt Faddes, Hayden Parker, Fumiaki Tanaka, Paul Grant (captain), Lee Allan, Gareth Evans, Charlie O'Connell, Tom Donnelly, Scott Manson, Liam Coltman, Tama Tuirirangi. Reserves: Sam Anderson-Heather/Sam Sturgess, Aki Seiuli, Ezra Taylor, TJ Ioane, Josh Renton, Peter Breen, Tei Walden.
