/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/47556539/usa-today-8885322.0.jpg)
MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 34
For Wk 34 - 11 of the 15 sites are included below.
As always, if you come across any that I have not included please send me a link and I'll add it to the list for next season.
Here's a reminder of the Power Ranking "Guidelines":
"If two teams played tomorrow, given their current injury concerns, form, and other considerations, who is likely to win on a neutral field? All things being equal, who is the best team going forward, based on what we know now?"
-Richard Farley, NBC Sports ProSoccerTalk. 3/11/14
Sites Used:
- Major League Soccer (mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
- Soccer America (socceramerica.com)
- ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer)
- Seattle Times Blog (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz) *No ranking for Wk 34
- Black & Red United (blackandredunited.com)
- Sports Illustrated (soccer.si.com)
- The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
- Who Scored 'team rating' (whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/USA-Major-League-Soccer)
- Reddit MLS subreddit (reddit/r/mls) *No ranking for Wk 34
- Soccer In America (soccer-in-america.com)
- NBC Sports Pro Soccer Talk (prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com) *No ranking for Wk 34
- Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com/mls)
- Jeff Sagarin's MLS Rankings (sagarin.com/sports/soccer.htm - overall ranking not "recent")
- Squawka (squawka.com/football-team-rankings#performance-score#team-stats#us-major-league-soccer)
- MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com) *No ranking for Wk 34
Dead List - I'll check it periodically just in case they run one; their old ratings won't be removed.
- The Sports Network (sportsnetwork.com) *No ranking since 5/19
- Soccer Information Network (soccerinformationnetwork.com) *No ranking since 6/30
- Soccer by Ives (sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings) *No ranking since Wk 25
- MLS GB (mlsbg.com/tag/power-rankings) *No ranking since Wk 26
You may notice several 'team specific' sites used; yes they will at times be a bit more biased for/against certain teams, as such the averages use the Olympic Method of dropping the highest and lowest scores, and averaging the rest to compensate for possible bias. Each week I'll also be listing site evaluations showing closest and furthest from average to indicate which are more biased than others.
Weekly Power Ranking Averages
Using the "Olympic" method of dropping the highest / lowest scores, and averaging the rest.
Wk 34 |
Wk 33 |
Wk 32 |
Wk 31 |
Team |
W34 Avg |
W33 Avg |
W32 Avg |
W31 Avg |
Worst |
Best |
Range |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
New York RB | 1.22 |
1.45 |
1.22 |
1.18 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
Dallas | 2.00 |
1.73 |
3.00 |
3.64 |
4 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
7 |
7 |
Columbus | 3.56 |
4.27 |
7.89 |
7.00 |
10 |
3 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
13 |
12 |
Portland | 5.22 |
7.00 |
12.00 |
11.73 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
10 |
6 |
4 |
Vancouver | 5.67 |
9.00 |
6.67 |
5.90 |
13 |
2 |
11 |
6 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
Los Angeles | 6.56 |
4.09 |
2.00 |
2.09 |
11 |
2 |
9 |
7 |
8 |
5 |
5 |
Seattle | 7.00 |
8.27 |
6.44 |
6.18 |
11 |
4 |
7 |
8 |
7 |
10 |
10 |
Montreal | 7.11 |
7.45 |
10.44 |
10.55 |
11 |
4 |
7 |
9 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
Toronto | 8.67 |
7.27 |
8.44 |
7.64 |
13 |
5 |
8 |
10 |
9 |
4 |
6 |
Kansas City | 9.44 |
8.64 |
5.56 |
6.36 |
12 |
4 |
8 |
11 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
New England | 10.67 |
11.82 |
8.56 |
7.91 |
18 |
7 |
11 |
12 |
11 |
12 |
13 |
D. C. | 11.89 |
9.45 |
11.33 |
11.82 |
13 |
9 |
4 |
13 |
13 |
10 |
11 |
San Jose | 12.44 |
12.18 |
10.44 |
11.00 |
12 |
4 |
8 |
14 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
Orlando | 14.22 |
13.82 |
14.22 |
13.73 |
20 |
12 |
8 |
15 |
15 |
14 |
14 |
Salt Lake | 15.44 |
15.00 |
13.33 |
13.55 |
16 |
14 |
2 |
16 |
16 |
17 |
17 |
Houston | 15.67 |
15.45 |
16.33 |
16.18 |
17 |
12 |
5 |
17 |
17 |
16 |
16 |
New York FC | 17.33 |
16.45 |
16.11 |
16.09 |
19 |
11 |
8 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
18 |
Philadelphia | 17.44 |
18.27 |
18.11 |
18.00 |
20 |
14 |
6 |
19 |
19 |
20 |
20 |
Colorado | 18.78 |
18.82 |
19.667 |
19.45 |
20 |
17 |
3 |
20 |
20 |
19 |
19 |
Chicago | 19.44 |
19.27 |
18.33 |
18.91 |
20 |
14 |
6 |
Site Evaluations
Each site's ranking is compared to the weekly averages above. The best and worst # of matches is indicated. Team bias column shows what team the site shows the highest average for/against.
Site |
# Exact |
1 off |
2 off |
3+ off |
Furthest off |
most bias vs |
most bias for |
Major League Soccer | 10 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
MON -4 |
SJE +1.95 |
MON -1.52 |
Soccer America | 8 |
6 |
5 |
1 |
VAN +4 |
POR +1.55 |
SJE -2.26 |
ESPN | 5 |
7 |
4 |
4 |
NER -4 |
FCD +2.30 |
NER -3.06 |
Seattle Times | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | SJE +1.80 |
ORL -1.76 |
Black & Red United | 11 |
4 |
5 |
0 |
5@ +/-2 |
TFC +3.07 |
SJE -3.05 |
Sports Illustrated | 3 |
8 |
8 |
1 |
MON -3 |
SKC +2.77 |
ORL -1.73 |
The Mane Land | 14 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
6@ +/-1 |
MON +1.41 |
LAG -1.42 |
Who Scored | 5 |
3 |
2 |
10 |
NYFC/SKC -6; ORL +6 |
NER +5.26 |
NYFC -4.79 |
Reddit /r/MLS |
NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | POR +1.04 |
VAN -0.97 |
Soccer In America | 7 |
9 |
1 |
3 |
TFC -4; POR +4 |
NYFC +1.72 |
NER -1.24 |
MLS Fantasy Boss | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | TFC +4.25 |
NER -3.40 |
Pro Soccer Talk | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | SKC +2.08 |
SJE -3.43 |
Bleacher Report |
8 |
8 |
2 |
2 |
LAG +5 |
RSL +1.93 |
NER -1.79 |
Jeff Sagarin |
2 |
9 |
3 |
6 |
SJE -9 |
DCU +3.22 |
SJE -4.85 |
Squawka |
3 |
4 |
3 |
10 |
VAN +8 |
NER +9.24 |
POR -7.35 |
- Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker) The Mane Land with 14 exact and all within 1!
- Least Accurate Site: (most 3+ with 2 off as tiebreaker) Squawka with 10 off by 3+, and 3 off by 2.
- Furthest Off: Jeff Sagarin placed SJE 9 places better than average.
- Site with Worst Bias: Squawka for placing NER an average of 9.24 places worse than average.
- Sites with Least Bias - (best to worst by adding the absolute value of the bias scores) including the "dead" sites:
- Reddit /r/MLS = 2.01
- The Mane Land = 2.83
- Soccer In America = 2.96
- Major League Soccer = 3.47
- Seattle Times = 3.56
- Bleacher Report = 3.72
- Soccer America = 3.81
-
(Soccer By Ives) = 4.20
- Sports Illustrated = 4.50
-
(MLS GB) = 5.64
- ESPN = 5.36
- Pro Soccer Talk = 5.51
- Black & Red United = 6.12
-
(Soccer Information Network) = 7.31
- MLS Fantasy Boss = 7.65
- Jeff Sagarin = 8.07 *missing first 10 weeks of season
- Who Scored = 10.05
-
(The Sports Network) = 10.69
- Squawka = 16.59 *missing first 15 weeks of season
- Reddit /r/MLS = 2.01
Season Average Power Ranking
I did an adjustment on how I figured the the Season Averages so totals and order has changed.
Team |
W31 Avg |
W32 Avg |
W33 Avg |
2015
(Final avg)
|
2014 Avg |
2013 Avg |
2012 Avg |
4 Year Avg |
LA Galaxy | 4.55 |
4.47 |
4.46 |
4.51 |
5.23 |
5.15 |
8.39 |
5.76 |
FC Dallas | 4.87 |
4.81 |
4.72 |
4.64 |
6.35 |
8.58 |
12.88 |
7.74 |
New York Red Bulls | 5.01 |
4.89 |
4.79 |
4.68 |
10.05 |
6.52 |
5.58 |
7.14 |
Vancouver Whitecaps | 4.89 |
4.96 |
5.08 |
5.09 |
7.98 |
10.33 |
8.95 |
8.16 |
D.C. United | 5.43 |
5.62 |
5.73 |
5.91 |
7.49 |
17.24 |
7.45 |
9.77 |
Seattle Sounders | 5.97 |
5.98 |
6.05 |
6.07 |
2.86 |
9.38 |
5.07 |
6.07 |
Sporting Kansas City | 6.20 |
6.18 |
6.26 |
6.35 |
5.64 |
4.48 |
3.07 |
5.44 |
Columbus Crew SC | 9.08 |
9.04 |
8.90 |
8.75 |
9.60 |
12.81 |
11.70 |
10.95 |
Portland Timbers | 9.58 |
9.66 |
9.58 |
9.45 |
11.64 |
5.83 |
15.88 |
10.75 |
New England Revolution | 9.43 |
9.40 |
9.47 |
9.50 |
9.66 |
12.52 |
14.78 |
11.66 |
Toronto FC | 9.89 |
9.85 |
5.08 |
9.75 |
8.97 |
16.83 |
17.85 |
13.12 |
San Jose Earthquakes | 11.09 |
11.07 |
11.10 |
11.14 |
15.20 |
12.38 |
2.61 |
11.80 |
Real Salt Lake | 12.23 |
12.27 |
12.35 |
12.43 |
4.12 |
4.58 |
3.70 |
7.14 |
Houston Dynamo | 13.62 |
13.70 |
13.75 |
13.81 |
12.77 |
7.71 |
6.75 |
11.49 |
Orlando City | 14.22 |
14.22 |
14.20 |
14.21 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
14.21 |
Montreal Impact | 15.70 |
15.53 |
15.29 |
15.06 |
17.54 |
5.17 |
13.99 |
13.91 |
New York City FC | 15.35 |
15.38 |
15.41 |
15.47 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
15.47 |
Colorado Rapids | 17.21 |
17.29 |
17.34 |
17.38 |
11.54 |
9.88 |
12.85 |
13.87 |
Chicago Fire | 17.59 |
17.61 |
17.66 |
17.71 |
15.54 |
14.35 |
7.91 |
15.47 |
Philadelphia Union |
18.08 |
18.08 |
18.09 |
18.07 |
11.85 |
10.45 |
15.19 |
14.72 |
Team High / Low
Best and worst placement for each team in weekly, avg rank total.
Team |
Weekly Best |
Weekly Worst |
Best Wk. Avg. |
Worst Wk. Avg. |
Chicago Fire |
11 |
20 |
11.79 | 19.83 |
Colorado Rapids |
14 |
20 |
14.62 |
19.67 |
Columbus Crew SC |
2 |
14 |
3.55 |
14.25 |
D.C. United |
1 |
13 |
2.19 |
13.75 |
FC Dallas |
1 |
10 | 1.13 |
9.25 |
Houston Dynamo |
7 |
18 |
8.50 |
16.69 |
LA Galaxy |
1 |
11 |
1.15 |
10.88 |
Montreal Impact |
7 |
20 |
7.45 |
19.93 |
New England Revolution |
3 |
17 |
3.33 |
17.00 |
New York City FC |
4 |
20 |
6.73 |
20.00 |
New York Red Bulls |
1 |
11 |
1.00 |
12.63 |
Orlando City |
7 |
20 |
7.46 |
19.18 |
Philadelphia Union |
16 |
20 |
14.77 |
19.62 |
Portland Timbers |
3 |
17 |
4.23 |
16.33 |
Real Salt Lake |
5 |
18 |
4.43 |
16.64 |
San Jose Earthquakes |
7 |
19 |
7.06 |
18.33 |
Seattle Sounders |
1 |
13 |
1.00 |
13.92 |
Sporting Kansas City |
1 |
15 |
1.21 |
14.13 |
Toronto FC |
3 |
17 |
3.33 |
17.25 |
Vancouver Whitecaps |
1 |
15 |
1.31 |
13.75 |
- Largest Range (position): New York FC = 16 point span
- Smallest Range (position): Philadelphia = 4 point span
- 7 teams have been ranked first
- 6 teams have been ranked last