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Week 31 MLS Power Ranking Averages

13 of 17 sites published. Once again there are changes at the top and bottom.

By Kreg Asay
Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports


MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 31

For Wk 31 - 13 of the 17 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)
  • 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)
  • Soccer In America (soccer-in-america.com)
  • NBC Sports Pro Soccer Talk (prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com) *No ranking for Wk 31
  • Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com/mls)
  • Jeff Sagarin's MLS Rankings (sagarin.com/sports/soccer.htm)
  • Squawka (squawka.com/football-team-rankings#performance-score#team-stats#us-major-league-soccer)
  • MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com) *No ranking for Wk 31

Possibly Dead List

  • 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

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

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 the sites closest and furthest from average to show 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 31 Wk 30 Wk 29 Wk 28 Team
 		W31 Avg W30 Avg W29 Avg W28 Avg Worst
 		Best
 		Range
1
 2
 1
 1
 New York RB 1.27
 1.92
 1.00
 1.33
 4
 1
 3
2
 1
 4
 2
 Los Angeles 2.00
 1.42
 4.73
 2.78
 3
 1
 2
3
 4
 4
 4
 Dallas 3.64
 5.58
 4.73
 4.11
 8
 2
 6
4
 5
 2
 2
 Vancouver 6.20
 6.42
 4.55
 3.22
 15
 2
 13
5
 7
 7
 10
 Seattle 6.27
 6.58
 7.36
 9.89
 11
 3
 8
6
 8
 8
 9
 Kansas City 6.55
 8.75
 7.64
 9.56
 14
 4
 10
7
 5
 2
 6
 Columbus 7.00
 5.92
 3.55
 6.00
 12
 4
 8
8
 11
 9
 12
 Toronto 7.73
 9.67
 9.73
 10.44
 13
 4
 9
9
 3
 6
 5
 New England 8.00
 5.17
 5.27
 5.67
 18
 4
 14
10
 9
 12
 13
 Montreal 10.45
 9.17
 11.18
 13.67
 15
 7
 8
11
 12
 13
 10
 San Jose 11.00
 11.42
 12.00
 9.89
 17
 2
 15
12
 10
 10
 7
 Portland 11.73
 9.50
 10.82
 8.00
 15
 3
 12
13
 13
 11
 8
 D. C.
 11.82
 13.75
 11.00
 9.00
 18
 9
 9
14
 15
 14
 14
 Salt Lake 13.55
 14.42
 12.09
 13.89
 15
 5
 10
15
 17
 16
 17
 Orlando 13.64
 15.08
 16.36
 17.44
 20
 7
 13
16
 14
 15
 19
 New York FC 15.64
 14.08
 15.36
 18.67
 18
 9
 9
17
 16
 17
 15
 Houston 16.27
 14.58
 16.45
 14.44
 18
 12
 6
18
 18
 18
 18
 Philadelphia 17.91
 17.42
 16.82
 17.89
 20
 15
 5
19
 20
 20
 20
 Chicago 18.91
 19.83
 19.73
 18.78
 20
 11
 9
20
 19
 19
 16
 Colorado 19.45
 18.92
 18.64
 16.11
 20
 18
 2

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
 2
 4
 4
 VAN +5
 SJE +1.91
 TFC -1.46
Soccer by Ives NA
 NA NA NA NA RSL +2.17
 DCU -1.75
Soccer America 8
 4
 7
 1
 TFC -4
 POR +1.76
 SJE -2.37
ESPN 4
 9
 2
 5
 FCD +5/NER -5
 FCD +2.26
 NER -3.06
Seattle Times 6
 8
 4
 2
 SEA +3/NER -3
 SJE +1.88
 ORL -1.90
MLS GB NA NA NA NA NA TFC +2.87
 RSL -2.14
Black & Red United 4
 6
 4
 6
 SJE -7
 TFC +3.03
 SJE -3.16
Sports Illustrated 5
 5
 2
 8
 SKC +8
 SKC +2.66
 ORL -1.66
The Mane Land 4
 12
 2
 2
 MON +5
 MON +1.31
 LAG -1.48
Who Scored 2
 7
 1
 10
 NER +7/NYFC -7
 NER +5.25
 NYFC -4.60
Reddit /r/MLS
 7
 12
 0
 1
 DCU -3
 NYFC +1.05
 CLB -1.08
Soccer In America 5
 8
 4
 2
 TFC -4
 NYFC +1.80
 NER -1.25
MLS Fantasy Boss NA NA NA NA NA TFC +4.06
 NER -3.36
Pro Soccer Talk NA NA NA NA NA SKC +2.22
 SJE -3.37
Bleacher Report
 9
 6
 1
 4
 SJE +3/CLB,DCU,ORL -3
 RSL +1.97
 NER -2.07
Jeff Sagarin
 1
 8
 2
 9
 VAN +11
 SEA +3.46
 SJE -4.52
Squawka
 4
 5
 0
 11
 NER +9/POR-9
 NER +9.45
 POR -7.76
  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker) MLS with 10 exact.
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 3+ with 2 off as tiebreaker) Squawka with 11 off by 3+.
  • Furthest Off: Jeff Sagarin placed VAN 11 places worse than average.
  • Site with Worst Bias: Squawka for placing NER an average of 9.45 places worse than average (no change from last week).
  • Sites with Least Bias - all with bias for/against less than 2:
    • 1st - Reddit /r/MLS
    • 2nd - The Mane Land
    • 3rd - Soccer In America
    • 4th - Major League Soccer
    • 5th - Seattle Times


Season Average Power Ranking

Team
 		W28
Avg		 W29
Avg		 W30
Avg		 W31
Avg
2015
(run. avg)
 2014
Avg		 2013
Avg
 		2012
Avg
Seattle Sounders 5.89
 5.94
 5.96
 5.97
 4.07
 4.04
 9.36
 4.39
FC Dallas 4.90
 4.89
 4.91
 4.87
 4.26
 7.09
 8.78
 17.17
LA Galaxy 4.74
 4.74
 4.63
 4.54
 4.70
 6.77
 5.14
 2.46
D.C. United
 4.71
 4.92
 5.22
 5.43
 4.88
 12.15
 7.29
 9.33
New York Red Bulls 5.40
 5.25
 5.14
 5.01
 5.98
 11.07 6.38 7.23
Vancouver Whitecaps 4.82
 4.81
 4.86
 4.90
 6.28
 7.40
 10.41
 7.87
Sporting Kansas City 6.06
 6.11
 6.20
 6.21
 8.09
 4.45
 4.45
 3.09
Columbus Crew SC 9.46
 9.26
 9.15
 9.08
 9.32
 8.97
 12.89
 9.46
Toronto FC 9.99
 9.98
 9.97
 9.90
 10.00
 7.47
 16.85
 10.96
Real Salt Lake 12.11
 12.11
 12.19
 12.23
 10.25
 2.94
 4.52
 8.40
New England Revolution 9.78
 9.62
 9.48
 9.43
 10.31
 11.50
 12.35
 14.84
Portland Timbers 9.47
 9.51
 9.51
 9.58
 10.94
 11.34
 5.73
 13.89
San Jose Earthquakes 11.05
 11.08
 11.09
 11.09
 11.60
 14.44
 12.34
 4.86
Orlando City 14.13
 14.20
 14.23
 14.21
 12.81
 -- -- --
Houston Dynamo 13.39
 13.49
 13.53
 13.62
 13.20
 9.48
 7.74
 6.29
New York City FC 15.37
 15.37
 15.33
 15.34
 13.70
 -- -- --
Chicago Fire 17.38
 17.46
 17.54
 17.59
 17.15
 15.61
 14.27
 13.07
Colorado Rapids 17.02
 17.08
 17.14
 17.21
 17.18
 9.66
 9.79
 10.06
Montreal Impact 16.27
 16.10
 15.87
 15.69
 17.55
 17.67
 5.32
 15.74
Philadelphia Union
 18.15
 18.11
 18.09
 18.08
 17.77
 11.33
 10.53
 15.70


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
 19.45
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
 9
 20
 9.17
 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

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