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MLS Power Ranking Week 3 - FC Dallas takes control

14 out of 16 sites published this week. Undefeated FC Dallas rises to the top, D.C.United crashes out of top 10.

By Kreg Asay
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports


MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 3

One more site added for Week 3!  Soccer Information Network's MLS Power Rankings (incidentally one of, if not the longest running MLS Power Ranking dating back to '96) has been included, and their rankings have affected some of the Wk 2 standings.

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.

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? This list is designed to tell you who we feel is most likely to win that match-up. 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 (www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
  • Soccer by Ives (www.sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings)
  • Soccer America (www.socceramerica.com)
  • ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer)
  • Seattle Times Blog (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz) *No ranking for Wk 3
  • MLS GB (mlsbg.com/tag/power-rankings)
  • Black & Red United (www.blackandredunited.com)
  • Sports Illustrated (www.soccer.si.com)
  • Examiner (examiner.com/topic/power-rankings)
  • The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
  • Who Scored 'team rating' (whoscored.com/Regions/233/Tournaments/85/USA-Major-League-Soccer)
  • Playing for 90 (playingfor90.com) *No ranking for Wk 2-3
  • Reddit MLS subreddit (reddit/r/mls)
  • The Sports Network (sportsnetwork.com)
  • Soccer Information Network (soccerinformationnetwork.com)

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 3 Wk 2 Wk 1
 Team
 		W3 Avg W2 Avg W1 Avg 2014 Avg Worst
 		Best
 		Range
1
 1
 4
 Dallas 1.08
 1.75
 5.00
 7.09
 3
 1
 2
2
 1
 2
 Los Angeles 2.67
 1.75
 1.83
 6.77
 5
 1
 4
3
 3
 1
 Seattle 4.33
 4.08
 1.17
 4.04
 8
 2
 6
4
 13
 9
 New York RB 5.92
 11.75
 10.50
 11.07
 12
 2
 10
5
 11
 15
 Vancouver 6.58
 11.25
 13.92
 7.40
 14
 2
 12
6
 10
 19
 San Jose 6.67
 11.33
 18.25
 14.44
 14
 2
 12
7
 6
 14
 New York FC 6.83
 6.50
 12.58
 N/A
 10
 3
 7
8
 5
 10
 Columbus 7.00
 6.00
 11.17
 8.97
 12
 3
 9
9
 8
 3
 Toronto 8.00
 7.58
 3.08 7.47 15
 4
 11
10
 9
 8
 Salt Lake 10.58
 10.17
 8.92
 2.94
 15
 5
 10
11
 4
 4
 D.C. 10.67
 4.92
 5.00
 12.15
 14
 6
 8
12
 7
 12
 Orlando 11.42
 7.08
 11.50
 N/A 18
 6
 12
13
 14
 7
 Houston 12.17
 14.17
 7.92
 9.48
 17
 8
 9
14
 11
 10
 Portland 12.50
 11.25
 11.17
 11.34
 14
 7
 7
15
 15
 6
 Kansas City 14.58
 14.58
 7.58 4.45 17
 11
 6
16
 16
 16
 Philadelphia 16.92
 14.67
 15.50
 11.33
 19
 15
 4
16
 18
 17
 Colorado 16.92
 17.17
 16.08 9.66 19
 9
 10
18
 19
 18
 Montreal 17.58
 18.33
 17.58
 17.67 20
 15
 5
19
 17
 12
 New England 18.00
 16.33
 11.50
 11.50
 20
 10
 10
20
 20
 20
 Chicago 19.92
 19.67
 19.33
 15.61
 20
 18
 2

Site Evaluations
Each site's ranking is compared to the weekly averages above.  The best and worst # of matches is indicated.

Site
 		# Exact
 		1 off
 		2 off
 3 off 4 off 5+ off
 		Team(s) furthest off
Major League Soccer 5
 3
 4
 8
 0
 0
 8 @ +/- 3 positions
Soccer by Ives 5
 3
 3
 3
 4
 2
 NER -9
Soccer America 4
 7
 2
 1
 3
 3
 DCU, SEA, VAN +/- 5 positions
ESPN 7
 3
 3
 3
 0
 4
 VAN +6
Seattle Times NR NR NR NR NR NR
MLS GB 9
 4
 5
 1
 1
 0
 HOU -4
Black & Red United 4
 6
 4
 3
 0
 3
 ORL -6
Sports Illustrated 4
 8
 3
 2
 0
 3
 NYRB +8
Examiner 7
 5
 5
 1
 1
 1
 SEA +5
The Mane Land 5
 10
 0
 1
 2
 2
 VAN, SJE +/- 5 positions
Who Scored 2
 5
 2
 5
 2
 4
 VAN +9
Playing for 90 NR
 NR NR NR NR NR
Reddit /r/MLS
 9
 2
 3
 5
 1
 0
 CLB -4
The Sports Network
 7
 2
 6
 3
 2
 0
 SEA, SJE +/- 4 positions
Soccer Information Network 7
 3
 3
 2
 1
 4
 POR -7
  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with +1 as tiebreaker) MLS GB
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 5+ with +4 as tiebreaker) Who Scored
  • Furthest Off: Soccer by Ives and Who Scored both placed Vancouver +/- 9 positions from average


Season Average Power Ranking

Team
 		W3 Avg W2 Avg W1 Avg 2015
(run. avg)		 2014 Avg 2013 Avg
 		2012 Avg
Los Angeles 2.08
 1.79
 1.83
 1.90
 6.77
 5.14
 2.46
Dallas 2.61
 3.38
 5.00
 3.66
 7.09
 8.78
 17.17
Seattle 3.19
 2.63
 1.17
 2.33
 4.04
 9.36
 4.39
Toronto 6.22
 5.33
 3.08
 4.88
 7.47
 16.85
 10.96
D.C. 6.86
 4.96
 5.00
 5.61
 12.15
 17.29
 9.33
Columbus 8.06
 8.59
 11.17
 9.27
 8.97
 12.89
 9.46
New York FC 8.64
 9.54
 12.58
 10.25
 N/A N/A N/A
New York RB 9.39
 11.13
 10.50
 10.34
 11.07
 6.38
 7.23
Salt Lake 9.89
 9.55
 8.92
 9.45
 2.94
 4.52
 8.40
Orlando 10.00
 9.29
 11.50
 10.26
 N/A N/A N/A
Vancouver 10.58
 12.59
 13.92
 12.36
 7.40
 10.41
 7.87
Houston 11.42
 11.05
 7.92
 10.13
 9.48
 7.74
 6.29
Portland 11.64
 11.21
 11.17
 11.34
 11.34
 5.73
 13.89
San Jose 12.08 14.79
 18.25
 15.04
 14.44
 12.34
 4.86
Kansas City 12.25
 11.08
 7.58
 10.30
 4.45
 4.45
 3.09
New England 15.28
 13.92
 11.50
 13.57
 11.50
 12.35
 14.84
Philadelphia 15.70
 15.09
 15.50
 15.43
 11.33
 10.53
 15.70
Colorado 16.72
 16.63
 16.08
 16.48
 9.66
 9.79
 10.06
Montreal 17.83
 17.96
 17.58
 17.79
 17.67 5.32
 15.74
Chicago 19.64
 19.50
 19.33
 19.49
 15.61
 14.27
 13.07


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
 20
 20
 19.67 19.92
Colorado Rapids
 16
 18
 16.08
 17.17
Columbus Crew
 5
 10
 6.00
 11.17
D.C. United
 4
 11
 4.92
 10.67
FC Dallas
 1
 4
 1.08
 5.00
Houston Dynamo
 7
 14
 7.92
 14.17
LA Galaxy
 1
 2
 1.75
 2.67
Montreal Impact
 18
 19
 18.33
 17.58
New England Revolution
 12
 19
 11.50
 18.00
New York City FC
 6
 14
 6.50
 12.58
New York Red Bulls
 4
 13
 5.92
 11.75
Orlando SC
 7
 12
 7.08
 11.50
Philadelphia Union
 16
 16
 14.67
 16.92
Portland Timbers
 10
 14
 11.17
 12.50
Real Salt Lake
 8
 10
 8.92
 10.58
San Jose Earthquakes
 6
 19
 6.67
 18.25
Seattle Sounders
 1
 3
 1.17
 4.33
Sporting Kansas City
 6
 15
 7.58
 14.58
Toronto FC
 3
 9
 3.08
 8.00
Vancouver Whitecaps
 5
 15
 6.58
 13.92

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