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Final Power Ranking Averages

15 of 20 sites published. Red Bulls edge Dallas for first in the final ranking.

Derik Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports


15 of 20 sites published for Week 33 - Final Rankings!  Sports Illustrated only did a partial ranking with the playoff teams.

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:

  • Who Scored (whoscored.com)
  • Jeff Sagarin (sagarin.com/sports/soccer.htm)
  • Sports Club Stats (www.sportsclubstats.com/USA/MLS.html)
  • Sports Illustrated (www.soccer.si.com)
  • ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer) *No ranking for Wk 33
  • SoccerAmerica (socceramerica.com)
  • Major League Soccer (www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
  • The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
  • Soccer By Ives (sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings) *No ranking for Wk 33
  • Reddit user/FlyingCarsArePlanes (User analytic ranking) *No ranking for Wk 33
  • Reddit r/MLS (reddit.com/r/mls) *No ranking for Wk 33
  • MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com)
  • The Score (thescore.com/mls/news)
  • Power Rankings & More (powerrankingsandmore.com/tag/mls)
  • Seattle Times (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz)
  • Hot Footy (hotfooty.com/major-league-soccer) *No ranking for Wk 33
  • Sportify (sportify.io/category/analysis)
  • Black & Red United (blackandredunited.com)
  • CSN Chicago (csnchicago.com/chicago-fire - bi-weekly)
  • Inonit.com (inotit.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.  The 'analytic' sites that are based on numbers make up a control group since they are based on performance and/or results rather than opinion.  Each week I'll list the sites closest and furthest from average to show which are more biased than others.

As with previous years, if you know of a site that I have not listed, please let me know in the comments below and I'll add it!


Weekly Power Ranking Averages

Using the "Olympic" method of dropping the highest / lowest scores, and averaging the rest.

Wk33 Wk32 Wk30 Team
Wk33
Avg
Wk32
Avg
Wk30
Avg
Worst
Best
1
1
2
New York RB 1.54
1.69
1.93
3
1
2
1
1
Dallas 1.69
1.69
1.79
4
1
3
3
4
Colorado 3.92
3.63
4.07
8
2
4
4
3
New York FC 4.54
5.31
3.71
8
2
5
7
6
Los Angeles 5.31
5.44
6.29
8
1
6
6
5
Toronto 5.54
5.40
5.07
9
3
7
5
8
D. C. U. 6.31
5.38
7.00
10
3
8
8
7
Seattle 7.31
7.94
6.64
10
4
9
11
12
Kansas City 8.92
10.60
11.21
10
7
10
9
9
Montreal 11.08
10.44
10.43
16
9
11
10
11
Salt Lake 11.38
10.56
11.00
17
7
12
12
13
Portland 12.75
11.06
13.43
19
9
13
13
9
Philadelphia 13.23
12.88
10.43
18
8
14
14
13
New England 13.92
14.63
13.43
19
10
15
16
19
Orlando 14.00
15.88
18.36
16
10
16
15
15
Columbus 15.92
15.50
14.86
19
12
17
19
18
Vancouver 16.08
18.27
18.36
20
14
18
18
17
Houston 17.83
17.69
16.14
19
15
18
17
16
San Jose 17.83
16.80
16.00
20
15
20
20
20
Chicago 19.92
19.33
19.86
20
14
  • Largest Rise: NYCFC, LAG, SKC, VAN +2
  • Largest Fall: D.C., PHI -3

Season Ending Average

This is the final weekly average for the year.

Rank Team
2016
2015 2014 2013 2012
1
Dallas
2.73
4.64
6.35
8.58
12.88
2
Los Angeles
3.75
4.51
5.23
5.15
8.39
3
Colorado
5.25
17.38
11.54
9.88
12.85
4
Toronto
6.21
9.75
8.97
16.83
17.85
5
Salt Lake
7.01
12.43
4.12
4.58
3.70
6
Montreal
7.52
15.06
17.54
5.17
13.99
7
New York RB
8.11
4.68
10.05
6.52
5.58
8
Philadelphia
8.66
18.07
11.85
10.45
15.19
9
Kansas City
9.12
6.35
5.64
4.48
3.07
10
New York FC
9.42
15.47



11
Portland
9.78
9.45
11.64
5.83
15.88
12
San Jose
10.94
11.14
15.20
12.38
2.61
13
Orlando
13.10
14.21



14
Vancouver
13.65
5.09
7.98
10.33
8.95
15
Seattle
13.75
6.07
2.86
9.38
5.07
16
D. C.
13.91
5.91
7.49
17.24
7.45
17
New England
15.45
9.50
9.66
12.52
14.78
18
Columbus
16.31
8.75
9.60
12.81
11.70
19
Houston
16.44
13.81
12.77
7.71
6.75
20
Chicago
18.80
17.71
15.54
14.35
7.91

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 (including Preseason ranking).

Site
#
Exact
1
off
2
off
3
off
4
off
5+
off
Worst
most
bias vs
most
bias for
Who Scored
5
3
5
4
1
2
CHI
VAN -5.32
CHI +5.38
Jeff Sagarin
5
6
5
3
1
0
NER
NYFC -2.43
HOU +2.50
Sports Club Stats
8
11
1
0
0
0
CLB
POR -4.07 NYFC +2.27
Sports Illustrated
6
1
4
0
1
8
only PO
teams ranked
COL -1.89 SEA +2.75
ESPN
NA






LAG -2.48
POR +2.75
Soccer America
4
7
4
2
3
0
3@+/-4
NYRB -1.02
CHI +1.55
Major League Soccer
6
11
1
2
0
0
POR/LAG
LAG -1.71
TFC +1.82
The Mane Land
7
8
2
3
0
0
3@+/-3 PHI -2.43
VAN +2.20
Soccer By Ives
NA






DCU -1.55
SEA +1.68
Reddit u/FlyingCarsArePlanes NA






RSL -2.93
CLB +2.84
Reddit r/MLS
NA






DCU -1.96
VAN +1.13
MLS Fantasy Boss
3
8
2
5
2
0
CLB/NYFC
PHI -3.60
POR +5.71
The Score
4
9
4
2
1
0
RSL
COL -1.58
VAN +2.17
Power Rankings & More
7
9
4
0
0
0
4@+/-2 TFC -2.02
NER +1.98
Seattle Times
7
10
2
0
0
1
POR
NYRB -0.96
VAN +1.75
Hot Footy
NA






NYRB -2.58
RSL +1.51
Sportify
3
5
1
5
1
5
RSL
PHI -3.51
NYRB +3.68
Black & Red United
3
13
2
2
0
0
POR/VAN
TFC -2.84
COL +3.15
CSN Chicago
9
8
1
1
1
0
SEA
MTL -1.63
RSL +2.63
In On It
2
6
8
2
1
1
NER
NER -4.19
NYRB +5.20
  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker) CSN Chicago with 9 exact matches.
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 5+ with 4 and 3 off as tiebreaker): Sportify with 5 off by 5+.
  • Site with Worst Bias VS:  Who Scored with VAN 5.32 from avg.
  • Site with Worst Bias FOR: MLS Fantasy Boss with POR 5.71 places from avg.

5 Year Average

Season ending power rank averaged over the last 5 years (2 years for ORL & NYCFC).

Team
5 Yr
Avg
Wk
32
Wk
30
Wk
29
Wk
28
Wk
27
LA Galaxy 5.41
5.40
5.38
5.36
5.36
5.36
Sporting Kansas City 5.73
5.73
5.71
5.70
5.70
5.69
Real Salt Lake 6.37
6.34
6.28
6.25
6.24
6.23
New York Red Bulls 6.99
7.03
7.12
7.17
7.21
7.25
FC Dallas 7.04
7.04
7.05
7.05
7.06
7.07
Seattle Sounders 7.43
7.47
7.55
7.60
7.64
7.66
Vancouver Whitecaps 9.20
9.19
9.12
9.09
9.06
9.02
D.C. United 10.40
10.44
10.56
10.61
10.64
10.66
San Jose Earthquakes 10.45
10.41
10.34
10.30
10.26
10.22
Portland Timbers 10.52
10.50
10.47
10.44
10.42
10.43
Colorado Rapids 11.38
11.39
11.41
11.42
11.42
11.42
Houston Dynamo 11.50
11.49
11.48
11.48
11.49
11.49
Columbus Crew SC 11.83
11.84
11.86
11.87
11.87
11.86
Montreal Impact 11.86
11.83
11.79
11.77
11.72
11.67
Toronto FC 11.92
11.93
11.94
11.95
11.98
12.01
New England Revolution 12.38
12.39
12.38
12.40
12.40
12.42
New York City FC 12.45
12.53
12.68
12.78
12.88
12.96
Philadelphia Union 12.84
12.82
12.78
12.77
12.76
12.75
Orlando City 13.66
13.64
13.53
13.43
13.34
13.28
Chicago Fire 14.86
14.85
14.84
14.84
14.83
14.82


FIFA-esque Power Ranking

The Weighted Average is calculated using a variation of the "FIFA method" with the current year counting for 100%, and previous years counting for a decreasing amount.

Team
Wk
33
Wk
32
Wk
30
Week
29
Week
28
Week
27
Week
26
LA Galaxy 83.60
83.64
83.73
83.82
83.85
83.82
83.79
FC Dallas 80.82
80.78
80.77
80.73
80.70
80.67
80.65
Sporting Kansas City 77.93
77.93
78.03
78.10
78.09
78.13
78.18
Real Salt Lake 75.50
75.63
75.92
76.07
76.14
76.21
76.22
New York Red Bulls 75.49
75.29
74.84
74.60
74.38
74.19
73.99
Seattle Sounders 72.68
72.47
72.07
71.81
71.62
71.49
71.41
Vancouver Whitecaps 68.38
68.45
68.94
68.94
69.09
69.26
69.40
Portland Timbers 66.10
66.19
66.35
66.48
66.56
66.51
66.52
Toronto FC 65.41
65.39
65.27
65.27
65.11
64.95
64.76
D.C. United 64.67
64.45
63.88
63.62
63.47
63.37
63.26
New York City FC * 63.16
63.00
62.70
62.49
62.30
62.13
61.96
Colorado Rapids 62.30
62.26
62.16
62.11
62.11
62.08
62.03
San Jose Earthquakes 60.79
61.00
61.35
61.54
61.78
61.97
62.20
Orlando City * 60.61
60.65
60.87
61.06
61.24
61.36
61.38
Montreal Impact 59.69
59.82
60.02
60.13
60.38
60.62
60.77
Columbus Crew SC 59.29
59.28
59.18
59.12
59.09
59.14
59.26
New England Revolution 58.80
58.75
58.79
58.72
58.70
58.61
58.63
Philadelphia Union 57.17
57.31
57.48
57.55
57.59
57.64
57.67
Houston Dynamo 56.01
56.06
56.09
56.09
56.03
56.05
56.10
Chicago Fire 44.49
44.49
44.54
44.58
44.62
44.66
44.65

* Expansion teams points adjusted to compensate - (median of 9 for missing years)