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Power Ranking Averages Week 8

17 of 20 sites published. Toronto & D.C. rise, Kansas City & New England fall.

By Kreg Asay
Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports


MLS Power Ranking Averages - Week 8

17 of 20 sites published for Week 8.

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)
  • Squawka (squawka.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)
  • SoccerAmerica (socceramerica.com)
  • The Mane Land (themaneland.com)
  • Major League Soccer (www.mlssoccer.com/news/power-rankings)
  • Reddit user/FlyingCarsArePlanes (User analytic ranking, posted on reddit.com/r/mls) - No ranking Wk 8
  • NYCFC Blog (skybluesofny.com) - No ranking Wk 8
  • MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com)
  • Soccer By Ives (sbisoccer.com/sbi-mls-power-rankings)
  • Reddit r/MLS (reddit.com/r/mls)
  • Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com/mls)
  • Seattle Times (seattletimes.com/author/matt-pentz)
  • Hot Footy (hotfooty.com/major-league-soccer)
  • The Score (thescore.com/mls/news)
  • MLSfix (mlsfix.com) - No ranking Wk 8
  • Power Rankings & More (powerrankingsandmore.com/tag/mls)

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.

Wk8 Wk7 Wk6 Team
Wk8
Avg
Wk7
Avg
Wk6
Avg
Worst
 		Best
 		Range
1
 4
 5
 Los Angeles 1.47
 4.73
 6.13
 3
 1
 2
2
 1
 2
 Dallas 3.53
 1.80
 2.88
 7
 1
 6
3
 8
 9
 Toronto 4.13
 8.47
 10.94
 9
 1
 8
4
 2
 3
 Salt Lake 4.67
 1.93
 3.63
 8
 2
 6
5
 6
 12
 Colorado 4.73
 7.73
 13.31
 11
 1
 10
6
 3
 4
 Montreal 7.00
 3.33
 3.88
 12
 2
 10
7
 9
 6
 Philadelphia 7.13
 9.00
 6.94
 13
 4
 9
8
 10
 8
 San Jose 8.00
 9.80
 8.81
 11
 4
 7
9
 5
 1
 Kansas City 8.67
 5.53
 1.56
 12
 3
 9
10
 7
 7
 Orlando 10.67
 8.27
 6.81
 14
 5
 9
11
 11
 10
 Portland 12.60
 12.40
 12.00
 17
 3
 14
12
 14
 14
 Vancouver 13.40
 16.00
 15.13
 19
 10
 9
13
 15
 20
 Columbus 14.00
 16.67
 20.00
 15
 4
 11
14
 19
 17
 D. C. 14.40
 18.07
 16.50
 18
 8
 10
15
 13
 15
 Seattle 16.07
 13.47
 15.63
 18
 9
 9
16
 12
 11
 New England 17.20
 13.00
 12.88
 18
 13
 5
17
 17
 18
 Chicago 17.53
 17.47
 17.06
 19
 11
 8
18
 20
 19
 New York RB 18.60
 20.00
 19.13
 20
 15
 5
19
 16
 16
 New York FC 19.93
 17.40
 15.69
 20
 12
 8
20
 18
 13
 Houston 20.00
 17.60
 14.06
 20
 15
 5
  • Largest Rise: Toronto/D.C. +5
  • Largest Fall: Kansas City/New England -4
  • Largest Range: Portland (14)
  • Smallest Range: Los Angeles (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 (including Preseason ranking).

Site
 		# Exact
 		1 off
 		2 off
 3+ off Furthest off
 		most bias vs
 		most bias for
Who Scored
 4
 4
 3
 9
 NYFC
 NYRB -4.36
 HOU +7.27
Squawka
 1
 2
 4
 13
 CLB
 TFC -6.59
 CLB +7.92
Jeff Sagarin
 4
 3
 10
 3
 3@ +/-3
 POR -2.71
 COL +4.79
Sports Club Stats
 0
 6
 5
 9
 POR
 POR -6.91
 CHI +6.19
Sports Illustrated 5
 8
 1
 6
 ORL/SJE
 COL -3.21 SEA +4.44
ESPN
 3
 11
 5
 1
 SJE
 RSL -4.03
 NYRB +6.08
Soccer America 6
 3
 9
 2
 CHI
 NYRB -2.11 RSL +4.38
The Mane Land 3
 10
 5
 2
 SJE/TFC
 PHI -3.90 NYRB +5.63
Major League Soccer 6
 9
 4
 1
 NYRB
 COL -2.85 NYRB +4.08
Reddit u/FlyingCarsArePlanes NA



ORL -4.50 NYRB +7.52
NYCFC Blog
 NA



TFC -3.04
 VAN +4.05
MLS Fantasy Boss
 6
 4
 4
 6
 POR
 PHI -4.52
 SEA +8.77
Soccer By Ives 5
 7
 7
 1
 TFC
 TFC -2.71 SEA +3.95
Reddit r/MLS 13
 4
 3
 0
 3@ +/-2
 HOU -0.67
 NYFC +1.61
Bleacher Report 4
 7
 8
 1
 COL
 HOU -2.11
 VAN +3.63
Seattle Times 7
 6
 7
 0
 7@ +/-2
 NYFC -0.77
 VAN +3.76
Power Rankings & More 8
 6
 1
 5
 3@ +/-4
 POR -3.00 COL +3.75
Hot Footy 8
 3
 7
 2
 SKC
 PHI -2.23
 DCU +1.82
The Score 7
 6
 2
 5
 COL
 COL -3.09 NYRB +4.40
MLSfix NA



RSL -3.05 NYFC +7.01
  • Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker Reddit r/MLS):  with 13 exact matches to the average.
  • Least Accurate Site: (most 3+ with 2 off, and 1 off as tiebreaker): Squawka with 13 off by 3+.
  • Active Site with Worst Bias VS:  Sports Club Stats with POR 6.91 from avg.
  • Active Site with Worst Bias FOR: Squawka with CLB 7.92 places from avg.
  • Active Site with Least Bias VS: Reddit r/MLS with HOU 0.67 places from avg.
  • Active Site with Least Bias FOR: Reddit/r/MLS with NYFC 1.61 places from avg.

Season Average Power Ranking
The 5 Year 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.  The table is ordered based on the Weighted Points.

Team
Week
8
Week
7
Week
6
Week
5
Week
4
2015
Avg
5 Yr
Avg
 Weighted
Pts
Sporting Kansas City 3.90
 3.21
 2.83
 3.05
 3.12
 6.35
 4.69
 16.85
LA Galaxy 4.61
 5.09
 5.15
 4.94
 4.99
 4.51
 5.58
 17.26
FC Dallas 3.49
 3.49
 3.77
 3.94
 4.50
 4.64
 7.19
 19.94
Real Salt Lake 7.75
 8.17
 9.21
 10.29
 11.55
 12.43
 6.52
 25.24
Seattle Sounders 16.06
 16.12
 16.56
 16.67
 16.54
 6.07
 7.89
 29.63
Vancouver Whitecaps 13.38
 13.38
 12.94
 12.48
 12.91
 5.09
 9.15
 31.35
New York Red Bulls 15.52
 15.10
 14.06
 12.97
 12.06
 4.68
 8.47
 31.92
Portland Timbers 8.29
 7.73
 6.96
 6.01
 4.70
 9.45
 10.22
 32.41
Toronto FC 7.29
 7.72
 7.60
 6.96
 6.18
 9.75
 12.14
 35.67
Orlando City * 10.25
 10.18
 10.50
 11.22
 12.83
 14.21
 10.29
 36.54
Montreal Impact 4.12
 3.69
 3.75
 3.76
 3.33
 15.06
 11.18
 36.91
San Jose Earthquakes 8.86
 9.00
 8.87
 8.91
 8.52
 11.14
 10.04
 37.13
Columbus Crew SC 14.92
 15.09
 14.83
 13.73
 12.73
 8.75
 11.56
 39.33
D.C. United 18.11
 18.65
 18.65
 19.15
 18.66
 5.91
 11.24
 39.53
New England Revolution 14.33
 13.93
 14.09
 14.30
 14.14
 9.50
 12.16
 40.08
Houston Dynamo 13.89
 12.96
 12.19
 11.84
 11.33
 13.81
 10.99
 41.44
New York City FC * 14.61
 13.85
 13.26
 12.82
 12.32
 15.47
 11.42
 42.03
Philadelphia Union 10.77
 11.27
 11.65
 12.57
 12.96
 18.07
 13.27
 44.94
Colorado Rapids 13.04
 14.19
 15.27
 15.66
 16.65
 17.38
 12.94
 45.49
Chicago Fire 18.39
 18.49
 18.66
 18.98
 19.30
 17.71
 14.78
 55.14

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

Team High / Low
Best and worst placement for each team in weekly, avg rank total.

Team
 		Best
Avg
 Worst
Avg
 Best
Pos		 Worst
Pos
Chicago Fire
 17.06
 19.75
 17
 20
Colorado Rapids
 4.73
 19.50
 5
 20
Columbus Crew SC
 8.06
 20.00
 7
 20
D.C. United
 14.40
 20.00
 14
 20
FC Dallas
 1.73
 8.81
 1
 8
Houston Dynamo
 8.19
 20.00
 7
 20
LA Galaxy
 1.47
 7.69
 1
 6
Montreal Impact
 1.19
 7.00
 1
 6
New England Revolution
 11.06
 17.56
 9
 17
New York City FC
 10.25
 19.93
 9
 19
New York Red Bulls
 9.72
 20.00
 8
 20
Orlando City
 4.80
 15.38
 3
 16
Philadelphia Union
 6.94
 19.78
 6
 18
Portland Timbers
 1.94
 12.60
 2
 11
Real Salt Lake
 2.06
 14.67
 2
 15
San Jose Earthquakes
 5.31
 11.06
 5
 11
Seattle Sounders
 12.72
 19.25
 10
 18
Sporting Kansas City
 1.31
 8.67
 1
 9
Toronto FC
 4.13
 10.94
 3
 9
Vancouver Whitecaps
 10.36
 16.13
 7
 14
  • Largest Range (position): 15 (Colorado)
  • Smallest Range (position): 3 (Chicago)
  • 4 teams have been ranked first
  • 6 teams have been ranked last

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