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Welcome to another year of Power Ranking Averages! Most people either like them, hate them or are indifferent; but just about everyone can agree that it's great fodder for debate, which is the point of it after all.
I started this project back in 2012 after getting frustrated by the wide range of ranks among the various sites, as such I figured the best way to get a more accurate Power Ranking would be to just average all of the sites I could find. Most sites tend to come and go, usually lasting about half of the season; it may start with 15+ and end with 7-8, but as long as sites continue to publish their rankings I shall endeavor to average them.
Here's a reminder of one of the best Power Ranking "Guidelines" I’ve read:
"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
As we are still in Preseason, quite a few sites have done rankings, hopefully all will continue!
Sites Used
- Sports Illustrated (si.com/planet-futbol)
- ESPN (espnfc.us/major-league-soccer/19/index)
- MLS Soccer (mlssoccer.com/series/power-rankings)
- MLS Multiplex (mlsmultiplex.com)
- The Score (thescore.com/mls/news)
- In on it (inontit.com/mls-playoffs-odds/power-rankings)
- Goal.com (goal.com/en-us)
- Football Premium (footballpremium.com/usa/major-league-soccer)
- Score Bench (scorebench.com/category/soccer)
- Soccer By Ives (Sbisoccer.com)
More will be added after Week 1, if you know of any I haven’t included please drop me a note in the comments, or by email (link via my byline above).
2017 Season Power Ranking Averages
| Team | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 |
| ATL | - | - | - | - | - | 17.4 |
| CHI | 7.91 | 14.35 | 15.54 | 17.71 | 18.8 | 17.47 |
| CLB | 11.7 | 12.81 | 9.6 | 8.75 | 16.31 | 5.8 |
| COL | 12.85 | 9.88 | 11.54 | 17.38 | 5.25 | 16.2 |
| DCU | 7.45 | 17.24 | 7.49 | 5.91 | 13.91 | 10.27 |
| FCD | 12.88 | 8.58 | 6.35 | 4.64 | 2.73 | 1.87 |
| HOU | 6.75 | 7.71 | 12.77 | 13.81 | 16.44 | 10.73 |
| LAG | 8.39 | 5.15 | 5.23 | 4.51 | 3.75 | 11.4 |
| MTL | 13.99 | 5.17 | 17.54 | 15.06 | 7.52 | 14.33 |
| MUFC | - | - | - | - | - | 21.4 |
| NER | 14.78 | 12.52 | 9.66 | 9.5 | 15.45 | 17.53 |
| NYFC | - | - | - | 15.47 | 9.42 | 10.53 |
| NYRB | 5.58 | 6.52 | 10.05 | 4.68 | 8.11 | 2.93 |
| ORL | - | - | - | 14.21 | 13.1 | 10.4 |
| PHI | 15.19 | 10.45 | 11.85 | 18.07 | 8.66 | 13.73 |
| POR | 15.88 | 5.83 | 11.64 | 9.45 | 9.78 | 5.07 |
| RSL | 3.7 | 4.58 | 4.12 | 12.43 | 7.01 | 14 |
| SEA | 5.07 | 9.38 | 2.86 | 6.07 | 13.75 | 7.53 |
| SJE | 2.61 | 12.38 | 15.2 | 11.14 | 10.94 | 12.6 |
| SKC | 3.07 | 4.48 | 5.64 | 6.35 | 9.12 | 8.73 |
| TFC | 17.85 | 16.83 | 8.97 | 9.75 | 6.21 | 3.53 |
| VAN | 8.95 | 10.33 | 7.98 | 5.09 | 13.65 | 17.73 |
Dallas has the lead after pre-season; can it hold after week 1?
Site evaluations, and Season Averages will begin with the Week 1 article.