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NWSL Power Rankings - Week 9

Thorns stay on top with a tie on the road.

By Kreg Asay
NWSL Power Rankings

NWSL starting up again this week kind of took me by surprise; but thanks to many of my fellow-staff here at RSL Soapbox, reminders were sent out daily after Wednesday. Not a lot of movement on this week’s table since there weren’t any major upsets. The only changes are at the bottom of the table.

A reminder for readers who only follow the Power Rankings, there is also a prediction game called the Soapbox Oracle; and there is a World Cup prediction version found HERE. The survey has been updated for round 3, and will be updated mid-week as the knockout round match-ups are decided.

I do rankings for both NWSL and MLS a little differently; typically in soccer leagues within the USA, the home team wins more than 50% of the time. Thus I rank any team deviates from the ‘normal’ higher - basically an away team winning will move higher than a home team winning. The same applies for ties - a home team drawing will likely cause them to drop because it’s not what was expected of them.

So without further mindless banter, here’s the power rankings for week 8. (#) indicates last week’s ranking.

  1. Portland Thorns (1) - A tie on the road in North Carolina keeps them on top.
  2. Washington Spirit (2) - A 1-1 draw in Seattle means they remain in 2nd.
  3. Utah Royals (3) - Picked up another win at home vs Sky Blue. They may have moved up on the point standings, but not in power rankings.
  4. North Carolina Courage (4) - Tied at home 1-1. Fortunately no one lower did better.
  5. Chicago Red Stars (5) - Bye week.
  6. Houston Dash (6) - 2-2 draw at home. Normally that would mean a drop, but the Dash are fortunate that the Reign tied as well.
  7. Seattle Reign (7) - Could have moved above the Dash with a win, but tied at home so they stay put.
  8. Orlando Pride (9) - Tied on the road in Houston moves them off the bottom.
  9. Sky Blue FC (8) - Lost in the Rockies.

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