Wasatch Soccer SentinelHere'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)
- 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)
- Reddit user/FlyingCarsArePlanes (User analytic ranking) *No ranking for Wk 32
- Reddit r/MLS (reddit.com/r/mls) *No ranking for Wk 32
- MLS Fantasy Boss (mlsfantasyboss.com) *No ranking for Wk 32
- 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 32
- Sportify (sportify.io/category/analysis)
- Black & Red United (blackandredunited.com)
- CSN Chicago (csnchicago.com/chicago-fire - bi-weekly) *No ranking for Wk 32
- 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.
Wk32
Wk30
Wk29
Team
Wk32
Avg
Wk30
Avg
Wk29
Avg
Worst
Best
1
2
3
New York RB
1.69
1.93
2.72
3
1
2
1
1
Dallas
1.77
1.79
1.89
5
1
3
4
6
Colorado
3.69
4.07
5.22
7
2
4
8
11
D. C. U.
4.85
7.00
10.56
9
2
5
5
2
Toronto
5.23
5.07
2.17
9
3
6
3
5
New York FC
5.46
3.71
4.83
7
4
7
6
4
Los Angeles
5.62
6.29
4.44
8
1
8
7
9
Seattle
8.31
6.64
9.11
13
5
9
9
13
Montreal
10.08
10.43
14.11
13
7
10
9
10
Philadelphia
12.85
10.43
9.50
17
8
11
12
7
Kansas City
10.54
11.21
8.50
13
8
12
11
7
Salt Lake
10.77
11.00
8.50
14
7
13
13
12
Portland
11.15
13.43
11.44
13
8
14
13
15
New England
14.85
13.43
15.11
19
11
15
15
16
Columbus
15.46
14.86
15.22
18
11
16
19
19
Orlando
15.69
18.36
17.83
19
13
17
16
17
San Jose
17.00
16.00
17.00
20
13
18
17
14
Houston
17.54
16.14
14.89
19
15
19
18
18
Vancouver
18.38
18.36
17.28
20
15
20
20
20
Chicago
19.23
19.86
19.78
20
15
- Largest Rise: D.C. +4
- Largest Fall: NYCFC -3
Analytic Site Average
For those interested in seeing how the Analytic Sites differ, here's their averages alone.
Wk32
Wk31
Wk30
Wk29
Team
Wk32
Avg
Wk31
Avg
Wk30
Avg
Wk29
Avg
Difference
1
1
1
1
New York RB
1.40
1.60
1.33
2.00
0
2
2
2
3
Dallas
3.20
3.20
3.17
2.71
0
3
4
3
4
Los Angeles
3.60
4.40
4.50
3.71
-4
4
7
7
9
D. C. U.
4.80
6.40
5.67
8.57
0
5
6
5
2
Toronto
5.00
5.20
5.17
2.57
0
5
3
5
5
Colorado
5.00
4.20
5.17
5.43
+2
7
5
4
6
New York FC
5.60
4.80
4.67
6.29
+1
8
8
8
8
Seattle
8.80
7.20
7.17
8.56
0
9
10
11
7
Kansas City
9.40
10.20
10.33
8.29
-2
10
11
10
15
Montreal
10.60
10.40
10.17
14.71
+1
11
9
9
10
Philadelphia
11.60
9.60
9.83
9.86
+1
11
13
12
12
Portland
11.60
12.40
12.50
11.43
-2
13
12
13
11
Salt Lake
11.80
12.20
12.83
11.00
+1
14
14
15
14
Columbus
14.00
14.20
14.67
14.14
-1
15
18
18
18
Orlando
14.80
17.40
17.83
17.43
-1
16
15
16
16
San Jose
16.80
15.40
16.00
16.00
-1
17
16
14
13
Houston
17.00
16.60
14.33
13.43
-1
18
17
17
19
New England
17.40
17.00
16.67
17.71
+4
19
19
19
17
Vancouver
18.20
18.20
18.50
17.29
0
20
20
20
20
Chicago
19.00
19.20
19.33
18.57
0
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
5
4
2
1
3
CHI
VAN -5.36
CHI +5.35
Jeff Sagarin
2
7
7
2
0
2
LAG
NYFC -2.45
HOU +2.52
Sports Club Stats
7
8
3
2
0
0
CLB/DCU
POR -4.20
NYFC +2.31
Sports Illustrated
11
4
0
3
1
1
CHI
COL -1.94
SEA +2.85
ESPN
3
11
4
1
1
0
MTL
LAG -2.52
POR +2.66
Soccer America
4
6
7
1
1
1
PHI
NYRB -1.08
CHI +1.57
Major League Soccer
10
7
2
1
0
0
POR
LAG -1.67
TFC +1.86
The Mane Land
4
9
3
1
1
2
PHI/POR
PHI -2.42
VAN +2.33
Soccer By Ives
6
7
3
3
1
0
RSL
DCU -1.33
SEA +1.89
Reddit u/FlyingCarsArePlanes
NA
RSL -3.06
CLB +2.85
Reddit r/MLS
NA
DCU -2.04
VAN +1.21
MLS Fantasy Boss
NA
PHI -3.60
POR +6.01
The Score
4
8
5
0
1
2
DCU/RSL
COL -1.67
VAN +2.22
Power Rankings & More
6
9
4
1
0
0
PHI
TFC -2.01
NER +2.02
Seattle Times
7
6
4
2
1
0
RSL
NYRB -1.05
VAN +1.79
Hot Footy
NA
NYRB -2.38
RSL +1.38
Sportify
2
3
5
7
2
1
PHI
PHI -3.39
NYRB +3.72
Black & Red United
4
8
4
2
2
0
PHI/SJE
TFC -2.93
COL +3.19
CSN Chicago
NA
HOU -1.53
RSL +2.96
In On It
5
4
8
1
0
2
LAG
NER -4.20
NYRB +5.31
- Most Accurate Site: (best Exact, with 1 off as tiebreaker) Sports Illustrated with 11 exact matches.
- Least Accurate Site: (most 5+ with 4 and 3 off as tiebreaker): Who Scored with 3 off by 5.
- Site with Worst Bias VS: Who Scored with VAN 5.36 from avg.
- Site with Worst Bias FOR: MLS Fantasy Boss with POR 6.01 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
30
Wk
29
Wk
28
Wk
27
Wk
26
5.40
5.38
5.36
5.36
5.36
5.37
5.73
5.71
5.70
5.70
5.69
5.68
6.34
6.28
6.25
6.24
6.23
6.22
7.03
7.12
7.17
7.21
7.25
7.29
7.04
7.05
7.05
7.06
7.07
7.07
7.47
7.55
7.60
7.64
7.66
7.68
9.19
9.12
9.09
9.06
9.02
9.00
10.41
10.34
10.30
10.26
10.22
10.17
10.44
10.56
10.61
10.64
10.66
10.68
10.50
10.47
10.44
10.42
10.43
10.43
11.39
11.41
11.42
11.42
11.42
11.43
11.49
11.48
11.48
11.49
11.49
11.48
11.83
11.79
11.77
11.72
11.67
11.64
11.84
11.86
11.87
11.87
11.86
11.84
11.93
11.94
11.95
11.98
12.01
12.05
12.39
12.38
12.40
12.40
12.42
12.42
12.53
12.68
12.78
12.88
12.96
13.05
12.82
12.78
12.77
12.76
12.75
12.74
13.64
13.53
13.43
13.34
13.28
13.28
14.85
14.84
14.84
14.83
14.82
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
32
Wk
30
Week
29
Week
28
Week
27
Week
26
Week
25
LA Galaxy
83.64
83.73
83.82
83.85
83.82
83.79
83.81
FC Dallas
80.78
80.77
80.73
80.70
80.67
80.65
80.59
Sporting Kansas City
77.93
78.03
78.10
78.09
78.13
78.18
78.20
Real Salt Lake
75.63
75.92
76.07
76.14
76.21
76.22
76.15
New York Red Bulls
75.29
74.84
74.60
74.38
74.19
73.99
73.75
Seattle Sounders
72.47
72.07
71.81
71.62
71.49
71.41
71.30
Vancouver Whitecaps
68.45
68.94
68.94
69.09
69.26
69.40
69.62
Portland Timbers
66.19
66.35
66.48
66.56
66.51
66.52
66.60
Toronto FC
65.39
65.27
65.27
65.11
64.95
64.76
64.64
D.C. United
64.45
63.88
63.62
63.47
63.37
63.26
63.14
New York City FC *
63.00
62.70
62.49
62.30
62.13
61.96
61.71
Colorado Rapids
62.26
62.16
62.11
62.11
62.08
62.03
62.07
San Jose Earthquakes
61.00
61.35
61.54
61.78
61.97
62.20
62.38
Orlando City *
60.65
60.87
61.06
61.24
61.36
61.38
61.45
Montreal Impact
59.82
60.02
60.13
60.38
60.62
60.77
60.87
Columbus Crew SC
59.28
59.18
59.12
59.09
59.14
59.26
59.32
New England Revolution
58.75
58.79
58.72
58.70
58.61
58.63
58.73
Philadelphia Union
57.31
57.48
57.55
57.59
57.64
57.67
57.69
Houston Dynamo
56.06
56.09
56.09
56.03
56.05
56.10
56.18
Chicago Fire
44.49
44.54
44.58
44.62
44.66
44.65
44.60
- Expansion teams points adjusted to compensate - (median of 9 for missing years)
