Power Rankings Overview: RSL drops in the charts while San Jose continues to hold the top

Power Rankings Overview: RSL drops in the charts while San Jose continues to hold the top

Editor's Note: Once again, it's Power Rankings Overview time with Kreg Asay! You'll notice some interesting things: Houston is on the rise, Sporting KC has returned somewhat to grace, and we've dropped like a rock tied to a bigger rock thrown into the ocean. Or, perhaps, a penny thrown off the Empire State Building, which would fall at the same rate as a rock, unless that penny was somehow attached to a bunch of paper or feathers or something that provided air resistance. Anyhow, here it is.

Power Ranking Averages for week 21.

The sites used are:
*Soccer America (socceramerica.com)
*Major League Soccer (MLSSoccer.com)
*Goal (Goal.com)
*Soccer by Ives (soccerbyives.net)
*ESPN (espn.go.com/sports/soccer)
*SB Nation (sbnation.com)
*NBC Sports (prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com)
*Sports Illustrated (sportsillustrated.cnn.com)
*Bleacher Report (bleacherreport.com) - stopped after wk 11.

Weekly Average Power Ranking

W21 - W20  -  Team        - Ave   - High - Low
1   -  1   -  San Jose    - 1     -  1 -  1
2   -  2   -  Houston     - 2.88  -  2 -  4
2   -  5   -  Kansas City - 2.88  -  2 -  4
4   -  6   -  New York    - 3.5   -  2 -  5
5   -  3   -  Salt Lake   - 5     -  3 -  6
6   -  8   -  Chicago     - 6.88  -  5 - 10
7   -  7   -  Seattle     - 7.38  -  6 -  9
8   -  4   -  DC United   - 7.75  -  6 - 10
9   -  9   -  LA Galaxy   - 8.5   -  7 -  9
10  -  10  -  Vancouver   - 9.38  -  7 - 11
11  -  11  -  Columbus    - 11.13 - 10 - 12
12  -  12  -  Montreal    - 11.88 - 11 - 13
13  -  17  -  Dallas      - 14.13 - 12 - 16
14  -  13  -  Chivas      - 14.25 - 13 - 16
15  -  14  -  Philadelphia- 14.88 - 13 - 17
16  -  15  -  New England - 16.13 - 13 - 18
17  -  16  -  Colorado    - 16.25 - 14 - 18
18  -  18  -  Toronto     - 17.25 - 15 - 18
19  -  19  -  Portland    - 19    - 19 - 19

Nine teams remained static in the rankings; Portland and San Jose were the only teams to receive a unanimous rankings.  Houston / Kansas City tied at 2th place for the 3rd week in a row (previous two in 4th place) with an average of 2.88.  Two teams had a variance of 5 positions (Chicago, New England), and five teams with a variance of 4 (D.C., Vancouver, Dallas, Philadelphia, Colorado).

The most consistent rankings were SB Nation with only 1 team moving 3 positions, and NBC with 2 teams moving 3.  There were two inconsistent sites this week, ESPN with 2 teams moving 4, and 2 moving 3 positions; and MLS which had 1 team moving 4, and 3 teams moving 3 places.

It's interesting to note that the top 10 contains five teams from each conference.

Firsts and Lasts

SJE have now been ranked #1 for 10 weeks, with RSL at 6, and SKC for 5 weeks.
TFC was in 19th for a total of 10 weeks, Portland has now held it for 5 weeks, Montreal, Dallas and Philly held last for 2 weeks each, Chivas for 1 week.

Movers

Jets: K.C.(5tt to 2nd), Dallas(17th to 13th)
Bricks: D.C. (4th to 8th), RSL (3rd to 5th)
Glaciers: SJ, Houston, Seattle, LA, Vancouver, Columbus, Montreal, Toronto, Portland (no change)

Season Average Power Ranking

W20   -  W20   -  Team
2.56  -  2.44  -  Salt Lake
3.33  -  3.45  -  San Jose
3.53  -  3.56  -  Kansas City
5.47  -  5.38  -  Seattle
5.81  -  5.93  -  New York
6.36  -  6.53  -  Houston
7.07  -  7.04  -  DC United
7.54  -  7.44  -  Vancouver
8.97  -  9.08  -  Chicago
9.66  -  9.72  -  LA Galaxy
11.32 -  11.07 -  Colorado
12.55 -  12.62 -  Columbus
13.34 -  13.31 -  Dallas
14.05 -  13.94 -  New England
14.40 -  14.41 -  Chivas
15.08 -  15.24 -  Montreal
15.63 -  15.67 -  Philadelphia
15.67 -  15.51 -  Portland
17.59 -  17.61 -  Toronto

There was one position change on the table this week.  Philadelphia passed Portland for 17th.

Chivas moved the least at +.01 points, with Toronto close behind moving a mere +.02 points.  For the 3rd week in a row Colorado moved the most at -.25 points.  The smallest gap in the season average is .04 Philly and Portland.  The widest gulf lies between KC and Seattle at 1.94 points, with the gap between Portland and Toronto a close second at 1.92; three other gaps of over 1 point also exist.

Firsts and Lasts

*RSL has held the top spot on the season table for a total of 19 weeks (with week 7 tied with SKC).  SKC held #1 for 3 weeks (again with W7 tied with RSL).
*Toronto has been in 19th place for 14 weeks, with Montreal at 7 weeks.

Trends to watch

The Quakes continue to close on RSL.  With only .77 points separate both teams it's conceivable that SJ could take over the top position before the end of the season considering RSL's recent performance.

Seattle's slide down the Season Average table continues.  The Bulls are now only .34 points behind, a few more positive results and they'll take over 4th place.

Montreal is rising at a steady rate, while Chivas is remaining stagnant at 15th.  With only .68 points separating both a few good results will cause the Impact to rise.