Week 6 Power-Rankings Round-Up (check my math)

As I was about to explain in long-hand form the collection of 9+ power rankings I pulled together to study, it occurred to me that a mathematical method of some sort could make sense of it all more efficiently. It turns out all those math teachers who swore I'd use what they taught me were right...though it's also likely they didn't entertain the possibility I would misapply the tools they provided.

Call that my caveat for this post: I'm not totally sure that what I've done is mathematically valid, but it seems good enough - and that's why I'm posting.

By way of source material, I found power rankings posted on nine different sites - the "+" that appears above came about because, due to the format - which splits Eastern and Western Conferences - I can't use the rankings from Who Ate All the Cupcakes; but I like the author's stuff well enough to give him a shout-out regardless.

The other nine, however, appear below. After listing them, I'll redo the power rankings by placing all 13 MLS teams in the order of the average ranking they received across all nine outlets/blogs. Here's a list of the source material:

It's a Simple Game (mine obviously - LINK)
Sports Illustrated (Ryan Hunt) LINK
WVHooligan LINK
Soccer by Ives LINK
Sideline Views (Luis Bueno) LINK
Orlando Sentinel LINK (bonus for great format)
My Soccer Blog LINK
MLS Underground LINK
Finally, ESPN, the grand-daddy of them all: LINK

And now, here's how MLS's 13 teams stack up when you average the scores awarded to each of the teams by all nine outlets; for poops and giggles, I listed the high and low figure for each MLS club.

1. New England Revolution: 1.0 (Yep, they were the universal #1)
2. Red Bull New York: 2.7 (best, 2; worst, 4)
3. Kansas City Wizards: 3.9 (best, 2; worst, 6 - big spread on them)
4. Colorado Rapids: 3.9 (best, 2; worst, 7 - still bigger spread)
5. Houston Dynamo: 4.7 (best, 2; worst, 7 - ditto)
6. FC Dallas: 5.3 (best, 4; worst, 7 - 5 heavy; I gave the 7)
7. Chicago Fire: 7.6 (best, 6; worst, 10 - 7 heavy; I gave the 10)
8. Los Angeles Galaxy: 8.2 (best, 5; worst, 10 - pretty random; I gave the 5)
9. DC United: 9.7 (best, 8; worst, 11 - small range, wide variety)
10. Columbus Crew: 10.6 (best, 6; worst, 11)
11. Chivas USA: 10.8 (best, 8; worst, 13 - 10, 11 heavy)
12. Toronto FC: 11.9 (best, 10; worst, 13 - 12, 13 heavy)
13. Real Salt Lake: 12.6 (best, 12; worst, 13 - pretty conclusive)

So, there you have it. That may or may not give a handy snapshot of the conventional wisdom. I suspect it does, even if the ranges on some teams is a worry.

Talk at y'all tomorrow.

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