Tuesday, August 26, 2008

MLS: Remaining Strength of Schedule

There are only 9 games left for each team in the regular season. Since each team (finally) has the same number of games played, it makes it easy to compare the schedules for all 14 teams. Going by the total number of points, here is the remaining strength of schedule for each team:

1 New York 279
2 Columbus 278
3 Los Angeles 275
4 Colorado 263
5 DC United 259
5 Kansas City 259
7 Chicago 257
7 Dallas 257
7 Toronto 257
10 New England 256
11 Chivas USA 251
12 San Jose 250
13 Real Salt Lake 243
14 Houston 234

New York, Columbus, and Los Angeles face the toughest schedules, while Houston has the easiest followed by RSL. The Dynamo only play 2/9 more games versus teams currently in the playoff positions, whereas the top three most difficult schedules have 7/9 games against such teams.

Obviously, where the games take place is also important, and I didn't take that into account here. 13 of 14 teams have 4-5 home games remaining out of the last 9. The exception is SJ, which has 6 home games left out and only three away. So it would not be a surprise to see them do well.

Comments on "MLS: Remaining Strength of Schedule"

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (11:44 AM, August 26, 2008) : 

Thanks for the post, it helps me feel a lot better about my MLS ratings.

 

Blogger Unknown said ... (11:49 AM, August 26, 2008) : 

Refiguring with home/away points factored in:

1 Colorado 155
2 Toronto 143
3 New England 135
4 Kansas City 131
5 Red Bull 129
5 Chivas 129
7 Columbus 128
8 DC United 127
9 Houston 124
10 Chicago 118
11 LA Galaxy 116
12 RSL 115
13 Dallas 112
14 San Jose 97

Colorado is clearly doomed, while SJ might actually have a playoff chance with a lot of home games against road-challenged teams.

 

Blogger MarkMCF said ... (1:19 PM, August 26, 2008) : 

Bob, as a San José Quakes fan, your post really brightens my day!

I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but if we could finish ahead of a couple of teams that would be terrific.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (8:13 PM, August 26, 2008) : 

Don't forget four of those teams -- DC, NE, Chivas and Houston -- have CONCACAF Champions League games, creating extremely crowded schedules with little player depth. NE and Chivas get an extra two play-in games to get into the group stage (if they can), and DC has an Open Cup final. I don't think any of those four will make a strong run for the Supporters Shield, notwithstanding current records.

 

Blogger henryo said ... (9:40 PM, August 27, 2008) : 

Agree with TPS, the top-4 teams in 2007 will be spread too thin this season. For now CLB & CHI would seem to be the best bets for SS..

 

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