Not many would have thought, me included, after the dismal game at Sporting Kansas City that the Portland Timbers would be any where near a playoff spot. Yet here they are in the hunt for not only the 10th spot but only 4 points off the 8th spot, however the 8th spot is Real Salt Lake and they have 3 games in hand having only played 23 games.
If the season ended right now Portland would be on the outside looking in due to tiebreakers. For those visual learners I nabbed this from the MLS website: (after the jump)
The three top teams from each conference:
|
Western Conference |
PTS |
GP |
GD |
|
LA Galaxy |
51 |
26 |
17 |
|
45 |
26 |
9 |
|
|
43 |
26 |
6 |
|
Eastern Conference |
PTS |
GP |
GD |
|
40 |
25 |
5 |
|
|
Sporting Kansas City |
36 |
25 |
5 |
|
35 |
26 |
2 |
And now the Wildcard race:
|
Wild Card Race |
PTS |
GP |
GD |
|
41 |
27 |
5 |
|
|
Real Salt Lake |
36 |
23 |
12 |
|
Philadelphia Union |
34 |
24 |
6 |
|
32 |
26 |
4 |
|
|
Portland Timbers |
32 |
26 |
-8 |
|
31 |
26 |
3 |
|
|
D.C. United |
31 |
24 |
-1 |
|
25 |
25 |
-8 |
|
|
24 |
25 |
-5 |
|
|
23 |
26 |
-13 |
|
|
23 |
27 |
-23 |
|
|
18 |
25 |
-16 |
Looking at the table there is no way Portland can catch any of the West's top 3, nor will the catch Colorado. RSL has been in a funk and despite the 3 games in hand they could be caught but that is still unlikely. So the most logical position(s) that Portland would nab is the 9th or 10th position.
So using my handy dandy excel knowledge and some basic math skills I created the final standings chart again :) (remember these charts are ordered based on current standings but the projected number could place another team higher)
Eastern Conference:
|
Club |
PTS |
GP |
PPG |
Total Points |
HGP |
Home pts |
Home ppg |
AGP |
Away pts |
Away ppg |
Total points H/A |
|
Columbus Crew |
40 |
25 |
1.60 |
54 |
13 |
28 |
2.2 |
12 |
12 |
1.0 |
54 |
|
Sporting Kansas City |
36 |
25 |
1.44 |
49 |
11 |
22 |
2.0 |
14 |
14 |
1.0 |
51 |
|
Houston Dynamo |
35 |
26 |
1.35 |
46 |
14 |
27 |
1.9 |
12 |
8 |
0.7 |
44 |
|
Philadelphia Union |
34 |
24 |
1.42 |
48 |
12 |
21 |
1.8 |
12 |
13 |
1.1 |
48 |
|
New York Red Bulls |
32 |
26 |
1.23 |
42 |
12 |
20 |
1.7 |
14 |
12 |
0.9 |
43 |
|
D.C. United |
31 |
25 |
1.24 |
42 |
12 |
15 |
1.3 |
13 |
16 |
1.2 |
42 |
|
Chicago Fire |
24 |
25 |
0.96 |
33 |
12 |
14 |
1.2 |
13 |
10 |
0.8 |
33 |
|
New England Revolution |
23 |
26 |
0.88 |
30 |
13 |
15 |
1.2 |
13 |
8 |
0.6 |
30 |
|
Toronto FC |
23 |
27 |
0.85 |
29 |
13 |
17 |
1.3 |
14 |
6 |
0.4 |
30 |
Western Conference:
|
Club |
PTS |
GP |
PPG |
Total Points |
HGP |
Home pts |
Home ppg |
AGP |
Away pts |
Away ppg |
Total points H/A |
|
LA Galaxy |
51 |
26 |
1.96 |
67 |
13 |
29 |
2.2 |
13 |
22 |
1.7 |
67 |
|
Seattle Sounders FC |
45 |
26 |
1.73 |
59 |
12 |
22 |
1.8 |
14 |
23 |
1.6 |
59 |
|
FC Dallas |
43 |
26 |
1.65 |
56 |
14 |
27 |
1.9 |
12 |
16 |
1.3 |
55 |
|
Colorado Rapids |
41 |
27 |
1.52 |
52 |
12 |
22 |
1.8 |
15 |
19 |
1.3 |
53 |
|
Real Salt Lake |
36 |
23 |
1.57 |
53 |
13 |
27 |
2.1 |
10 |
9 |
0.9 |
51 |
|
Portland Timbers |
32 |
26 |
1.23 |
42 |
14 |
26 |
1.9 |
12 |
6 |
0.5 |
40 |
|
Chivas USA |
31 |
26 |
1.19 |
41 |
12 |
16 |
1.3 |
14 |
15 |
1.1 |
41 |
|
San Jose Earthquakes |
25 |
25 |
1.00 |
34 |
14 |
16 |
1.1 |
11 |
9 |
0.8 |
33 |
|
Vancouver Whitecaps FC |
18 |
25 |
0.72 |
24 |
11 |
14 |
1.3 |
14 |
4 |
0.3 |
26 |
My calculations would put Portland on the outside looking in, mainly due to the fact that Portland has 6 points on the road. Looking at schedule Portland should win all of their home games and should beat Vancouver. That would give them 12 points, which would put them at 42 points instead of 40 and in the playoffs. Also if they can come away with a win and 1 tie from their remaining away games that would push them further up the standings to the 8th or 9th spot.
Bottom line is that 42 points or 12 points out of the next 8 games makes the playoffs.