clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Western Conference Playoffs: Updated Standings and Predicted Results

Looking at the results of the other games the draw against Chivas USA hurt Portland Playoff Chances less than it may seem. Portland is currently on pace for the playoffs.

By Ryan Gates
Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Well, I got two out of the three results right(Click Here for a reminder of what I predicted last week). Who knew Portland and LA Galaxy would draw against the cellar dwellers or that RSL would lay the biggest egg up in Seattle? I know some people may have thought the tie to Chivas would have dented Portland's hopes of gaining anything higher than the 5th seed but in reality it didn't hurt those chances as much as one might think.

Here are the current standings:

# Club PTS GP PPG W L T GF GA GD HG HGD RG RGD
1 Seattle Sounders FC 49 27 1.81 15 8 4 37 27 10 26 17 11 -7
2 Real Salt Lake 48 29 1.66 14 9 6 52 37 15 27 15 25 0
3 Colorado Rapids 45 29 1.55 12 8 9 37 30 7 22 9 15 -2
4 LA Galaxy 44 28 1.57 13 10 5 45 35 10 25 18 20 -8
5 Portland Timbers 43 28 1.54 10 5 13 44 31 13 26 15 18 -2
6 FC Dallas 40 28 1.43 10 8 10 40 41 -1 23 8 17 -9
7 Vancouver Whitecaps 38 28 1.36 10 10 8 39 38 1 27 11 12 -10
8 San Jose Earthquakes 38 29 1.31 10 11 8 29 40 -11 20 8 9 -19
9 Chivas USA 26 29 0.9 6 15 8 28 49 -21 17 -6 11 -15

Remaining Schedule

Here are each of the top 8 teams' remaining games:

Colorado Vancouver Dallas LAG Portland Seattle San Jose RSL
at Portland at montreal at New York Seattle Colorado at LAG Montreal San Jose
Seattle RSL Columbus at Portland LAG New York at RSL at Vancouver
At San Jose Portland at RSL Chivas at Vancouver at Colorado at Chivas
Vancouver at Seattle Chicago Montreal Seattle Vancouver Colorado FC Dallas
at Vancouver at Colorado Seattle San Jose RSL at FC Dallas at LAG at Portland
Colorado at San Jose at Seattle at Chivas LAG FC Dallas Chivas

As you can see LAG road to the playoffs just got a lot harder with only a draw at DC United and with Chivas USA playing better in the last few games. Colorado still has a very difficult schedule and very few games left. RSL's schedule got a lot harder now that I took out the DC United game that was the US Open Cup Final. RSL could slip down the table a few spots if they are not careful.

Remaining Schedule with Predicted Results

Here are each teams remaining schedule with the actual results listed and the committee of one's predicted results. The only thing I have added is the change compared the the predicted results (negative means they dropped points and positive means they gained points compared the predictions)

Vancouver Predicted result Actual Result Dallas Predicted result Actual Result
at San Jose tie tie at Colorado loss loss
at montreal loss at New York loss
RSL tie Columbus win
Portland tie at RSL loss
at Seattle loss Chicago win
at Colorado loss Seattle tie
Colorado win at San Jose loss
5 points (Max 8) 0 7 Points 0

LAG Predicted result Actual Result Portland Predicted result Actual Result
At DC united Win Tie At Chivas Win tie
Seattle Tie Colorado Win
at Portland Loss LAG Win
Chivas Win at Vancouver tie
Montreal Win Seattle tie
San Jose Win RSL tie
at Seattle loss at Chivas Win
11 points (Max 15) -2 13 points (9 Min and 18 Max) -2

Seattle Predicted result Actual Result San Jose Predicted result Actual Result
RSL tie Win Vancouver tie tie
at LAG tie Montreal tie
New York Win at RSL loss
at Colorado tie at Chivas win
Vancouver win Colorado win
Portland tie at LAG loss
at FC Dallas loss FC Dallas loss
LAG tie 7 points (12 max 6 min) 0

RSL Predicted result Actual Result Colorado Predicted result Actual Result
at Seattle tie Loss FC Dallas Win Win
San Jose win at Portland loss
at Vancouver tie Seattle tie
FC Dallas win At San Jose loss
at Portland tie Vancouver Win
Chivas win at Vancouver loss
11 points (min 12) -1 4 points (6 points min and 9 points max) 0

As you can see only Seattle improved the playoff seeding/chances while all the other teams stayed stationary or declined.

Max Points

Here are the max points each team can earn (Notice that Chivas was officially eliminated from playoff contention):

Team Points games games left max points
Seattle 49 26 7 70
RSL 48 28 5 63
Colorado Rapids 45 28 5 60
LA Galaxy 44 27 6 62
Portland 43 27 6 61
FC Dallas 40 27 6 58
Vancouver 38 27 6 56
San Jose 38 28 5 53
Chivas 26 28 5 41

Predictated Predicted Standings

Here are the predicted standings based on the predicted results and the results from last week:

Team Predicted points Predicted total Playoff seed
RSL 11 59 2
Seattle 11 60 1
Colorado Rapids 4 49 5
LA Galaxy 11 55 4
Portland 13 56 3
FC Dallas 7 47 6
Vancouver 5 43 8
San Jose 7 45 7

The top 4 teams are super tight and if results do not come out as predicted anyone of the four could end up with the top seed. The 5th seed is more than likely going to end up being the Colorado Rapids. The only way Colorado can find themselves outside the playoffs is if the bottom three win most of their remaining games.

The eternal optimist that I am I can see Portland nabbing the third seed and if things really go their way they could win the conference. Of course the small part of me that is a realist has me thinking 4th place with a home playoff game to see who plays Seattle in the Semis.

More From Stumptown Footy