You can read last week’s rankings here, and a full explanation of our methodology here.

Below are the rankings as of August 20th, 2017 (last week’s ranking is in parentheses).

East Rankings

1 (Last Week- 2). Louisville City FC (1161)

Last Week: Won 3-1 @ Bethlehem on Sunday.

2 (1). Charlotte Independence (1159)

Last Week: Won 1-0 vs Bethlehem on Wednesday, Drew 1-1 vs Orlando City B on Saturday.

3 (3). Charleston Battery (1142)

Last Week: Won 1-0 @ Rochester on Saturday.

4 (4). Tampa Bay Rowdies (1132)

Last Week: Drew 1-1 vs Ottawa on Saturday.

5 (5). Rochester Rhinos (1121)

Last Week: Lost 1-0 vs Charleston on Saturday.

6 (7). Orlando City B (1110)

Last Week: Won 3-0 vs Ottawa on Wednesday, Drew 1-1 @ Charlotte on Saturday.

7 (7). Ottawa Fury FC (1098)

Last Week: Lost 3-0 @ Orlando City B on Wednesday, Drew 1-1 @ Tampa Bay on Saturday.

8 (6). Bethlehem Steel FC (1097)

Last Week: Lost 1-0 @ Charlotte on Wednesday, Lost 3-1 vs Louisville on Sunday.

9 (10). Pittsburgh Riverhounds (1095)

Last Week: Won 2-1 @ Saint Louis FC on Saturday.

10 (9). FC Cincinnati (1088)

Last Week: Lost 4-0 @ New York Red Bulls II on Saturday.

11 (12). New York Red Bulls II (1079)

Last Week: Won 4-0 vs FC Cincinnati on Saturday.

12 (11). Saint Louis FC (1073)

Last Week: Lost 2-1 vs Saint Louis FC on Saturday.

13 (13). Harrisburg City Islanders (1058)

Last Week: Bye Week

14 (14). Richmond Kickers (1051)

Last Week: Won 2-1 vs Toronto FC II on Saturday.

15 (15). Toronto FC II (1032)

Last Week: Lost 2-1 @ Richmond on Saturday.

Week Twenty-Three Matches

Wednesday, August 23rd

#10 FC Cincinnati (1088) v #7 Ottawa Fury FC (1098)

#1 Louisville City (1161) v #13 Harrisburg City Islanders (1058)

#12 Saint Louis FC (1073) v #5 Tulsa Roughnecks (1119)

Saturday, August 26th

#5 Rochester Rhinos (1121) v #12 Saint Louis FC (1073)

#2 Charlotte Independence (1159) v #15 Toronto FC II (1032)

#9 Pittsburgh Riverhounds (1095) v #8 Bethlehem Steel FC (1097)

#14 Richmond Kickers (1051) v #3 Charleston Battery (1142)

#1 Louisville City FC (1162) v #6 Orlando City B (1110)

Sunday, August 27th

#7 Ottawa Fury FC (1098) v #11 New York Red Bulls II (1079)

Thoughts

After months of the top spot being controlled by one of the Carolina sides, Louisville have finally broken through and claimed #1 in our rankings this week. The Kentucky club has remained a perennial favorite in the conference, and has won four of their last five matches. Charlotte remains hot on Louisville’s heels as the race home field advantage throughout the playoffs is heating up. Charleston has separated themselves on an island in third place, while Tampa rounds out the top four.

One club of particular note is Orlando City B, who have made tremendous strides in recent weeks in their quest for a playoff spot. The Baby Lions have jumped into the top half of the rankings in recent weeks, and are riding a ten match unbeaten streak dating back to June 23rd.

For every club that has had a good string of matches, there’s a side who find themselves in a rut where nothing seems to go their way. FC Cincinnati are that club right now. Despite their stellar Open Cup run—a campaign that took them all the way to the semifinal and past an MLS side and NASL’s Spring Champions along the way—their league form has left a lot to be desired. FC Cincinnati are now winless in their last four matches, and their past two fixtures have only added salt to their wounds, as the Ohio side have been outscored 9-0 during that time. Cincinnati will craft a quick turnaround of recent bad results if they want to make the postseason in the second year of their club’s history.

What are your thoughts on this week’s power rankings? Between Louisville, Charlotte and Charleston, who do you think will finish the season at the top? What clubs are you watching as we come down the homestretch of the season? Let us know in the comments below!