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Top teams in the West have continued to hit a speedbump late in the season as Real Monarchs and Reno both dropped a game, and the only points earned were from Swope Park who beat the final member of the top four in San Antonio. These swings did see movement in the top four however, as Swope Park has passed Reno which could prove important if upsets occur, as Swope Park is habitually a difficult opponent to play on the road.
1 (Last Week – 1) Real Monarchs SLC (66.0)
Current Points: 56
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 0 – Current points projected in top 8
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 2 of 5
Elo Points: 1156 (1st)
Control Own Fate: Yes
2 (2) San Antonio FC (63.3)
Current Points: 52
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 0 – Current points projected in top 8
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 2 of 5
Elo Points: 1150 (3rd)
Control Own Fate: Yes
3 (4) Swope Park Rangers (58.8)
Current Points: 48
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 0 – Current points projected in top 8
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 1 of 5
Elo Points: 1140 (4th)
Control Own Fate: Yes
4 (3) Reno 1868 FC (58.3)
Current Points: 49
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 0 – Current points projected in top 8
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 3 of 5
Elo Points: 1155 (2nd)
Control Own Fate: Yes
5 (5) Phoenix Rising (55.6)
Current Points: 40
Max Points Remaining: 21
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 4
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 2 of 7
Elo Points: 1121 (5th)
Control Own Fate: Yes
6 (7) Sacramento Republic (50.3)
Current Points: 42
Max Points Remaining: 18
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 2
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 4 of 6
Elo Points: 1119 (6th)
Control Own Fate: Yes
7 (6) Tulsa Roughnecks (47.8)
Current Points: 40
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 4
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 2 of 5
Elo Points: 1118 (5th)
Control Own Fate: Yes
8 (9) Oklahoma City Energy (44.0)
Current Points: 37
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 7
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 3 of 5
Elo Points: 1105 (8th)
Control Own Fate: Yes
9 (8) Orange County SC (42.6)
Current Points: 36
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 8
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 3 of 5
Elo Points: 1094 (9th)
Control Own Fate: No
10 (10) Colorado Springs Switchbacks (39.5)
Current Points: 35
Max Points Remaining: 12
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 9
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 3 of 4
Elo Points: 1083 (10th)
Control Own Fate: No
11 (11) Seattle Sounders 2 (34.8)
Current Points: 31
Max Points Remaining: 12
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 13
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 4 of 4
Elo Points: 1064 (12th)
Control Own Fate: No
12 (13) Rio Grande Valley Toros (34.4)
Current Points: 31
Max Points Remaining: 12
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 13
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 4 of 4
Elo Points: 1077 (11th)
Control Own Fate: No
13 (12) Los Angeles Galaxy II (32.2)
Current Points: 26
Max Points Remaining: 15
Points to Hit Projected 8th: 18
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 4 of 5
Elo Points: 1064 (13th)
Control Own Fate: No
14 (14) Vancouver Whitecaps 2 (27.6)
Current Points: 23
Max Points Remaining: 12
Points to Hit Projected 8th: Eliminated from Playoffs
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 2 of 4
Elo Points: 1049 (14th)
Control Own Fate: N/A
15 (15) Portland Timbers 2 (15.1)
Current Points: 12
Max Points Remaining: 18
Points to Hit Projected 8th: Eliminated from Playoffs
Remaining Games vs Projected top 8: 3 of 7
Elo Points: 1024 (15th)
Control Own Fate: N/A
Oklahoma City has jumped back into the 8th seed and still has a leg up on Orange County. Colorado Springs suffered a disappointing draw against Seattle which has left them on the brink of needing to win out to even have a chance to make the playoffs. This “win out and hope for help” is all that teams outside of the current top ten can hope for, as even taking home all remaining points will leave them in a precarious position, and their final games will mostly be played for honor and for the opportunity to ruin the shot at other teams making the postseason.
Hardest average opponent finish to season (West teams only):
Rio Grande Valley (1.792 points gained/game)
Sacramento Republic (1.557 points gained/game)
Colorado Springs Switchbacks (1.552 points gained/game)
Easiest average opponent finish to season (West teams only):
Phoenix Rising (1.008 points gained/game)
San Antonio FC (1.147 points gained/game)
Swope Park Rangers (1.160 points gained/game)
With the easiest schedule in the league to end the season, will Phoenix be able to take advantage and grab a top four seed? Will having a difficult season trip up Sacramento down the road? Will any team who needs to go on a hot streak to make the playoffs pull it off? Let us know your predictions in the comments!