From the very beginning of SB Nation Soccer's MLS power rankings, dating all the way back to preseason, there has been on constant: Real Salt Lake has appeared in the top tier of every ballot. That streak finally came to an end this week when one of our voters decided that losing Javier Morales to a potentially season-ending injury makes RSL a second-tier team. Of course, that does not mean they fell very far. One of our voters also left the New York Red Bulls out of his top tier, meaning we have a tie at the top.
MLS Power Rankings, Week 8: Say Goodbye To Unanimity
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Perhaps equally interesting, a week that featured five ties failed to bring a unanimous ranking for any team, as even our bottom tier teams received a smattering of support to be placed in the third tier. The only two teams to actually move tiers this week were the San Jose Earthquakes and Sporting Kansas City, curiously enough on a week in which neither played.
I’ve decided to give the editors the week off and will instead be handling the tier-by-tier commentary on my own.
| Playing For The Shield | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Real Salt Lake |  98% (65 out of 66 points) |
 | New York Red Bulls | 98% (65 out of 66 points) |
 | Los Angeles Galaxy | 92% (61 out of 66 points) |
After a bit of an up and down start, the Red Bulls are a team clearly on the rise. They didn't beat the Los Angeles Galaxy at Home Depot Center this weekend, but their tie was pretty impressive. All that talent they stockpiled is clearly starting to gel and Thierry Henry even finds himself atop the points standings (four goals, three assists).
| Enjoy The Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Philadelphia Union | 71% (47 out of 66 points) |
 | Colorado Rapids | 69% (46 out of 66 points) |
 | Seattle Sounders | 65% (43 out of 66 points) |
 | FC Dallas | 56% (37 out of 66 points) |
 | Houston Dynamo | 51% (34 out of 66 points) |
The Philadelphia Union have been threatening the top tier for several weeks now, but their loss at the Jeld-Wen Field eroded most of their top-tier support as just three voters still have them there. The Colorado Rapids actually have one more top-tier vote, but two voters have them in tier 3. The Houston Dynamo are hanging onto Tier 2 by a thread despite two ugly losses this week.
| Still Something To Prove | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Portland Timbers | 48% (32 out of 66 points) |
 | Columbus Crew | 46% (31 out of 66 points) |
 | New England Revolution | 28% (19 out of 66 points) |
 | DC United | 28% (19 out of 66 points) |
 | Chicago Fire | 19% (13 out of 66 points) |
 | Chivas USA | 16% (11 out of 66 points) |
Our voters remain somewhat unimpressed by the Portland Timbers and the Columbus Crew, both of whom have started cracking the top 5 in various national polls. To be fair, both teams have some rather obvious warts that make jumping on their bandwagons understandably tough. The Timbers, while apparently unbeatable at home, have just one point in four road matches. The Crew have scored just four goals in the run of play. Both totals are the worst in MLS and things that will surely have to be rectified if they are to make the playoffs.
| At Least There's No Relegation | ||
|---|---|---|
 | San Jose Earthquakes | 15% (10 out of 66 points) |
 | Sporting Kansas City | 10% (7 out of 66 points) |
 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 10% (7 out of 66 points) |
 | Toronto FC | 9% (6 out of 66 points) |
It's been quite a fall for the Vancouver Whitecaps, who spend their second straight week in the bottom tier after looking like they might be a playoff team out of the gate. They didn't lose this week, but their scoreless tie at the Chicago Fire was not exactly confidence inducing. Eric Hassli, who looked like a monster a few weeks ago, looked rather helpless on his breakaway chance that could gave given the Whitecaps their first MLS win since Week 1.
How It Works: Each of the 22 participants puts Major League Soccer’s clubs into one of the four tiers. Teams in the top tier get three points. Next tier, two points, then one, then zero. Voters can put as many teams into each tier as they see fit. Though the vote total orders the teams, the clubs are intended to be grouped, not sorted. Although some of the names may indicate otherwise, the point of this is to assess current form and our voters are instructed to place teams in tiers based how those teams will fair in coming weeks.
Who participated: Jeremiah Oshan (SB Nation, soccer); Kevin McCauley (SB Nation, soccer); Aaron Campeau (SB Nation, soccer); Ryan Rosenblatt (SB Nation, soccer); Drew Epperley (SB Nation, soccer); Phillip Quinn (SB Nation, soccer); Steve Davis (Daily Soccer Fix); Martin Shatzer (Black and Red United); Scott Kessler (Brotherly Game); Chris “UZ” White (Burgundy Wave); Zach Woosley (Dynamo Theory); Denzel Eslinger (RSL Soapbox); Robert Jonas (Quake, Rattle and Goal); Daniel Robertson (Big D Soccer); Dave Clark (Sounder at Heart); Andy Edwards (The Daily Wiz); Geoff Gibson (Stumptown Footy), Duncan Fletcher (Waking the Red), Steve Stoehr (The Bent Musket); Tweed Thornton (Hot Time in Old Town), Ben Schneider (Once a Metro); Jeff King (The Goat Parade).
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