As we currently sit, SB Nation's MLS Power Rankings make it look like a pretty wide open race for league supremacy. Sure, the Los Angeles Galaxy are the only unanimous team in Tier 1, but the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake are still polling at at least 95 percent.
MLS Power Rankings, Week 26: It’s Going To Start Getting Lonely On Top
Sooner than later, the LA Galaxy appear destined to be sitting atop SB Nation’s MLS Power Rankings all by themselves.
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Don’t let that fool you, though. The Galaxy are currently leading the Supporters’ Shield race by seven points and if they win this week, they’ll be seven points up with just four matches left to play. You don’t need to be a math major to know it’s going to be next to impossible to catch them at that point.
If the Galaxy do win, expect support for the other teams to start falling off considerably. While this ranking system is not literally tied to the standings, the title of our tiers does kind of imply they are and many of our voters take it that way. From here on out, the most interesting rankings will probably be farther down.
| Playing For The Shield | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Los Angeles Galaxy |  100% (63 out of 63 points) |
 | Seattle Sounders | 96% (61 out of 63 points) |
 | Real Salt Lake | 95% (60 out of 63 points) |
 | FC Dallas | 84% (53 out of 63 points) |
FC Dallas is one vote away from falling out of Tier 1, and it's hard to argue they belong there anymore. Their lack of depth has slowly started to come back to bite them, as CONCACAF Champions League play seems to have taken a significant toll on their regular-season performance. Losing at home to the New York Red Bulls was just the latest sign of distress.
| Enjoy The Playoffs | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Sporting Kansas City | 71% (45 out of 63 points) |
 | Colorado Rapids | 63% (40 out of 63 points) |
 | Columbus Crew | 63% (40 out of 63 points) |
 | Philadelphia Union | 63% (40 out of 63 points) |
Well, isn’t this a motley crew of teams no one really likes? OK, that’s probably a little unfair. Sporting Kansas City has rightly earned plaudits for salvaging their season after a disastrous start, but the rest of the these teams don’t have any excuses for their relative performances. Just consider that every team in Tier 2 would have missed the 2010 playoffs with their current PPM’s.
| Still Something To Prove | ||
|---|---|---|
 | DC United | 46% (29 out of 63 points) |
 | Houston Dynamo | 39% (25 out of 63 points) |
 | New York Red Bulls | 39% (25 out of 63 points) |
 | Portland Timbers | 33% (21 out of 63 points) |
Amazingly, all four of these teams are very much in the running to make the playoffs. On any given day over the past few weeks, everyone of these teams has been in playoff position, but none of them seem capable of carving out a solid position there. Even crazier? Three of these teams are still in the running to grab the East’s No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
| At Least There's No Relegation | ||
|---|---|---|
 | Chivas USA | 6% (4 out of 63 points) |
 | Chicago Fire | 6% (4 out of 63 points) |
 | San Jose Earthquakes | 3% (2 out of 63 points) |
 | Toronto FC | 3% (2 out of 63 points) |
 | New England Revolution | 0% (0 out of 63 points) |
 | Vancouver Whitecaps | 0% (0 out of 63 points) |
For my money, Toronto FC doesn’t really belong here anymore based on their current form. They aren’t great, but they’ve been putting together decent results lately and are at least capable of putting a scare into better teams.
How It Works: Each of the 21 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); Aaron Campeau (SB Nation, soccer); Ryan Rosenblatt (SB Nation, soccer); Drew Epperley (SB Nation, soccer); Jason Anderson (SB Nation, soccer); Steve Davis (Daily Soccer Fix); Martin Shatzer (Black and Red United); Scott Kessler (Brotherly Game); Zach Woosley (Dynamo Theory); Denzel Eslinger (RSL Soapbox); Robert Jonas (Quake, Rattle and Goal); Daniel Robertson (Big D Soccer); Dave Clark (Sounder at Heart); Duncan Fletcher (Waking the Red), Steve Stoehr (The Bent Musket); Tweed Thornton (Hot Time in Old Town), Ben Schneider (Once a Metro); Josie Bekcer (LAG Confidential); Alicia Ratterree (The Goat Parade); Brenton Walters (The Vancouver Whitecaps Offside).
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