Blue Blooded Journo and Ray Ray of DieHard101.com dropped off, but we added Screening the Ball so we're only down one this week. 11 overall and even with a week of ties, we have some odd results. Many of the rankings did not take into account Houston's 2-0 away win over D.C. United in the RFK maelstrom.

If anyone knows of any other power rankings to take into account, please let me in on the secret. If you want to add yours, put'em in the comments section. Here's the 11 pundits of Week 17:

Goal.com (Kyle McCarthy) *
Soccer by Ives (Ives Galarcep) *
Fox Soccer (Keith Costigan) *
Fullback Files *
ESPN.com *
Sideline Views (Andrea Canales & Luis Bueno) *
AYL Soccer (Jacob Hart) *
WVHooligan (Drew Epperley) *
CBC.ca (John Molinaro) *
Screening the Ball *


1. New England Revolution, 1.00 (-)
(#1 X 11, high - #1, low - #1, last week - #1, 1.00)

2. D.C. United, 2.91 (-)
(#2 X 5, high - #2, low - #6, last week - #2, 2.58)

3. Columbus Crew, 3.18 (-)
(#3 X 4, #2 X 4, high - #2, low - #6, last week - #3, 3.08)

4. Chicago Fire, 3.91 (-)
(#4 X 4, #3 X 3 high - #2, low - #6, last week - #4, 3.75)

5. Real Salt Lake, 4.82 (-)
(#5 X 6, high - #2, low - #7, last week - #5, 5.33)

6. CD Chivas USA, 7.00 (+1)
(#7 X 4, high - #4, low - #10, last week - #7, 7.17)

7. Houston Dynamo, 7.82 (+2)
(#9 X 4, high - #4, low - #11, last week - #9, 7.58)

8. Toronto FC, 7.91 (-2)
(#5 X 3, #7 X 3, #9 X 3, high - #5, low - #9, last week - #6, 6.92)

9. Los Angeles Galaxy, 8.18 (-1)
(#8 X 3, #7 X 3, #9 X 3, high - #5, low - #13, last week - #8, 7.50)

10. Kansas City Wizards, 9.27 (-)
(#10 X 3, #11 X 3, high - #5, low - #11, last week - #10, 9.92)

11. Colorado Rapids 11.18 (-)
(#12 X 3, high - #9, low - #13, last week - #11, 11.17)

12. Red Bull New York, 11.45 (-)
(#12 x 4, #13 X 3, high - #9, low - #13, last week - #12, 12.25)

13. FC Dallas, 12.36 (-)
(#13 X 6, high - #11, low - #13, last week - #13, 12.33)

14. San Jose Earthquakes, 14.00 (-)
(#14 X 12, high - #14, low - #14, last week - #14, 14.00)

Observations:

- Not surprising that a bunch of ties leads to relative stability. The middle of the pack shuffled around a little, however. The Galaxy were penalized for tying a Red Bull squad at Giants Stadium, losing a spot and .68 poll points. The Red Bulls didn't get to move up at all, but the pundits rewarded them for a rosy-looking Jorge Rojas signing that yielded them a .80 poll point boost. It was clear to see that although rusty, Rojas got himself open enough for two sitters, distributed well - two assists, and provided a Stammler-like work ethic on the field. Galaxy and Red Bull fans alike will be itching to see how Juan Pietravallo and Eduardo Dominguez fare the next time out.

- The Revs keep the unanimous number one spot and "extend" their lead for the third consecutive week. Number two D.C. United, now sits a pretty 1.91 away from their Eastern Conference rivals and once D.C.'s ugly loss to Houston midweek hits the rankings we could see a bigger gap. Michael Parkhurst heading to the Olympics will definitely test this Revolution squad in the next couple weeks, so I'll be interested to see if they're up for the challenge.

- Our biggest mover of the week was the Houston Dynamo. This could be the start of a move that shoots them straight to the top of the Western Conference (not too difficult). Two wins over D.C. United did wonders for a squad in need of definitive wins (8 ties). The league win, on Wednesday, didn't affect the rankings but it seems many took the Superliga into account as well as the return of Nate Jaqua.

- Seems like I'm always referencing Keith Costigan of Fox Soccer, but anytime a guy picks Real Salt Lake to be the second best team in the league, there has to be questions about his sanity. Either way, RSL continue to shoot up the power rankings. A month ago, they were firmly entrenched at #13 with San Jose nipping at their heels to escape the cellar. Now...well now apparently they're the 2nd best team according to Costigan. Level heads prevail, however, as RSL still sits at #5, but with a little more breathing room between them and #6 Chivas USA. Even if you take Costigan's ranking out of the equation, RSL sits at 5.10 - an upgrade from last week and still over 2 poll points ahead of Chivas USA. Interesting.

- Toronto FC continues its slide backwards, this week to #8. It's hard to believe that has been in and around the top tier on the power rankings (#3,4,5,6) since Week 5. Will compensation for the Brian McBride's rights to Chicago trade yield them a quality striker or will a 16-year old (is he 17 yet?) have to continue driving the Reds offense forward. Rumor is...Chad Barrett to TFC. How do you feel about that TFC fans?

- Below are the "A Little Over Mid-Season Average Power Rankings" - I took every "poll point average" for each week and averaged them. With all fluctuations of form taken into account (i.e. D.C. United and Houston's crappy early season), it's clear to see who the two (or even three) most consistent teams in the league are. One word comes to mind - PARITY. Add your observations.

1. New England Revolution (2.58)
2. Chicago Fire (3.45)
3. Columbus Crew (3.98)
4. Toronto FC (6.62)
5. Chivas USA (7.56)
6. Los Angeles Galaxy (7.74)
7. D.C. United (7.76)
8. Kansas City Wizards (7.98)
9. Colorado Rapids (8.24)
10. Houston Dynamo (8.26)
11. Red Bull New York (8.43)
12. FC Dallas (8.90)
13. Real Salt Lake (10.00)
14. San Jose Earthquakes (13.54)

Have at it!