I think that Dallas has the best chance of winning the CCL. They have the weakest group and should take first. That means they will face a weaker team in the knockout round. The team with the next best chance is Seattle. They always seem to come up big in big games. Plus both Dallas and Seattle have beaten Mexican oppostion in Mexico
As a Houston Dynamo fan, it's any team but Dallas. Just like Tigres fans will not cheer for Rayados for winning the CCL and Cruz Azul fans will not root for Pumas. Last year, the Colorado Rapids fans do not want Real Salt Lake to win the Champions League and now this year, Real Salt Lake fans don't want Colorado to win the ConcaChamps title.
I actually did think about it, and had to go with the homer vote. Dallas. But I came up with a rationalization to go with my vote The problem with this poll is that between now and the final is the MLS off-season. And despite the purse strings getting a little looser, the salary cap is still an issue, and a lot can happen to teams in the winter. The poll, if we're to take it seriously (what, a BS poll? What am I thinking???) asks us to take into consideration what will happen to the MLS teams in the off-season, and how they'll handle jumping into knockout games pretty much cold. I went with Dallas based on the way they've handled this season after going to the MLS Cup last season (plus losing their playmaker early this season). That may not be the best choice, as my impression (not backed up by any analysis) is that MLS teams typically have good runs of a couple years before being dismantled. I'm not sure that's still the case, though, with the changes that have been done over the past few years. Based on the way Seattle's been building, they're a strong second choice for me. I also just did a quick review of how the teams started off this season. Yeah, almost no data points, so it's pretty much meaningless, especially with the coaching change in Toronto. If you give that any weight, Colorado won their first two games. LA was the next best with a win and a draw. Really, the knockout rounds, because of where MLS is in their season, are a weighted-against crapshoot. Can't wait for it. Hopefully all the MLS teams will still be there.