Congrats to SKC

Congratulations to Sporting Kansas City for winning MLS Cup 2013 in a 10 round penalty shootout versus Real Salt Lake

Here is my final predictions update for the 2013 MLS Season

Playoff Predictions

Knockout Round

Colorado Rapids @ Seattle Sounders	SEA Win	Correct SEA Win 2-0
Montreal Impact @ Houston Dynamo	HOU Win	Correct HOU Win 3-0

Conference Semifinals (Home & Away)

Houston Dynamo vs New York Red Bulls	NY Win	Wrong HOU Win 4-3 on aggregate
New England Revolution vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 4-3 on aggregate
Seattle Sounders vs Portland Timbers	POR Win	Correct POR Win 5-3 on aggregate
LA Galaxy vs Real Salt Lake	LA Win	Wrong RSL Win 2-1 on aggregate

Conference Finals (Home & Away)

New York Red Bulls vs Sporting Kansas City	SKC Win	Correct SKC Win 2-1 on aggregate but played vs HOU
Portland Timbers vs LA Galaxy	POR Win	Wrong RSL Win 5-2 on aggregate

MLS Cup Final

Portland Timbers @ Sporting Kansas City

POR Win

Wrong SKC Win vs. RSL 1(7)-1(6) in penalties

 I went 5 for 9 or 55.55% in my pre-playoffs predictions for the 2013 MLS Playoffs.

MLS Standings Update- July 16th

Here are the standings so far in the MLS this season:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B3qPRqJFXHoRLVFtM3BoWUZnMGs/edit

As you can see there are a few things added to the standings.

I’ve set up this excel sheet to show the maximum amount of points possible for a team to get over the rest of the season to give a better representation of what the playoff picture looks like.

The first addition I made was the ranking of teams based on their maximum points possible.  This is done by multiplying the teams remaining games by 3(the maximum points per game) and then adding this to their current point total.

With this, I could then figure out how many points until each team clinches a playoff spot or is eliminated from playoff contention.

To find points til clinched for teams in the top 5 of each conference you take the team with the highest max points below the red line subtract the amount of points the team above the red line has and then add one.

For example, right now in the Western Conference the team with the highest max points below the red line is Seattle with 75.  To find how many points Real Salt Lake is away from clinching a playoff spot the math is 75 (Seattle’s max points)- 37(Real Salt Lake’s earned points) + 1= 39 ( RSL’s points til clinched)

To find points til eliminated for teams under the red line you take the team’s maximum points subtract the earned points of the team in 5^th place and then add one.

For example Chivas USA’s maximum points is 59.  To find how many points Chivas is away from being eliminated the math is 59(Chivas max points) – 30 (5^th place teams earned points currently LA Galaxy) + 1 = 30

With these two additions I find it easier to see the full playoff picture.  Check back next Tuesday to see the effect this week’s games have.