With the new SBN MLS Power Rankings out you can clearly see that Seattle is on a bit of a run lately. Now a unanimous top tier team the Seattle Sounders are thought of by voters as being a favorite to win a trophy this year. There's only that little issue of the Los Angeles Galaxy, FC Dallas and Saturday's opponent the Columbus Crew sitting in the way. As every voter has the Sounders as Tier One, let's look at where the writers here differ.
First, half of us that vote in the power rankings have the Crew in Tier One and the other two have them in Tier Two. Which essentially mirrors the entirety of the voting base. The Houston Dynamo are another team split between tiers hovering in Tier Two and Three with an even split. One of the four of us don't have the Portland Timbers as a team in Tier Three, keeping them down in Tier Four. While technically not eliminated from the Playoffs, bouncing back and forth between outside shot and none at all probably sums up their season.
My own rankings now are;
Tier One: Galaxy, Sounders, FC Dallas, Crew
Tier Two: Rapids, RSL, KC, Union
Tier Three: Dyanmo, United, Red Bull, Chivas USA, Timbers
Tier Four: Quakes, TFC, Fire, Revolution, Whitecaps
The West isn't alone at the top and it isn't Philadelphia Union or New York Red Bulls that have joined the big guns.