Introduction
No one reports the Major League Soccer Standings properly. No one. The standings are always listed by each team's total points, but doesn't take into account the fact that some teams have played more games than others. The NBA, MLB, and NFL standings always take this fact into account. In those sports, the handy "Games Back" device is used to identify how many games a team trails the first-place team. In MLS (and in other soccer, and hockey leagues, by the way), for some reason this isn't included in the standings. In MLS the standings are simply listed by point totals. Wins are worth three points, draws are worth one, and losses are worth zero.
The Real MLS standings need to be based on Points-Per-Game. The point totals are not nearly as relevant as points per game. For example, if a team leads its competitor by one point, but has played two more games, which team is really in better position to make the playoffs? Obviously, clearly, indisputably, the second team is in better position. This is not reflected in the traditional reporting of the standings, but is reflected in the "Real MLS Standings" above. Also, I've included a "Projected Points / Season" column to show how many points each team is on pace to collect for the season.
Additionally, since there are four wild card teams for the playoffs, in addition to the top three teams in each conference, for all intents and purposes, the top 10 teams in the league go to the playoffs. (The only way that this wouldn't happen would be if the 8th-best team in one conference had a better record than the 3rd-best team in the other conference). So, I have inserted a break after the 10th place team to separate teams in line for the playoffs from those not in line for the playoffs. Naturally, the season doesn't end today, so naturally, the standings and therefore the "teams in line for the playoffs" are subject to change.
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