Predictions and Power Rankings for Round 16

The following predictions are based on the ELO ranking system. This system was first used in Chess to calculate the skill level of players and predict the most likely winner. Since soccer can end in a draw, I’m using a modified version of this formula that tries to predict the chance that a team will come away from a match with points (either as a win or a draw).

The system starts each new team at a score of 1500 and then adjusts their rating as the season goes on. My current team scores include data from 1996-2014 (with some adjustment to account for the changing MLS win/draw rules). These scores are how I rank teams for my Power Rankings table.

For Round 15 of the 5 games there were 4 wins, 1 drawS, and 0 losses. Since a draw counts as half of a win, this ELO system predicted which team would get a point for 100% of the games.

Here are the MLS Fantasy Boss predictions and power rankings for round 16.