power rankings: UPSL mid-south, week 2

Right, so one team has really proven themselves to be the best in the league so far.

A couple of other teams proved they’re not too shabby themselves, and after our first full week of action in the Mid-South, the expectations for each team in the league are quickly taking shape.

With that as our preface, let’s hop into the rankings for week two!

the rankings

1. Music City SC – It could only be one team who leads our power rankings this week. Music City beat both their in-city rivals in the past week, getting past AFC 615 in a rescheduled match last Wednesday before taking down newcomers Saints FC on Saturday. They scored three goals apiece in those two, and that’s as good a start as any on the attacking side of things. They’ve now beaten the defending champions and have a good-looking path to Mid-South supremacy.
2. Bowling Green FC – Last week, it was the Fahrudin Dervisevic show that carried the Golden Lions to a victory. He grabbed a hat trick and helped his team put four past 615 Heroes in week 1. This week, they ground out a 1-0 win that relied heavily on their defense, which proves they can win in more ways than one. They’ve still yet to face the best opposition on offer in the Mid-South, but BGFC have to feel good about their two wins so far.
3. AFC 615 – They’re finally off the mark, though their 2-1 win over their very own reserve team wasn’t overly promising. AFC will feel like they’ve underperformed two straight times to start their title defense, and they’ll be looking to make good on those early disappointments as they face potential top-two challengers like Bowling Green and Pumas later on in the season. For now, they take three points from two less-than-ideal matches, and that’s not a bad thing at all.
4. Pumas Premier – Is 8-3 an emphatic enough opening win? That’s what Pumas produced away from home this weekend. Before you get too excited, though, they did that against USC Revolution. For context, 8 goals is actually under the average that USC conceded per game last fall, and they scored less than a goal per match. So as crazy as it sounds, 8-3 is actually a below-average performance from Pumas’ perspective. That shouldn’t damper their excitement, but it should definitely give us context for this Pumas team and how they’ll really stack up with the rest of the league. They’re not world-beaters quite yet.
5. Saints FC – It’s hard to rank fifth through seventh this week, as we’ve still got a lot to learn about how these teams can shape up against each other. Saints started UPSL life with a 3-1 loss to Music City, but that’s also the result AFC was headed for until they got a consolation goal in stoppage time. Saints could really be competitive, but that’s just one game. We’ll see what they produce against more beatable opponents than the league leaders.
6. Heroes 615 – There haven’t been any glaring underperformances from Heroes yet, but they did lose both their first two matches this season. They’ll feel they’re much better suited to pick up points against clubs like We United, Saints, and USC.
7. We United – It’s hard to know whether failing to score against Bowling Green is an indictment on their scoring ability or just a good performance from the Lions’ back line. Either way, We United would have liked to earn a result there at their home ground. They’ll need to pick up those kinds of results if they want to be competitive in the division this year and turn the tides from last fall.
8. USC Revolution – Yep, USC is still woefully bad. They lost 8-3 to open their season at home, and I’d be shocked to see them do much better on any single occasion for the rest of the season. Unless something changes fast, they’re going to be outclassed once again this spring.

actual table

1. Music City SC – 6 pts, +3 GD. Form: —WW
2. Bowling Green FC – 6 pts, + 3 GD. Form: —WW
3. Pumas Premier – 3 pts, +5 GD. Form: —-W
4. AFC 615 – 3 pts, 0 GD. Form: —LW
5. We United – 0 pts, -1 GD. Form: —-L
6. Saints FC – 0 pts, -2 GD. Form: —-L
7. 615 Heroes – 0 pts, -3 GD. Form: —LL
8. USC Revolution – 0 pts, -5 GD. Form: —-L

next week’s matches

3) Pumas v 2) Bowling Green

1 ) Music City v 8) USC

5) Saints v 6) Heroes

4) AFC 615 v 7) We United

That Pumas/Lions battle should be a big one. Pumas will get a much more serious test, and so will Bowling Green, as a matter of fact. Both teams will have title ambitions and should view this one as a must-win to keep pace with Music City.

That’s all for this week; stay weird and support local soccer!

Blessings,

Danny