NCAA Soccer 2011-2003

In attempt to find the accoladest NCAA D1 men's soccer program I went back through some Wikipedia pages and blah blah blah came up with these numbers:



TP - Total Points (RP + SP)
RP - Round Points (1 point for every round the school advanced in the end of the year tourny)
SP - Seed Points ('x' points for their respective seed. [seed]/16*7 = SP; 16 seeds in all; If no seed then zero points)
DIFF - Difference in RP/SP; this should be pretty close

Out to the right is every school's performance from 2011-2003. The first column under the year indicates how many rounds they reached (7 - Champion; 6 - Runner-up...) and the second column is the pre-tournament rank. Since 2003 NCAA has seeded the top 16 teams with byes while the other 32 chump teams have to play the first round.

The most a school could get in a year would be 14 points. 7 for the championship and 7 for being seeded #1 going into the tournament, which UNC did this last year.

Again, this latest format has been instituted since 2003, which is convenient because that's about when I got tired of entering in the information. They've apparently bounced around with first round byes for a while but they have settled on this for some time.

Notes

• More impressive than Maryland blowing the competition out of the water is that the 1-20 is larger than I would have thought. Sure, Maryland is up 15 points on second place, and for good reason, but there are only 15 other schools that have accomplished a third of what Maryland has. It's like women's basketball for goodness sakes.
  

• The seed points and round points are pretty close. In fact the champion has been seeded at least third for seven out of the last nine years. UC Santa Barb has the biggest difference with a +20, meaning they really exceeded the seeders' (whoever is seeding these teams) expectations.
• I started to sort by conference then got really bored by that.
• Once 1960s-powerhouse St. Louis is at a respectable 28th.
• 34th Dartmouth has made the tournament the past five years from the Ivy League.
• Maryland, Indiana, UCLA, Virginia, Connecticut, and Duke have all made the tournament since 2003.
• Akron was pretty decent before Caleb Porter arrived. An Elite Eight finish the year before and a Sweet Sixteen appearance two years before that. Not saying he's overrated by any stretch, just an interesting thought.

"Funny thing, the Old Bridge used to be called the 'New Bridge.' Yeah, bit a funny thing..."

MLS vs. the World

One of the biggest headline-worthy articles for an American soccer player is where he is playing overseas. Even if it's as small as something as a trial or someone overheard a club might be interested, it'll get written about form every angle. The problem is there isn't a really good grasp on what countries have quality leagues or not. In an attempt to solve this problem, I took the top 1000 clubs from the World Football Club Ratings. I sorted them by country and tallied up the results.

Pos.Country.TtlPoints / # of teams in the top 1000.(Numbers from April 13th)

1. Spain - 40871 / 26
2. France - 40854 / 27
3. Brazil - 40826 / 27
4. England - 40797 / 26
5. Argentina - 40440 / 27
6. Italy - 37328 / 24
7. Germany - 33119 / 21
8. Chile - 29691 / 21
9. Portugal - 29079 / 20
10. Colombia - 28080 / 20
11. Russia - 27492 / 19
12. Mexico - 27401 / 19
13. Netherlands - 26813 / 18
14. Turkey - 25958 / 18
15. Peru - 23822 / 17
16. Czech Republic - 23057 / 16
17. Belgium - 22916 / 16
18. Uruguay - 22776 / 16
19. Greece - 22736 / 16
20. Japan - 22620 / 16
21. Paraguay - 22475 / 16
22. Nigeria - 22021 / 16
23. Ukraine - 21704 / 15
24. Ecuador - 19713 / 14
25. Norway - 19520 / 14
26. Algeria - 19306 / 14
27. Romania - 18468 / 13
28. Iran - 18329 / 13
29. Poland - 18137 / 13
30. Morocco - 17822 / 13
31. Korea Republic - 17279 / 12
32. Bulgaria - 17223 / 12
33. Sweden - 16954 / 12
34. United States - 16578 / 12
35. Cameroon - 16569 / 12
36. Cyprus - 15711 / 11
37. Zimbabwe - 15545 / 11
38. South Africa - 15493 / 11
39. Israel - 15461 / 11
40. Denmark - 15069 / 11
41. Saudi Arabia - 14373 / 10
42. Serbia - 14253 / 10
43. Egypt - 14188 / 10
44. Hungary - 13976 / 10
45. Belarus - 13928 / 10
46. China PR - 13791 / 10
47. Ghana - 13606 / 10
48. Wales - 13055 / 9
49. Switzerland - 12871 / 9
50. Scotland - 12850 / 9
51. Ireland Republic - 12813 / 9
52. Thailand - 12753 / 9
53. Croatia - 12661 / 9
54. Finland - 12540 / 9
55. Bolivia - 12424 / 9
56. Moldova - 11718 / 8
57. Congo DR - 11418 / 8
58. Slovenia - 11355 / 8
59. Tunisia - 11288 / 8
60. Austria - 11262 / 8
61. Angola - 11242 / 8
62. Costa Rica - 11193 / 8
63. Ivory Coast - 11147 / 8
64. Trinidad and Tobago - 11129 / 8
65. Venezuela - 11050 / 8
66. Kazakhstan - 10366 / 7
67. Azerbaijan - 10094 / 7
68. India - 9965 / 7
69. Slovakia - 9828 / 7
70. Guatemala - 9684 / 7
71. Qatar - 8804 / 6
72. Indonesia - 8360 / 6
73. Honduras - 8269 / 6
74. Estonia - 7828 / 5
75. Puerto Rico - 7232 / 5
76. Mali - 7185 / 5
77. United Arab Emirates - 7050 / 5
78. El Salvador - 6943 / 5
79. Panama - 6932 / 5
80. Australia - 6885 / 5
81. Bosnia-Herzegovina - 6771 / 5
82. Montenegro - 5522 / 4
83. Uzbekistan - 4538 / 3
84. Sudan - 4468 / 3
85. New Zealand - 4360 / 3
86. Papua New Guinea - 4116 / 3
87. Libya - 1367 / 1
88. Fiji - 1348 / 1
89. Canada - 1319 / 1 - (Toronto FC)

I think the top five are fairly interchangeable as far as the "Best League in the World" title goes. You may have noticed that multiple countries have more teams represented than their first league holds. This is taking into account some of their second league teams. (The highest American team is Los Angeles Galaxy, who sit at 208th, in case you were wondering.) I would say the top 26 countries or so have better domestic club football than the States do. After that it's too close to say who is better than who as one/two middle class teams isn't enough to show dominance.

This next list is the number of American players in the given country. These numbers take into account the lower leagues, which are not represented in the previous list.

102 Germany
91 Mexico
41 England
10 Denmark**
10 Australia**
9 Norway
8 Sweden
7 Netherlands
7 Belgium
7 Scotland**
5 Portugal
4 France
4 Israel**
3 Argentina
3 Italy
3 Greece
3 Poland
3 Switzerland**
1 Spain
1 Chile
1 Czech Republic
1 Bulgaria
1 Zimbabwe
1 Egypt
1 Wales
1 Ireland Republic
1 Tajikstan
1 Croatia
1 Bolivia
1 Venezuela
1 India
1 Guatemala
1 Bosnia-Herzegovina

** - Country with a weaker league than the US

The biggest eyesore is the absence of American players in the top five leagues. While there are 41 in England (although a rough estimate of 90% of those players are not in the 26 English teams listed above), there are only eight players in the other four leagues. Although Germany and Mexico hold prestigious leagues in their own right, if we're looking for our players to find tougher competition than the MLS, the answer isn't multiple leagues. As far as English leagues go, the MLS would sit mid-to-bottom-table in the Npower Football League Champion. West Ham would be a step up while Doncaster would be on par with an average MLS team.

USMNT Hopefuls - April 2012

(Falling a bit behind on the MLS Goalie stuff but that was to be expected I guess...)

Good news! I entered 2012. These are the spreadsheets I'll be using to post players' progress and predictions.

The Latest

• Gyau, along with Corona and Adu, were the most highly praised following the Olympic qualifying (que loud exhale). Personally, I thought our defensive woes were more worrisome than lack of offensive firepower. Either way, Gyau's speed and ability to get in and out of tight positions was encouraging. I'd like to see his field vision continue to rise but for right now I'm very pleased.
• More up and downs for Woods. He starts making appearances (a cool three caps) after getting cleared to play but suffers yet another injury that requires knee surgery. I've been a big fan since the summer but the amount of time off the field is not encouraging.
• Corona enjoyed a goal-happy tournament and seemed to really be the major drive in the team's offense. Back to Mexico for now.
• Gatt scored in the opener for Molde and is looking forward to the Champions League this summer.
• Diskerud gave a surprise interview over on BigSoccer.com. There were mixed reviews on his play from the tournament, with me more on the positive side.
• Johnson was the main scapegoat from the debacle in Nashville but before the El Salvador game I thought he had been looking sharp and still promising. The Hamid fan club is strong right now but I think Johnson has more than a slimmer of a chance to get to Brazil in '14.
• Hamid looks to be relying on pure athleticism to get by over mental preparation before a shot. He's a tad chaotic with shot saving in recent games. The first goal in the Canada game is a good example in that he was just putting himself out in the mix and not really thinking about the best way to handle the ball. He'll be fine when it's all over but that's his biggest hurdle to clear at the moment.
• McInerney has gathered modest time from the Union. He's scrapped 65 minutes in the three games he's played but as the Union has only scored two goals in four games they may be looking to change things up.
• Duka is still recovering from an hamstring injury he suffered in the first game of the season.
• Gil picked up his first goal of the season back on the 18th and has been called into Ramos' camp that runs from the 9th-16th.
• Rowe scored his first goal of the season as well back on April Fool's Day. The highlight shows him playing a great ball to ex-international hopeful Lee Nguyen. Nguyen's attempt on goal is cleared out but the ensuing throw-in gave Rowe a one-on-one with Sounders. Rowe really didn't shoot the first shot as much as he just placed it on goal but the follow up was definitely clutch.
• Garza wrote for Goal.com about his journey to Tijuana. The LB has received some time for the club but only at the end of the game.
• Chandler is getting regular minutes and his play, minus as of late, has been above average.
• Lletget was the expected fill-in for Porter and the U23s after Gatt dropped out but missed the cut. BigSoccer rumored of fitness problems but West Ham's site praised him for recent good play with the reserve squad.
• Lichaj recovered from the injury rather nicely with a goal and an assist in his second game back. The public opinion was liking the push forward but defending was a little weak.
• MacMath has struggled for Philadelphia, which is really unfortunate because he's made some great heads up plays for them too. The goalie pipeline in America will be fine with time.
• Jeffrey was bad on all accounts against Canada. His defensive game seems to be a big liability at the moment. Maybe an attacking center-mid position would fit him best.
• Pelosi is still recovering...
• Kitchen received mixed reviews at the OQs. Has solidified a starting spot at DC United, apparently.
• Oliver was called into the most recent U20 camp with Gil. Oliver has committed to Indiana University for the fall.

(Drop outs)

• Hertzog has had trouble cracking the starting lineup for NY. He's seen time in reserve games though.
• The 18 year old Daniel Potts is with the reserves but his American ties are so weak I'm not torn up that he dropped from the 20.

I also started charting the "Old Guys" progress. Some interesting stuff...


Again, these are all just guesses, not facts. But that said, some interesting things I noticed:

• Bocanegra, Beasley, Cherundolo, Goodson, Jones, and Buddle are not projected to make it to Brazil.
• Adu is projected to reach 67 caps (he has 17 now) but of those next 50 only 4 will come the next two years.
• Chad Marshall still has eight caps left in him.
• The MLS is deceivingly represented in the list. 9 of the 32 players are currently in the MLS (with three of them looking at only one more cap). But most of the players started in the MLS. Steve Cherundolo and Jose Torres are the only one in the top fifteen that didn't play in the MLS at some point. Yes most of those players have left the MLS but the MLS isn't the same in 2012 as it was in 2002. But that's an argument for another day. (I will never argue that.)
• Charlie Davies is still looking at 29 caps, which is surprising. The almost 26 year old will be towards his peak around the World Cup but I don't think anyone really knows what to expect.

The biggest question is how many coaching caps will Caleb Porter receive after the unfortunate exit... No rating system to guess that.

MLS Goalie Rankings - Week 4

(Super late, sorry champs)

recap

Overall Rankings

pts/90mins - player (team) - total +/- pts

16.8 - Andy Gruenebaum (CLB) - 50.5
13.8 - Joe Willis (DCU) - 49.5
13 - Nick Rimando (RSL) - 66
12.5 - Matt Pickens (CLR) - 51
12.4 - Joe Cannon (VAN) - 51

12.4 - Rick Meara (NY) - 65.5
9.2 - Dan Kennedy (CHV) - 33.5
8 - Michael Gspurning (SEA) - 29.5
7.8 - Paolo Tornaghi (CHC) - 21.5 

7.1 - Troy Perkins (POR) - 35

6.6 - Matt Reis (NE) - 40.5
6.5 - Milos Kocic (TOR) - 37
6.3 - Tally Hall (HOU) - 22
5.4 - Jon Busch (SJ) - 44.5 

4.4 - Zac MacMath (PHI) - 38

4.3 - Donovan Ricketts (MON) - 44
3.4 - Kevin Hartman (FCD) - 47.5
2.5 - Jimmy Nielsen (SKC) - 8.5

0.7 - Josh Saunders (LA) - 24

Top Efforts

blah blah blah

Worst Efforts

Game Recaps
 

FC Dallas - 1 @ DC United - 4

+24 - Joe Willis - (24/0…90') - Does everything that's asked of him and making DC forget about Hamid.

• 4' - Great close save. Makes himself big on an inside-the-six shot. (8/0) [Willis1]
  
  
• 10' - Makes it look easy. (6/0) [Willis2]
   
• 20' - Gets down fast and holds it, more importantly. (5/0)
• 41' - Awkward counter for Willis. Does his part and a side netting shot is what it takes to beat him (3/0)
• 56' - Willis holds (2/0)

+0 - Kevin Hartman - (18/18…90') - Legs failing the veteran. He has the arm speed but legs are defining the word lumber.

• 6' - In position on a switching crossing (1/0)
• 13' - Pretty feeble attack by Hartman on a wonder strike. Eh. (0/1)
• 14' - Had the shot covered. Wasn't looking to hold, of course. (3/1)
• 24' - Decent save. (3/0)
• 28' - Great strike but not ready for the shot and another bizarre attempt at the ball (0/3) [Hartman 1]
  
• 35' - Doesn't miss a ball straight at him (1/0)
• 47' - Looked ready (2/0)
• 57' - Lumbertown. Could not be more awkward. (3/2)
• 59' - Gets low but miss judges the ball and that's why it hits the crossbar. He basically batted it up towards the goal. (3/1)
• 60' - Hard press but Hartman hides his hands behind his back. Sloppy mistake. (1/4) [Hartman2]
  
• 66' - Looking bad for Dallas. The goal has Hartman beat but tripping over to save the shot is not acceptable. (1/3)
• 73' - Another unstoppable goal but he range on his dive is not enough had it been savable. (0/3)

Columbus - 1 @ Toronto FC - 0

+9.5 - Andy Gruenebaum - (10.5/1...90')

• 11' - Holds the bouncer. Not crazy about the following distribution but I assume it turned out okay. (2/0)
• 51' - A tad sloppy. Shouldn't dive right and hit the ball left but okay. (2/1)
• 72' - Wreckin' shop. (3.5/0)
  
• 87' - Really tough position for Greueny. Potential deflection from short range. Does his part (3/0)

+18 - Milos Kocic - (20/2...90')

• 27' - Point for looking super ready (1/0)
• 40' - Unforuntate PK call but I like the small, quick steps to get ready on the free kick. Hands up, ready to explode (1/0)
• 40' - That's how you save a PK (9/0)
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 46' - Doesn't touch it but had it covered, I assume (2/0)
• 56' - Unfortunately awful defense. My favorite thing about this is that he gathers the ball quickly and tells his team to get ready to play again, not letting them mope around. A strong confidence boost for sure. (4/0)
  
  
  
• 67' - Shot goes wide but Kocic looks behind it. That ball challenges the goalmouth in if it's on frame. (1/2)
  
• 75' - Handles the bendy (2/0)

Montreal - 2 @ New York - 5

-16 - Donovan Ricketts - (2/18...90') - Montreal has made Ricketts' hinges stiff

• 28' - Ricketts caught napping too. Struggles getting his hands correctly and gets burned on the bounce (0/4)
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 46' - Cooper's run up is pretty weak, which would suggest a placed, soft shot. With this added hindsight, a reflex would be in his best interest instead of guessing. But it's a PK so nothing huge for Ricketts (1/1)
  
• 56' - Not thrilled with Ricketts' dive but Henry buried it. (1/2)
  
• 59' - Is Ricketts awake? (0/2)
• 72' - Now Ricketts doesn't look thrilled to be out there. No explosion on a desperate time. (0/2)
  
• 89' - Surprised by both shots. Obviously the goal comes from Ricketts' inability to hold the shot at his feet. Does an awful attempt at swallowing the rebound too. (0/7)
  

+2 - Ryan Meara - (9/7...90') - Offense bails out Meara's awful defense

• 18' - Catchable. Doesn't need to punch that down. Probably worried about the traffic (1/2)
  
  
  
  
• 18' - Not mentally set by the looks of it. Very slow reaction. (0/4)
• 38' - Well he had rebounded mentally but made the mistake in trusting his defense. He's expecting a threaded needle won't slip through three defenders for the near post but Mapp rockets one. Fault on the defense, not Meara (3/1)
• 68' - Bonus points for Meara's dumb defender running straight into his line of sight (5/0)
  
  

 Vancouver - 0 @ Philadelphia - 0

+4.5 - Joe Cannon - (10.5/6...90') - Was doing well until that bad corner. Can't do that.

• 27' - Not bad. The speed of the shot limits his dive. (2/1)
• 47' - Would like to see Cannon take a smidge step forward to get out from under his crossbar. Could have grabbed the ball there in the mess. (1/1)
• 48' - Goes out and gets it. (2/0)
• 49' - Good low save. (5.5/0)
• 76' - Oh not good, Bill Hamid. (0/4)
  

+5.5 - Zac MacMath - (7.5/2...90') - Very feet based.

• 15' - Risky play. Works out this time. (4.5/0)
• 83' - I like MacMath coming out but leading with your feet so much at that angle isn't ideal. (3/2)
  

Real Salt Lake - 3 @ Portland - 2

+21 - Nick Rimando - (27/6...90') - Jittery as all get out.

• 4' -  Handles the one-on-one appropriately (5.5/0)
• 22' - Ready as ever. (7/0)
• 32' - Can't be dribbled around there. Not like that. (1/3)
  
  
• 44' - Love that. Holds a diving save. (8.5/0)
• 48' - Always a tough save when you're expecting your defense to cut off an angle and they don't (3/1)
• 81' - Should be a little more ready for a ball that's hit directly at him. (2/2)
  
  

+11.5 - Troy Perkins - (11.5/0...90') - Not an ideal game for Portland. Perkins does his best on all the goals.

• 39' - Helpless (2/0)
• 89' - Oh Portland defense. (5.5/0)
• 93' - Perkins left out to dry again. (4/0)
  

San Jose - 1 @ Seattle - 0

+12 - Jon Busch - (20/8...90') - End save makes up for early buffoonery.

• 35' - Literally dove into the post. (1/2)
  
• 38' - Busch doing his best Hartman impression. (0/3)
  
  
• 51' - Would be nice to hold but makes the save (4.5/1)
• 70' - Definitely needs to hold it but nice reflexes. (6/2)
• 84' - Oh my... So that's why he's in goal. (8.5/0)
  

+16 - Michael Gspurning - (19.5/3.5...90') - Smart play with a couple of hiccups.

• 17' - Post to post and covers it up. (8.5/0)
• 24' - Gspurning doesn't even try to hide staying on the line.. (2/1)
• 28' - Cuts off the angle. Very smart. (4.5/0)
• 33' - Ready but needs to get his hand off the post if he intends on using it. (1/1)
• 57' - Hugging the front post a little too much. (1.5/1.5)
  
  
• 75' - "Oops"- Wondo. (2/0)

New England - 3 @ Los Angeles - 1

+11 - Matt Reis - (15.5/4.5...90') - Great shot stopper. Smart. Everything else looks iffy.

• 6' - Reis covers the area. (5/0)
  
• 39' - Covers again. Kind of annoying he fell over but whatever. (4.5/0)
• 46' - Stay his ground. (1/0)
• 49' - I agree with pushing it out with it being that slick but you can't let it go through your hands like that. (2.5/1.5)
• 60' - Watching so many shots go wide and over. (1/0)
• 78' - Stops way too short (1.5/3)
  

+2 - Josh Saunders - (19/17...90') - Saunders does not look good in goal.

• 1' - Does he almost pull a Green? The way he turns his body looks like it. (2/1)
• 3' - Keeps the ball in play. (2/0)
• 10' - Not crazy about Saunders' approach... (1/2)
  
• 10' - Definitely needs to hold that if he doesn't want to be scored on. (2/3)
• 13' - You're in goal to save things not watch them go in the goal. (1/4)
  
• 35' - There we go. (5/0)
• 64' - He actually gets a hand on it but if he were to dive forward... or dive at all... (1.5/4)
  
  
• 72' - Clumsy but keeps it out. (3/1)
• 74' - Please catch a ball. Yeah it moves but you still smother it. Especially from that distance. (1.5/2)

Chicago - 0 @ Colorado - 2

Sporting KC - 1 @ Chivas USA - 0