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USL Championship Power Rankings – Week 20

By USLChampionship.com Staff, 07/24/23, 3:00PM EDT

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Upset Saturday shakes up the rankings, and sets up battles up and down the standings

If you’re a fan of college football, you’ve seen nights like Saturday.

They’re among the most fun in the regular season, when not much goes as expected.

Take those Associated Press rankings and throw them right out the window. It’s time for upset week.

None of last week’s top five in our Power Rankings won this weekend, which means we’ve got a shake-up all around the Top 10. (Congratulations to San Diego Loyal SC to avoiding the melee on a bye week, I guess, allowing their thumping of Colorado Springs last week to stand as the last entry on their resume.)

The crown for result of the night goes, of course, to Miami FC for its victory against the odds in San Antonio. Miami hadn’t won on the road since October 2022 at Detroit City FC, so of course interim Head Coach Lewis Neal’s side was going to be the one to end SAFC’s 27-game home undefeated streak across the regular season and playoffs. Duh.

We’ve got ongoing streaks that are intriguing, though, led by FC Tulsa’s club-record equaling five-game winning streak. New Mexico United’s five-game undefeated streak includes four wins after Saturday’s victory against Sacramento Republic FC with Eric Quill’s influence being seen and felt.

What we now also have are battles at every level of the standings – first place, homefield advantage in the playoffs, and around the playoff line itself.

That’s good news for everyone tuning in as we approach the final third of the season.

Here’s how this week’s rankings look.

Birmingham Legion FC Charleston Battery Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC Detroit City FC El Paso Locomotive FC Hartford Athletic Indy Eleven Las Vegas Lights FC
Loudoun United FC Louisville City FC Memphis 901 FC The Miami FC Monterey Bay F.C. New Mexico United Oakland Roots SC Orange County SC
Phoenix Rising FC Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC Rio Grande Valley FC Sacramento Republic FC San Antonio FC San Diego Loyal SC Tampa Bay Rowdies FC Tulsa

Biggest Movers

7 DET 8 SAC

Rank

 

Team

Change

Summary
1 Charleston Battery
(10-5-6)
Week 21: @ BHM 		5
Last Week:
6		 To be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, and the Battery did just that against Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC. We’ve got a race for first place again.
2 Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC
(10-3-8)
Week 21: v. IND, v. MEM		 1
Last Week:
1		 Head Coach Bob Lilley warned his side it would need to be better against the Battery than it was a week ago. They got caught early and just weren’t really at the races after that.
3 San Diego Loyal SC
(8-5-6)
Week 21: v. COS		 5
Last Week:
8		 SD Loyal had to love seeing each of the top three lose this weekend. That leaves the door open to make a push after Thursday’s exhibition with Borussia Dortmund.
4 Tampa Bay Rowdies
(10-5-5)
Week 21: v. TUL
Last Week:
4		 The Rowdies didn’t win, but they did start to look like themselves again in the second half against Indy Eleven, which is good enough to keep them in touch with the Hounds and Battery.
5 Orange County SC
(8-9-4)
Week 21: v. NM		 4
Last Week:
9		 Did you know Orange County SC has recorded 18 points over its past eight games, which is more than anyone else in the Championship? Now you do.
6 Birmingham Legion FC
(9-8-2)
Week 21: v. CHS		 4
Last Week:
10		 You’d be hard-pressed to find a cleverer finish this season than Alex Crognale’s winner in Louisville, but Matt Corcoran’s composure and quality should be the big takeaway from this result.
7 San Antonio FC
(9-4-7)
Week 21: v. HFD		 5
Last Week:
2		 San Antonio’s frustrating night – failing to score for only the fourth time this season – might be the best illustration of how hard streaks like its home undefeated run are to put together. All it takes is one night where it doesn’t go right, and it’s gone.
8 New Mexico United
(8-7-4)
Week 21: @ OC		 5
Last Week:
13		 New Mexico has won four of its last five games and is into the playoff positions. It’s also tied for the fewest games played in the West, meaning potential for further upward mobility.
9 FC Tulsa
(7-7-7)
Week 21: @ TBR		 5
Last Week:
14		 Tulsa’s five-game winning streak is great. The caveat? All of them have come against teams with 24 points or fewer. They’re capable of passing Saturday’s test in Tampa Bay, though, no question.
10 Oakland Roots SC
(8-6-6)
Week 21: v. LV, v. DET 		6
Last Week:
16		 You simply cannot sleep on the Roots Gang. Consecutive road victories, both via 3-1 scorelines, and they’re back into the top four in the West.
11 Sacramento Republic FC
(9-3-8)
Week 21: v. PHX, @ LV		 8
Last Week:
3		 Sacramento is still on top of the Western Conference, but those injuries are starting to add up and they’re winless since that statement victory against San Antonio.
12 El Paso Locomotive FC
(9-6-5)
Week 21: @ RGV		 7
Last Week:
5		 Locomotive FC is still right there in the standings, but dropping a lead at home like that with the prospect of moving into a tie for first is a missed opportunity.
13 Rio Grande Valley FC
(5-6-9)
Week 21: v. ELP 		6
Last Week:
7		 The Toros gave themselves a chance at a result thanks to Juan Galindrez’s first goal for the club, but they didn’t really deserve an equalizer on the balance of play in Tulsa.
14 Phoenix Rising FC
(6-5-8)
Week 21: @ SAC, @ MB		 3
Last Week:
11		 Phoenix did everything to get back on level terms against Colorado Springs and then gifted two chances to the visitors they managed to squander. Not convincing.
15 Miami FC
(4-9-8)
Week 21: @ LDN		 5
Last Week:
20		 If Miami can win on the road in San Antonio, it can beat anyone. The question now is whether it will be able to turn this into a consistent run of results.
16 Detroit City FC
(6-11-5)
Week 21: @ OAK		 7
Last Week:
23		 Two wins, two shutouts and just like that Le Rouge are into the playoff positions. Still lots of work to do, though, and only 12 games left to do it in.
17 Louisville City FC
(8-7-5)
Week 21: v. IND		 5
Last Week:
12		 You’d need to go back to LouCity’s inaugural season to find its last three-game losing streak in league play, but this is the second time they’ve lost at home this season after leading at halftime. That’s really concerning.
18 Colorado Springs Switchbacks FC
(9-10-2)
Week 21: @ SD		 1
Last Week:
17		 The Switchbacks could have locked up the game but gave up a late equalizer in Phoenix. They then could have grabbed all three points anyway, but it just didn’t happen.
19 Memphis 901 FC
(8-5-6)
Week 21: @ PIT		 4
Last Week:
15		 Memphis is winless in five after its bizarre loss to Orange County and is now tied for the most red cards in the league this season with five. Keep your heads, lads.
20 Indy Eleven
(5-7-7)
Week 21: @ PIT, @ LOU		 1
Last Week:
19		 Same old story for Indy. They looked the better side in the first half against Tampa Bay, couldn’t capitalize, and then had to call on Yannik Oettl to preserve a point in the second half. Draws aren’t going to deliver a playoff place.
21 Monterey Bay F.C.
(7-8-6)
Week 21: v. PHX		 3
Last Week:
18		 Antony Siaha was so close to delivering Monterey Bay a point it really needed on the road, but even he couldn’t account for the wicked deflection on Dario Suarez’s shot against Detroit.
22 Hartford Athletic
(3-13-4)
Week 21: @ SA		 2
Last Week:
24		 Joe Rice and his back line had to batten down the hatches, but the Athletic came away with a much-needed win to get Head Coach Omid Namazi his first result at the helm.
23 Loudoun United FC
(6-14-2)
Week 21: v. MIA
 1
Last Week:
22		 It’s odd to think about Loudoun United vs. Miami FC this weekend as a playoff six-pointer, but as ragged as the bottom five in the East are, that’s just what it is.
24 Las Vegas Lights FC
(1-10-8)
Week 21: @ OAK, v. SAC 		3
Last Week:
21		 Most shots in a game, most passes in a game, and all for naught. It’s just not going Las Vegas’ way this season.

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Tag(s): Power Rankings  San Antonio FC  CO Spring Switchbacks  Orange County SC  Phoenix Rising FC  Rio Grande Valley FC  Sacramento Republic FC  FC Tulsa  Charleston Battery  Louisville City FC  Pittsburgh Riverhounds  Tampa Bay Rowdies  Las Vegas Lights FC  Birmingham Legion FC  Indy Eleven  Memphis 901 FC  El Paso Locomotive FC  New Mexico United  Loudoun United FC  Hartford Athletic  San Diego Loyal SC  Miami FC  Oakland Roots SC  Detroit City FC  Monterey Bay F.C. 

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