The Football Forge Power Rankings: Week 21Another wacky week in the USL Championship
Only in the USL Championship can you get 50 goals and 7 clean sheets in 15 games. Well, there were 5 games with at least 4 goals, and 2 with 7 goals, and one player got a 4-bagger. Absolutely nuts.
| Rank | Team | Previous | Change | Record | Forge Factor | Note |
| 1 | San Diego Loyal | 1 | 0 | 9-5-6 | 25.972 | Getting destroyed 0-6 by Borussia Dortmund on Thursday didn’t hurt the Loyal too badly as they beat Colorado Springs 2-0 on Sunday to follow up the 5-0 win in Colorado. |
| 2 | Orange County | 6 | +4 | 9-9-4 | 19.973 | Orange County’s strong run of form continues with a closish 1-0 victory over New Mexico. 6 wins in the last 7 games now. |
| 3 | San Antonio | 2 | -1 | 10-4-7 | 19.350 | Tani Oluwaseyi’s 4 goals catapulted into the league scoring lead as San Antonio predictably beat Hartford 5-2 toi stay within striking distance of Sacramento. |
| 4 | Charleston Battery | 9 | +5 | 11-5-6 | 18.686 | The Battery got 2 late goals to beat Birmingham away 2-1. Just 2 points behind Pittsburgh with a game in hand. |
| 5 | Oakland Roots | 4 | -1 | 9-6-7 | 18.229 | Oakland were extremely lucky to get the 1-0 win over Las Vegas in midweek, then took the lead over Detroit 23 seconds in only to give it up barely 4 minutes later and then getting 9 saves from Paul Blanchette to get the 1-1 draw. |
| 6 | The Miami FC | 13 | +7 | 5-9-8 | 17.527 | Adrian Zendejas had another good game, making 5 saves and only giving up an unfortunate own goal in the 2-1 win over Loudoun. 10 points in the last 5 games and showing some life. |
| 7 | New Mexico United | 3 | -4 | 8-8-4 | 15.790 | New Mexico had some chances but couldn’t score as they lost 0-12 in Orange County and gave up a late red card. Very much in the playoff hunt though. |
| 8 | Detroit City | 14 | +6 | 6-11-6 | 14.669 | Detroit gave up an early goal but were generally the better team in Oakland. They came away with just the 1-1 draw though. Inching closer to the playoff line. |
| 9 | Birmingham Legion | 8 | -1 | 9-9-2 | 14.614 | The Legion more or less controlled the game for 81 minutes, then it went to pot in the 1-2 home loss to Charleston. |
| 10 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 10 | 0 | 11-5-5 | 14.518 | The Rowdies showed up bog for new head coach Nicky Law, comfortably handling Tulsa 3-0. Back in the winning mood after 2 poor games leaderless. |
| 11 | Rio Grande Valley Toros | 12 | +1 | 6-6-9 | 14.272 | The Toros got a big 5-2 win over El Paso and looked in cruise control most of the game. 11th in the West but just 2 points out of the playoffs. |
| 12 | Sacramento Republic | 17 | +5 | 11-3-8 | 13.293 | SacRep waxed Phoenix with 4 first half goals but then struggled to get past an always troublesome Las Vegas 2-1. The 4-game winless streak is over. |
| 13 | Indy Eleven | 16 | +3 | 6-8-7 | 12.586 | Indy Eleven got a surprise 3-1 win in Pittsburgh, including a center circle golazo by Aodhan Quinn, then failed to get a shot on goal in Louisville, losing 0-2. |
| 14 | FC Tulsa | 5 | -9 | 7-8-7 | 11.364 | Tulsa’s 5-game win streak came to a crashing end as they were blanked 0-3 in Tampa. Stronger opposition exposed their potential weaknesses. |
| 15 | Phoenix Rising | 7 | -8 | 7-6-8 | 9.759 | Phoenix Rising gave up 4 first half goals to Sacramento, scoring none, then scored 2 first goals and gave up none against Monterey, edging over the playoff line. |
| 16 | Pittsburgh Riverhounds | 11 | -5 | 11-4-8 | 9.460 | The Riverhounds failed to get their 1000th goal at home, losing 1-3 to Indy, but got it and 3 more in the 4-2 beatdown of Memphis 901. 2 big losses in the last 3 games though. |
| 17 | Louisville City | 22 | +5 | 9-7-5 | 6.183 | Lou City’s 3-game losing streak came to an end in a comprehensive 2-0 LIPAFC home win over Indy. Excellent goalkeeping by Yannik Oettl kept it from being worse. |
| 18 | Memphis 901 | 19 | +1 | 8-6-6 | 5.249 | Memphis took an early 2-goal lead and blew it big time, losing 2-4 in Pittsburgh, and adding a red card late (their 3rd in 2 games). |
| 19 | Colorado Springs Switchbacks | 15 | -4 | 9-11-2 | 5.093 | The Switchbacks lost to San Diego Loyal 0-2 thanks largely to a 5-save performance by Koke Vegas. Outscored 8-1 in the last 3 games and slipping off the pace. |
| 20 | Hartford Athletic | 18 | -2 | 3-14-4 | 4.431 | A shock 2-5 loss the San Antonio? Well, yes, in that they scored first and added a second. Last week’s win over Las Vegas remains the difference between the league’s 2 worst teams. |
| 21 | Loudoun United | 23 | +2 | 6-15-2 | 2.068 | Loudoun heavily outshot Miami but couldn’t finish except on an own goal and lost 1-2. Just one win in the last 6 games, and that was over Hartford. |
| 22 | Las Vegas Lights | 21 | -1 | 1-12-8 | 1.767 | The Lights were the better team but lost 0-1 in Oakland thanks to a foolish offside by Andrew Carleton Roots 0-1 and then lost a close game 1-2 to Sacramento. |
| 23 | El Paso Locomotive | 20 | -3 | 9-7-5 | 0.508 | El Paso led twice in the first 16 minutes but got KO’d 2-5 in Rio Grande Valley. Winless in the last 7 games now but just 1 point from a home playoff spot. |
| 24 | Monterey Bay Union | 24 | 0 | 7-9-6 | -0.902 |
Monterey Bay lost to Phoenix Rising 0-2, but the play was a lot closer than the scoreline, including a PK denial by Rocco Rios Novo. Just 1 point in the last 6 games, however. |
