There was minimal movement in most college baseball polls following opening week, with CollegeBaseball360’s exclusive Composite National Rankings (CNR) likewise showing slight changes.
UCLA and Florida still retain the top spots, while current #3 Vanderbilt and #4 TCU swapped places (#5 Oklahoma and #6 Texas also kept their same positions). Current #7 South Carolina and its in-state rival #9 Clemson traded spots in the CNR, while Arizona State moved up from #10 to #8, Florida State entered the top-10 (from #12), and Cal State Fullerton dropped from #8 to #11.
The top-10 includes three Southeastern Conference teams, plus two teams each from the ACC, Pac-10 and Big 12 conferences.
The CNR’s all-inclusive ranking formula – which will expand significantly as the season progresses (adding RPI/power rankings, NCAA projections, etc.) – currently includes seven different “ingredients:” six national polls (coaches, writers, BA, CB, Perfect Game, & CBL) and a small potential bonus, based on projected strength-of-schedule. Note that the coaches poll and the College Baseball Lineup rankings remain unchanged from the preseason.
Scroll to end of release for detailed description of the CNR, including direct links to current criteria.
CNR Contact: Pete LaFleur (pete@collegebaseball360.com)
CNR TOP-50 CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN (week-2)
Pacific-10 (8 … 2 top-10, 5 top-25) – #1 UCLA, #8 Arizona State, #12 Stanford, #13 Oregon, #17 Arizona, #26 California, #39 & #44 Oregon State
SEC (8 … 3 top-10, 5 top-25) – #2 Florida, #3 Vanderbilt, #7 South Carolina, #16 LSU, #22 Auburn, #27 Arkansas, #34Alabama & #38 Mississippi
ACC (7 … 2 top-10, 6 top-25) – #9 Clemson, #10 Florida State, #14 Virginia, #19 Miami, #23 North Carolina, #24 Georgia Tech, & #40 Virginia Tech
Big 12 (5 … 2 top-10, 3 top-25) – #5 Oklahoma, #6 Texas, #15 Texas A&M, #30 Baylor & #402 Kansas State
Conference USA (5 … 1 top-25) – #18 Rice, #41 Tulane, #45 UCF/Southern Mississippi & #47 East Carolina
BIG EAST (3 … 1 top-25) – #20 Connecticut, #25 Louisville & #32 St. John’s
Big West (3 … 1 top-25) – #12 Cal State Fullerton, #28 UC Irvine & #43 Long Beach State
2 Each – Western Athletic (#31 Fresno State, #36 Hawaii) … Sunbelt (#35 Florida Atlantic & #47 Troy) .
1 Each – Atlantic-10 (#47 Charlotte) … Big South (#21 Coastal Carolina) … Colonial (#47 James Madison) … MidEastern Athletic/MEAC (#47 Bethune-Cookman) … Missouri Valley (#33 Wichita State) … Mountain West (#4 TCU) … Southern (#29 College of Charleston) … West Coast (#37 San Diego)
BIGGEST JUMPS IN THE CNR – North Carolina #30 to #23 … Hawaii #41 to #36 … Mississippi #43 to #38 … Oregon State #44 to #39 … Virginia Tech #45 to #40
BIGGEST DROPS IN THE CNR – Washington State #34 to #44 … Baylor #25 to #30 … Connecticut #16 to #20
NEWCOMERS TO THE CNR – #43 Long Beach State, #47 Bethune-Cookman/Charlotte/East Carolina/James Madison/Troy
DROPPED OUT OF THE CNR TOP-50 – #39 Pittsburgh, #42 Kent State, #48 Liberty, #48 Minnesota & North Carolina State
College Baseball 2011 Composite National Rankings #2 (CNR)
courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com; Feb. 22, 2011
| RANK | TEAM | POINTS | Previous Rank | 2011 Preseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Florida | 98.68 | 2 | 2 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 97.16 | 3 | 4 |
| 3 | Oklahoma | 94.91 | 5 | 5 |
| 4 | UCLA | 94.32 | 1 | 1 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 93.14 | 7 | 9 |
| 6 | Florida State | 90.53 | 10 | 12 |
| 7 | Arizona State | 90.19 | 8 | 10 |
| 8 | Clemson | 89.55 | 9 | 7 |
| 9 | TCU | 89.53 | 4 | 3 |
| 10 | Cal State Fullerton | 88.03 | 11 | 8 |
| 11 | Texas | 87.14 | 6 | 6 |
| 12 | Stanford | 86.16 | 12 | 13 |
| 13 | Virginia | 84.73 | 14 | 15 |
| 14 | LSU | 84.31 | 16 | 19 |
| 15 | Texas A&M | 82.99 | 15 | 14 |
| 16 | Oregon | 82.26 | 13 | 11 |
| 17 | Arizona | 81.58 | 17 | 18 |
| 18 | Rice | 77.40 | 18 | 17 |
| 19 | Fresno State | 73.12 | 31 | 32 |
| 20 | California | 71.57 | 26 | 24 |
| 21 | North Carolina | 70.74 | 23 | 30 |
| 22 | UC Irvine | 69.88 | 28 | 28 |
| 23 | Auburn | 67.87 | 22 | 22 |
| 24 | Miami | 66.38 | 19 | 20 |
| 25 | Georgia Tech | 65.95 | 24 | 23 |
| 26 | Arkansas | 64.58 | 27 | 29 |
| 27 | College of Charleston | 62.93 | 29 | 26 |
| 28 | Connecticut | 60.21 | 20 | 16 |
| 29 | Wichita State | 59.72 | 33 | 33 |
| 30 | Louisville | 59.67 | 25 | 27 |
| 31 | Baylor | 57.41 | 30 | 25 |
| 32 | Mississippi | 50.76 | 38 | 43 |
| 33 | San Jose State | 47.55 | - | - |
| 34 | Southeastern Louisiana | 47.55 | - | - |
| 35 | Coastal Carolina | 46.23 | 21 | 21 |
| 36 | Washington State | 45.29 | 44 | 34 |
| 37 | Texas Tech | 45.00 | - | - |
| 38 | Oregon State | 44.58 | 39 | 44 |
| 39 | Alabama | 44.20 | 34 | 37 |
| 40 | Virginia Tech | 43.51 | 40 | 45 |
| 41 | Southern Mississippi | 42.48 | 45 | 46 |
| 42 | Loyola Marymount | 42.30 | - | - |
| 43 | Central Florida | 42.04 | 45 | 47 |
| 44 | Oklahoma State | 41.96 | ||
| 45 | Charlotte | 41.85 | 47 | – |
| 46 | Kansas State | 41.47 | 42 | 40 |
| 47 | James Madison | 41.15 | 47 | – |
| 48 | St. John's | 40.69 | 32 | 31 |
| 49 | Long Beach State | 40.49 | 43 | – |
| 50 | East Carolina | 40.21 | 47 | – |
…
COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS (CNR) CRITERIA: CB360’s 100-point Composite National Rankings formula currently is centered around seven core ingredients but in upcoming weeks will include upwards of 20 different factors – ultimately combining a diverse collection of “experts” (ranging from coaches, various media, computer calculations and projections) – to help provide a preview of teams that could be in the running for the 2011 NCAA Championship field (hypothetically 50 teams, plus 14 others from lower-rated automatic-bid conferences – those teams will be projected in upcoming CNR updates).
Teams receive points based on their standings in each poll/rating/projection (60 pts for #1; 59 for #2, etc.). For polls involving voting points (coaches and CB) and the RPI ratings, the CNR adjusts to reward teams that have larger margins in the voting/point totals (whereas two teams with nearly the same voting-point total will be closer in the CNR allotment for that poll). Note that strength-of-schedule typically is factored into RPI formulations … thus the actual SOS numbers are not used in the CNR when RPI already are in the mix. For the NCAA field projections, teams will be awarded CNR points based on their respective seedings, “last in” and “last out,” etc.
Currently, the six polls listed below are averaged, with a maximum of 3.0 points able to be added based on projected strength-of-schedule (37 points then are added to each total in order to yield the 100-point benchmark). The CB360 Composite National Rankings will add factors to the formula through the 2011 season, with the additions to include various RPI/power rankings, NCAA Tournament projections and a late-season bonus/penalty for record over the past-10 games.
Here are links to the seven criteria currently used in the CNR:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN)
• Nat’l Collegiate Baseball Writers poll
• Baseball America poll
• Colllegiate Baseball magazine rankings
• Perfect Game rankings
• College Baseball Lineup rankings
• Boyds World Projected Strength-of-Schedule