The second April update to CB360’s exclusive Composite National Rankings (CNR) Top–50 – tabulated after games played on April 11 – shows Florida still entrenched in the top position and Stanford No. 2, while Arkansas has bumped up from 5th to 3rd, barely ahead of current No. 4 Texas Tech. The balance of the current top-10 includes: Ole Miss, Clemson, NC State, Oregon State, East Carolina and Florida State
During the turbulent 2018 season, East Carolina last week became the 18th different team to sit among the CB360 Composite top-10 at some point this season, with those teams including the current top-10 along with TCU (now not even in the top-50), Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and Auburn.
With UConn and UCF moving up, the American Athletic Conference now features five teams in the CB360 Composite Top-50, trailing only the SEC (11) and ACC (7) and ahead of such leagues as the Pac-12 and Big Ten (each have four, with only three Big 12 teams in the current top-50). The other AAC teams currently in the top-50 include ECU, [23] Wichita State and [41] South Florida.
(Note – plenty of notes and breakdown lists included on this release page, including the full top-50 (plus each teams weekly position), lists of teams that have fallen out of the top-50 each week, links to the 20 elements currently in the CNR formula; scroll down … )
The CNR now features 20 different elements in the formula, reflecting the use of more computerized ratings that in some cases results in certain teams being slotted lower than their standing within the “human” polls.
NC State (#11 last week) has returned to the current top-10, with Auburn taking a major tumble out of the top-10 (10th to 20th).
• Top-10/Top-16:– The SEC and ACC each account for three of the CNR current top-10, followed by two teams from the Pac-12, plus the Big 12’s Texas Tech and the AAC’s East Carolina. Expanding out to the current top-16 (i.e. forecasted NCAA Regional top seeds/hosts), the breakdown includes: 6 SEC, 4 ACC, 3 Pac-12, 1 Big 12, 1 American Athletic Conf. and 1 Big Ten.
• Coming & Going – Five teams have returned this week to the CNR Top–50: [40] Georgia Tech [45], UConn, [46] Northeastern, [48] South Alabama & [50] UCF … while Mercer, Nevada, San Diego State, California and Oregon all have slipped outside the Top–50 in the current update … TCU (preseason #5) had been in the CNR Top–50 all season, prior to last week’s update … one week earlier, UVa (preseason #16) fell out of the CNR Top–50.
• Top-10 Regulars – Only three teams have been in the CNR Top–10 all season: Florida (1-2-3-4-8-7-1-1-1), Texas Tech (3-3-2-1-1-6-4-3-4) and Oregon State (2-1-1-2-2-1-5-7-8) … with Texas Tech now being the only team 6th or higher all season in the CB360 Composite Rankings.
• Quick Climbers – Clemson was #18 in the preseason CNR but has climbed as high as #4 (now #6) … Ole Miss similarly vaulted from #20 to its current #5 (#2 a couple weeks ago) while Auburn’s strong start has boosted the Tigers from #36 in the preseason CNR to a top-20 position for each of the past six weeks (recently #10). NC State opened the season at #24 in the CNR but now has risen all the way to #7. And #9 East Carolina is another recent top-10 newcomer, after not even being in the CB360 preseason top-50.
• That’s Why They Play The Games – 20 of the teams in the current CNR Top–50 were not in the preseason Top–50, most notably current #9 East Carolina along with [13] Georgia, [23] Wichita State and [26] Missouri. There are eight other current top-40 teams that were not among the CNR preseason Top–50: [25] Tennessee Tech, [27] Florida Atlantic, [34] Illinois, [35] Alabama, [36] Creighton, [37] UNLV, [38] Troy & [39] Louisiana tech … six other teams currently in the 41-50 range likewise were not CNR preseason Top–50 squads: [41] South Florida, [42] FGCU, [42] Minnesota [44] Stetson, [45] UConn, [46] Northeastern, [47] Charleston & [49] Ohio State.
• Top-50 Regulars – Only 24 teams have remained among the CNR Top–50 throughout the 2018 season: each of the current top-12 teams: Florida, Stanford, Arkansas, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, Clemson, NC State, Oregon State, East Carolina, Florida State, Kentucky & North Carolina … along with: Texas A&M, Indiana, UCLA, Coastal Carolina, Vanderbilt, Southern Miss, Auburn, Duke, LSU, Louisville, Texas and Sam Houston State.
• Disappointing Feb. & March – Five teams that received plenty of preseason praise (each among the CB360 Composite top-25) currently sit outside the CNR Top–50: preseason initial #5 TCU, [15] Cal State Fullerton, [16] Virginia, [19] Mississippi State and [23] Houston.
• Poll Position – Three teams have held down the CNR top spot, through the first eight ranking weeks of 2018: Florida (CNR week #1, #7, #8 & #9), Oregon State (weeks #2, #3 & #6) and Texas Tech (weeks #4 & #5).
CONFERENCE CALL – Here is the current breakdown, by conference (nearly half, 23, are from the SEC, ACC or AAC; and a full 80%, 40 of 50, are from the SEC/Pac-12/ACC/Big 12/AAC/Big Ten/CUSA/SBC. The total number of leagues represented in the top-50 has dipped one to 15 after a few weeks at 16 (was 13 in the preseason Top–50), despite the absence of any Big West Conference or West Coast Conference teams:
• 11 SEC teams (3 top-8; 3 top-10; 6 top-16; 9 top-25) – (1) Florida, (3) Arkansas, (5) Ole Miss, (11) Kentucky, (13) Georgia, (14) Texas A&M, (18) Vanderbilt, (21) Auburn, (24) LSU, (26) Missouri & (35) Alabama
• 7 ACC teams (3 top-10; 4 top-16; 5 top-25) – (6) Clemson, (7) NC State, (10) Florida State, (12) North Carolina, (22) Duke, (30) Louisville & (40) Georgia Tech
• 5 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-10; 2 top-25) – (9) East Carolina, (23) Wichita State, (41) South Florida, (45) UConn & (50) UCF
• 4 Pac-12 Conf. teams (2 top-8; 3 top-25) – (2) Stanford, (8) Oregon State, (16) UCLA & (31) Arizona
• 4 Big Ten Conf. teams (1 top-16) – (16) Indiana, (34) Illinois, (43) Minnesota & (49) Ohio State
• 3 Big 12 Conf. teams (1 top-4; 2 top-25) – (4) Texas Tech, (19) Oklahoma & (28) Texas
• 3 Sun Belt Conf. teams (1 top-25) – (17) Coastal Carolina, (38) Troy & (48) South Alabama
• 3 Conference USA teams (1 top-25) – (20) Southern Miss., (27) Florida Atlantic & (39) Louisiana Tech
• 2 Missouri Valley Conf. teams – (29) Missouri State & (32) Dallas Baptist
• 2 Atlantic Sun Conf. teams – (42) Florida Gulf Coast & (44) Stetson
• 2 Colonial Athletic Assoc. teams – (46) Northeastern & (47) College of Charleston
• 1 each (4 teams) – Ohio Valley (#25 Tennessee Tech), Southland (#33 Sam Houston State), Big East (#36 Creighton) & Mountain West (#37 UNLV)
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 53 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (64 total teams)
• DIBaseball.com top-25 & midseason projected NCAA field-of-64 (top-48)
• Baseball America top-25 poll
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (top-30)
• Perfect Game rankings (25 teams)
• Official NCAA RPI (top-60 teams)
• Jeff Sagarin computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Boyds World Iterative Strength Ratings (top-60 teams)
• Massey computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Warren Nolan ELO computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Donchess Inference computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Dokker Entropy computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Bennett Rank computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Round Table computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• DISportsNet computerized rankings (top-60 teams; preseason/no update)
• Boyd’s World Pseudo RPI (top-60 teams)
• Assorted Conference preseason coaches polls (bonus points, max. 1.0)
> SEC … ACC … Pac-12 … Big 12 … Big Ten … Big West … C-USA
AAC … MVC … Mt West … Sun Belt … WCC … Southland … A-Sun
See the below links (plus text below) for more about the CNR Top–50:
>> Recent CB360 Top–50: Week–8 | Week–7 | Week–6 | Week–5 | Week-4 | Week–3 | Week–2
>> CLICK HERE for CB360 Preseason Top–50 in-depth release
>> CB360 Top–50 Weekend Scoreboards: Week-8 | Week–7 | Week–6 | Week–5 | Week–4 | Week–3 | Week–2 | Week–1
… also will be posting Top–50 week–7 scoreboard
________________________
COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS (CNR) CRITERIA: 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 various RPI-type 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 only are used early in the season (SOS are not used in the CNR when RPI already are in the mix). For the NCAA field projections, teams are awarded CNR points based on their respective seedings, “last in” and “last out,” etc.
The polls/ratings/projections are averaged, with 40 points typically then added to each total in order to yield the 100-point benchmark. Early in the season (projected SOS; and preseason conference coaches polls) and late in the season (final-10 games), a maximum bonus/penalty of 2.0 (SOS & conf. poll) or 0.5 points (final-10) is factored into the formula (in that case, 38.0, or 39.5, rather than 40, is added to the poll/rating/projection avg.).
______________
• CB360 Composite Top-50 #9 (April 12, 2018)
(rank) Team – voting pts (previous)
1. Florida – 98.06 (1-1-7-8-4-3-2-#1 in preseason CNR)
2. Stanford – 95.48 (2-2-3-3-8-9-8-11)
3. Arkansas – 94.31 (5-7-4-12-9-6-5-7)
4. Texas Tech – 94.29 (3-4-6-1-1-2-3-3)
5. Mississippi – 92.94 (4-3-2-6-5-14-18-20)
6. Clemson – 87.91 (8-11-12-4-6-11-17-18)
7. North Carolina State – 87.67 (11-10-10-18-19-22-22-24)
8. Oregon State – 87.22 (7-5-1-2-2-1-1-2)
9. East Carolina – 86.21 (9-15-16-21-31-24-40-x)
10. Florida State – 85.06 (6-6-9-11-3-4-3-4)
11. Kentucky – 82.73 (13-9-14-5-7-8-7-8)
12. North Carolina – 81.99 (21-22-23-30-20-20-9-6)
13. Georgia – 81.48 (12-21-34-x-x-36–x–x)
14. Texas A&M – 81.30 (17-12-11-10-12-10-13-13)
15. Indiana – 80.71 (14-20-20-16-15-15-25-35)
16. UCLA – 78.13 (22-16-13-13-11-13-12-14)
17. Coastal Carolina – 76.95 (16-17-22-22-34-18-34-39-48)
18. Vanderbilt – 76.19 (23-14-8-9-13-5-10-12)
19. Oklahoma – 74.05 (26-42-x-42-48-42-36-40)
20. Southern Mississippi – 73.73 (15-13-15-14-17-17-15-21)
21. Auburn – 72.99 (10-8-5-7-10-21-29-36)
22. Duke – 72.69 (19-23-24-22-30-35-41-47)
23. Wichita State –72.11 (20-18-25-32-37-46-x-x)
24. LSU – 69.82 (25-24-19-20-22-16-14-9)
25. Tennessee Tech – 68.39 (28-33-40-43-x-x-x-x)
26. Missouri – 67.54 (18-29-26-27-44-50-48-x)
27. Florida Atlantic – 64.42 (32-35-31-35-41-x-x-x)
28. Texas – 64.08 (40-36-38-45-21-19-16-17)
29. Missouri State – 60.95 (27-46-x-x-46-43–31-29)
30. Louisville – 60.54 (24-19-21-17-16-12-11-10)
31. Arizona – 59.53 (48-x-x-x-x-38-23-25)
32. Dallas Baptist – 59.17 (36-x-x-46-34-33-24-27)
33. Sam Houston State – 58.76 (29-32-18-24-32-28-30-30)
34. Illinois – 58.37 (30-25-27-31-36-x-x-x)
35. Alabama – 57.44 (45-45-33-25-26-27-x-x)
35. Creighton – 57.42 (38-38-48-x–x–x–x–x)
37. UNLV – 55.26 (33-28-17-19-25-49-x-x)
38. Troy – 54.41 (37-39-42-40-x–x–x–x)
39. Louisiana Tech – 54.06 (42-34-35-44-x-x-x-x)
40. Georgia Tech – 53.33 (x-x-x-x-33-47-x-42)
41. South Florida – 53.06 (35-37-44-x–x–x–x–x)
42. Florida Gulf Coast – 52.41 (41-x-x-33-42-x-x-x)
43. Minnesota – 52.30 (49-47-x-x-x-40-x-x)
44. Stetson – 52.15 (31-30-30-29-35-x-49-x)
45. Connecticut – 49.99 (x-x-x-x-x-41-47-x)
46. Northeastern – 49.93 (x-50-49-x–x–x–x–x)
47. College of Charleston – 49.80 (43-31-36-x–x–x–x–x)
48. South Alabama – 49.68 (x-x-47-37-27-18-20-22)
49. Ohio State – 48.70 (47-41-32-x–x–x–x–x)
50. UCF (Central Florida) – 48.59 (x-44-29-26-40-44-37-32)
– next five: Mercer, Nevada, San Diego State, Michigan & California
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–8:
34. San Diego State – 57.02 (34-26-x-47-38-39-38-50)
39. Mercer – 55.57 (39-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
44. Nevada – 53.46 (44-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
46. Oregon – 52.72 (46-49-41-23-28-45-x-x)
50. California – 49.22 (450-8-39-28-42-32-x-48)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–7:
27. TCU – 66.23 (27-28-15-14-7-6-5)
40. Baylor – 53.46 (40-37-49-x-x-x-x)
43. Indiana State – 51.24 (43-43-x–x–x–x–x)
44. UCF – 51.11 (44-29-26-40-44-37-32)) … has returned to current top-50
50. Northeastern – 47.47 (50-49-x–x–x–x–x)) … has returned to current top-50
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–6:
45. Hawaii – 50.22 (45-x–x–x–x–x)
46. Virginia – 49.80 (46-41-24-26-19-16)
47. South Alabama – 49.71 (47-37-27-18-20-22)) … has returned to current top-50
50. Southeastern Louisiana – 47.52 (50-x–x–x–x–x)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–5:
33. Florida Gulf Coast – 51.52 (33-42-x-x-x)) … has returned to current top-50
36. Mississippi State – 57.90 (36-29-37-32-19)
38. Arizona – 53.45 (38-x–38-23-25)) … has returned to current top-50
39. St. John’s – 69.48 (39-23-23-33-43)
42. Oklahoma – 47.28 (42-48-42-36-40) … has returned to current top-50
46. Dallas Baptist – 56.58 (46-34-33-24-27)) … has returned to current top-50
47. San Diego State – 52.22 (47-38-39-38-50)
48. USC – 46.43 (48-x-x-x-x)
50. BYU – 45.89 (50-x-x-x-45)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–4:
33. Georgia Tech – 56.59 (33-47–x–42) … has returned to current top-50
39. UC Irvine – 51.86 (39-x–x–x)
45. San Diego – 50.84 (45-25–42–38)
46. Missouri State – 49.55 (46-43–31–29) … has returned to current top-50
47. Georgia State – 48.68 (47-x–x–x)
49. Houston – 46.96 (49-30–26–23)
50. Purdue – 46.93 (50-x–x–x)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–3:
29. South Carolina – 60.47 (29–28–26)
31. Miami – 57.39 (31–27–28)
36. Georgia – 54.56 (36–x–x) … has returned to current top-50
38. Arizona – 52.41 (38–23–25)
40. Minnesota – 51.47 (40–x–x) … has returned to current top-50
41. Connecticut – 50.96 (41–47–x) … has returned to current top-50
48. Cal State Fullerton – 48.69 (48–21–15)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–2:
34. Long Beach State – 53.81 (34–31)
35. Louisiana-Lafayette – 52.90 (35–34)
43. West Virginia – 48.82 (43–33)
44. Oklahoma State – 48.33 (44–37)
45. Wake Forest – 47.77 (45–39)
46. Rice – 47.70 (46–46)
49. Stetson – 46.51 (49–x) … has returned to current top-50
50. Michigan 46.34 (50–41)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–1:
42. Georgia Tech – 50.33
44. Nebraska – 49.16
45. BYU – 48.43
48. California – 47.43
> These nine teams were in final 2017 regular-season CNR top-50 but not in 2018 preseason top-50:
(20) South Florida
(32) Baylor
(34) LMU
(37) Louisiana Tech
(38 Maryland
(39) Southeastern Louisiana
(41) New Mexico
(42) Old Dominion
(49) Washington
> These 15 teams were in the 2017 CNR preseason top-50 but not in 2018 preseason top-50:
East Carolina [2017 CNR preseason #18]
UC Santa Barbara [23]
Washington [24]
Maryland [31]
Arizona State [34]
Tulane [36]
UNC Wilmington [37]
Florida Atlantic [38]
Gonzaga [39]
New Mexico [41]
USC [44]
Oregon [47]
Wright State [48]
Southeastern Louisiana [49]
Cal Poly [50]