CB360 Composite National Rankings #8 (4/4/18)

April 4, 2018
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The first April update to CB360’s exclusive Composite National Rankings (CNR) Top–50 – tabulated after games played on April 4 – features Florida firmly remaining in the top position, followed by Stanford, Texas Tech and Ole Miss closely bunched from #2-#4. The balance of the current top-10 includes: Arkansas, Florida State, Oregon State, Clemson, top-10 newcomer East Carolina and Auburn.

During the turbulent 2018 season, East Carolina has become 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), North Carolina, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M and North Carolina State.

(Note – plenty of notes and breakdown lists included on this release page, including 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.

Clemson (#11 a week ago) is back in the top-10, while two teams have slipped outside the current CNR top-10: [11] NC State and [13] Kentucky.

Top-10/Top-16:– The SEC accounts for four of the  CNR current top-10, followed by two teams each from the Pac-12 and ACC, 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, 3 ACC, 2 Pac-12, 1 Big 12, 1 Conference USA, 1 American Athletic Conf., 1 Big Ten and 1 Sun Belt.

Coming & Going – Five teams have entered/returned to the CNR Top–50: [36] Dallas Baptist, [39] Mercer, [41] FGCU, [44] Nevada and [48] Arizona … while TCU, UCF, Northeastern, Indiana State and Baylor all have slipped outside the Top–50 in the current update … TCU (preseason #5) and UCF (initial #32) had been in the CNR Top–50 all season, prior to this week’s update … one week earlier, UVa (preseason #16) and South Alabama (initial #22) had fallen 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), Texas Tech (3-3-2-1-1-6-4-3) and Oregon State (2-1-1-2-2-1-5-7) … 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 #8) … Ole Miss similarly climbed from #20 to its current #4 (#2 a couple weeks ago) while Auburn’s strong start has boosted the Tigers from #36 in the preseason CNR to a top-10 position for each of the past five weeks (now #10). NC State opened the season at #24 in the CNR but has spent the past three weeks at #10 or #11. And #9 East Carolina is another top-10 newcomer, after not even being in the CB360 preseason top-50.

• That’s Why They Play The Games – 21 of the teams in the current CNR Top–50 were not in the preseason Top–50, most notably current #9 East Carolina along with [12] Georgia, [18] Missouri and [20] Wichita State. There are nine other current top-40 teams that were not among the CNR preseason Top–50: [28] Tennessee Tech, [30] Illinois, [31] Stetson, [32] Florida Atlantic, [33] UNLV, [35] South Florida, [37] Troy, [38] Creighton and [39] Mercer … eight other teams currently in the 41-50 range likewise were not CNR preseason Top–50 squads: [41] FGCU, [42] Louisiana Tech, [43] Charleston, [44] Nevada, [45] Alabama, [46] Oregon, [47] Ohio State and [49] Minnesota.

Top-50 Regulars – Only 24 teams have remained among the CNR Top–50 throughout the 2018 season: each of the current top-17 teams: Florida, Stanford, Ole Miss, Texas Tech, Oregon State, Florida State, Arkansas, Auburn, Kentucky, NC State, Clemson, Texas A&M, Southern Miss., Vanderbilt, East Carolina, UCLA & Coastal Carolina … along with Louisville, Indiana, North Carolina, Duke, LSU, Sam Houston State & Texas.

Disappointing Feb. & March – Six 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, [22] South Alabama 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), 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, Pac-12 or ACC; and nearly 80, 39 of 50, are from the SEC/Pac-12/ACC/Big 12/AAC/Big Ten/CUSA/MWC. The total number of leagues represented in the top-50 has risen to 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; 4 top-10; 6 top-16; 10 top-25) – (1) Florida, (4) Ole Miss, (5) Arkansas, (10) Auburn, (12) Georgia, (13) Kentucky, (17) Texas A&M, (18) Missouri, (23) Vanderbilt, (25) LSU & (45) Alabama
 6 Pac-12 Conf. teams (2 top-8; 3 top-25) – (2) Stanford, (7) Oregon State, (22) UCLA, (46) Oregon, (48) Arizona & (50) California
6 ACC teams (2 top-10; 3 top-16; 6 top-25) – (6) Florida State, (8) Clemson, (11) NC State, (19) Duke, (21) North Carolina & (24) Louisville
4 Big Ten Conf. teams (1 top-16) – (14) Indiana, (30) Illinois, (47) Ohio State & (49) Minnesota
 3 Big 12 Conf. teams (1 top-4) – (3) Texas Tech, (26) Oklahoma & (40) Texas
 3 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-10; 2 top-25) – (9) East Carolina, (20) Wichita State & (35) South Florida
3 Conference USA teams (1 top-16) – (15) Southern Miss., (32) Florida Atlantic & (42) Louisiana Tech
3 Mountain West Conf. teams – (33) UNLV, (34) San Diego State & (44) Nevada
2 Sun Belt Conf. teams (1 top-16) – (16) Coastal Carolina & (37) Troy
2 Missouri Valley Conf. teams – (27) Missouri State & (36) Dallas Baptist
2 Atlantic Sun Conf. teams – (31) Steteson & (41) Florida Guff Coast
• 1 each (3 teams) – Ohio Valley (#28 Tennessee Tech), Southland (#29 Sam Houston State), Big East (#38 Creighton), So-Con (#39 Mercer) & Colonial (#43 Charleston)

>> CB360’s CNR FORMULA for the 2018 currently includes the following 20 elements:
• National 
Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 40 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (58 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 ELOcomputerized 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–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–7  |  Week–6  | Week–5  |  Week–4  |   Week–3  |  Week–2  |  Week–1
… also will be posting Top–50 week–7 scoreboard
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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.).
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• CB360 Composite Top-50 #8 (April 5, 2018)
(rank) Team – voting pts  (previous)
1. Florida – 96.62  (1-7-8-4-3-2-#1) in preseason CNR
2. Stanford – 94.74 (2-3-3-8-9-8-11)
3. Texas Tech – 94.42  (4-6-1-1-2-3-3)
4. Mississippi – 93.52  (3-2-6-5-14-18-20)
5. Arkansas – 89.59  (7-4-12-9-6-5-7)
6. Florida State – 89.13  (6-9-11-3-4-3-4)
7. Oregon State – 89.09  (5-1-2-2-1-1-2)
8. Clemson – 88.39 (11-12-4-6-11-17-18)
9. East Carolina – 85.12 (15-16-21-31-24-40-x)
10. Auburn – 84.25  (8-5-7-10-21-29-36)
11. North Carolina State – 84.11  (10-10-18-19-22-22-24)
12. Georgia – 81.70 (21-34-x-x-36–x–x)
13. Kentucky – 81.69  (9-14-5-7-8-7-8)
14. Indiana – 78.97  (20-20-16-15-15-25-35)
15. Southern Mississippi – 77.92 (13-15-14-17-17-15-21)
16. Coastal Carolina – 76.88  (17-22-22-34-18-34-39-48)
17. Texas A&M – 76.22  (12-11-10-12-10-13-13)
18. Missouri – 74.02 (29-26-27-44-50-48-x)
19. Duke – 73.89  (23-24-22-30-35-41-47)
20. Wichita State –73.84 (18-25-32-37-46-x-x)
21. North Carolina – 73.75  (22-23-30-20-20-9-6)
22. UCLA – 73.54  (16-13-13-11-13-12-14)
23. Vanderbilt – 72.26  (14-8-9-13-5-10-12)
24. Louisville – 68.70  (19-21-17-16-12-11-10)
25. LSU – 68.26 (24-19-20-22-16-14-9)
26. Oklahoma – 67.34 (42-x-42-48-42-36-40)
27. Missouri State – 62.36  (46-x-x-46-43–31-29)
28. Tennessee Tech – 62.27 (33-40-43-x-x-x-x)
29. Sam Houston State – 61.78 (32-18-24-32-28-30-30)
30. Illinois – 61.20 (25-27-31-36-x-x-x)
31. Stetson – 59.01 (30-30-29-35-x-49-x)
32. Florida Atlantic – 59.54 (35-31-35-41-x-x-x)
33. UNLV – 57.939 (28-17-19-25-49-x-x)
34. San Diego State – 57.02  (26-x-47-38-39-38-50)
35. South Florida – 56.80 (37-44-x–x–x–x–x)
36. Dallas Baptist – 56.63  (x-x-46-34-33-24-27)
37. Troy – 56.58 (39-42-40-x–x–x–x)
38. Creighton – 56.54 (38-48-x–x–x–x–x)
39. Mercer – 55.57 (x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
40. Texas – 55.22  (36-38-45-21-19-16-17)
41. Florida Gulf Coast – 54.44 (x-x-33-42-x-x-x)
42. Louisiana Tech – 54.41 (34-35-44-x-x-x-x)
43. College of Charleston – 53.61 (31-36-x–x–x–x–x)
44. Nevada – 53.46 (x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
45. Alabama – 53.13 (45-33-25-26-27-x-x)
46. Oregon – 52.72 (49-41-23-28-45-x-x)
47. Ohio State – 51.93 (41-32-x–x–x–x–x)
48. Arizona – 50.06 (x-x-x-x-38-23-25)
49. Minnesota – 49.66 (47-x-x-x-40-x-x)
50. California – 49.22 (48-39-28-42-32-x-48)
– next five: UConn, TCU, UCF, Northeastern & Georgia Tech

• 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 (Central Florida) – 51.11  (44-29-26-40-44-37-32)
50. Northeastern – 47.47 (50-49-x–x–x–x–x)

• 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)
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)
36. Mississippi State – 57.90  (36-29-37-32-19)
38. Arizona – 53.45 (38-x–38-23-25)
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)
47. San Diego State – 52.22  (47-38-39-38-50) … has returned to current top-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)
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)
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  … has returned to current top-50

> 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]

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