Many top teams retained their same spot from the previous week in the CB360 Composite National Rankings (CNR), with minimal movement among the top-12 teams. The CNR formula currently includes rankings from the coaches, writers (NCBWA), Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball magazine and Perfect Game, plus a small RPI bonus (per WarrenNolan.com). front-page photo courtesy of Virginia
The six new teams in the CNR top-50 (actually 51 teams, due to a tie) include: (39) Campbell, (40) California, (43) Texas Tech, (48) Washington State, (50) Auburn and (50) Gonzaga … replacing Missouri State, Florida, Southeastern Louisiana, VCU and Connecticut.
The top-6 teams (UNC, Vanderbilt, Oregon State, LSU, South Carolina & Ole Miss) are entrenched in their same spots, while current #7 UCLA and (8) Florida State have swapped spots and #11 Georgia Tech has bumped into the top-10 (from #11 to #9). Cal State Fullerton also stayed pat, in the 10th position (Kentucky dropped back from 9th to 11th).
Scroll down for more detailed info. on the most-recent CNR top-50 update – including the automated week-by-week chart that displays where each current top-50 CNR team has been ranked on a weekly basis in 2013.
After only five weeks of play, more than 40% of the teams (21) that were in the CB360 preseason top-50 already have tumbled outside the top-50: (12) TCU, (14) Florida, (20) San Diego, (31) Baylor, (32) New Mexico, (33) Southern Miss., (34) Coastal Carolina, (35) Missouri State, (36) Kent State, (37) Wichita State, (38) East Carolina, (39) Dallas Baptist, (40) Tulane, (41) Sam Houston State, (42) Georgia, (43) St. John’s, (44) Pepperdine, (46) College of Charleston, (47) Florida Atlantic, (48) Auburn & (49) Elon. Note that USD and Auburn recently have returned to the top-50.
The CNR formula currently comprises six elements (links to each at bottom of this page) and will expand throughout the season to include various RPI/statistical rankings, NCAA projections, etc. The six current elements include five polls/rankings, from the coaches (USA Today/ESPN), the writers (NCBWA), Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball magazine and Perfect Game, plus a small bonus for early-season RPI (per BoydsWorld.com).
The current CB360 top-10 features four teams from the SEC, three ACC, two Pac-12 and one Big West. When projecting the 16 #1 seeds in the NCAAs, based on the current CNR, there would be six from the SEC, five ACC, three Pac-12, and one each from the Big West and BIG EAST.
Scroll down for the complete CB360 top-50, along with various breakdowns from this update. Information on the CNR formula is included at the bottom of this page.
SCROLL DOWN for complete breakdown of the latest CNR update …
CNR TOP-50 CONFERENCE BREAKDOWN (after week-5)
SEC (9 … 4 top-10, 7 top-25) – (2) Vanderbilt, (4) LSU, (5) South Carolina, (6) Mississippi, (11) Kentucky, (15) Mississippi State, (20) Arkansas, (36) Texas A&M and (50) Auburn
ACC (8 … 3 top-10, 5 top-25) – (1) North Carolina, (8) Florida State, (9) Georgia Tech, (13) Virginia, (16) NC State, (29) Virginia Tech, (42) Miami & (44) Clemson
Pacific-12 (8 … 2 top-10, 5 top-25) – (3) Oregon State, (7) UCLA, (14) Oregon, (19) Arizona State, (22) Stanford, (33) Arizona, (40) California & (48) Washington State
Big 12 (4 … 2 top-25) – (17) Oklahoma, (24) Oklahoma State, (43) Texas Tech & (45) Texas
Big West (3 … 1 top-10, 2 top-25) – (10) Cal State Fullerton, (25) Cal Poly & (28) UC Irvine
BIG EAST (2 … 2 top-25) – (12) Louisville and (18) Notre Dame
Southland (2) – (21) Central Arkansas & (37) Lamar
Conference USA (2 … 1 top-25) – (23) Rice & (34) Houston
Big Ten (2) – (27) Indiana & (47) Illinois
West Coast (2) – (30) San Diego & (50) Gonzaga
Sun Belt (2) – (31) South Alabama & (35) Louisiana-Lafayette
Atlantic Sun (2) – (32) Florida Gulf Coast & (36) Mercer
1 Each – Mountain West (#38 UNLV), Big South (#39 Campbell), Ohio Valley (#41 Austin Peay), Southern (#46 Furman) & Ivy League (#49 Dartmouth)
BIGGEST JUMPS WITHIN THE CNR TOP-50 – Texas A&M (#39 to #26) … Virginia Tech (#41 to #29) … South Alabama (#42 to #31) … Houston (#44 to #34)
RETURNERS/NEWCOMERS TO THE CNR TOP-50 – (39) Campbell, (40) California, (43) Texas Tech, (48) Washington State, (50) Auburn and (50) Gonzaga (Auburn was in the CB360 top-50 previously this season)
DROPPED OUT OF THE CNR TOP-50 – (40) Missouri State, (45) Florida, (46) VCU, (48) Southeastern Louisiana and (49) Connecticut.
BIGGEST DROPS WITHIN THE CNR TOP-50 – UNLV (#22 to #38) … Clemson (#28 to #44) .. Arizona (#21 to #33) … Florida Gulf Coast (#23 to #32) … Miami (#31 to #42) … Texas (#36 to #45) … Furman (#38 to #46) … Dartmouth (#42 to #49)
COLLEGE BASEBALL 360 COMPOSITE TOP-50 (#6)
(updated after week-5, through games on March 17, 2013)
| Rank | Team | Pts | After Week-4 | After Week-3 | After Week-2 | After Week-1 | 2013 Preseason |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Carolina | 99.85 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 | Vanderbilt | 98.18 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| 3 | Oregon State | 97.25 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
| 4 | LSU | 97.16 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| 5 | South Carolina | 94.92 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 6 | Mississippi | 93.20 | 6 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 22 |
| 7 | UCLA | 92.54 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 5 | 5 |
| 8 | Florida State | 92.59 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
| 9 | Georgia Tech | 89.95 | 11 | 16 | 20 | 19 | 18 |
| 10 | Cal State Fullerton | 89.99 | 10 | 11 | 18 | 21 | 23 |
| 11 | Kentucky | 90.02 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | Louisville | 88.18 | 13 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 16 |
| 13 | Virginia | 83.08 | 17 | 20 | 24 | 28 | 29 |
| 14 | Oregon | 84.43 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 8 |
| 15 | Mississippi State | 88.96 | 12 | 5 | 9 | 12 | 13 |
| 16 | North Carolina State | 81.95 | 18 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
| 17 | Oklahoma | 79.70 | 20 | 15 | 16 | 18 | 17 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 80.15 | 19 | 24 | 29 | 41 | 50 |
| 19 | Arizona State | 84.39 | 15 | 21 | 26 | 30 | 27 |
| 20 | Arkansas | 83.93 | 16 | 19 | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| 21 | Central Arkansas | 65.82 | 27 | 44 | – | – | – |
| 22 | Stanford | 73.48 | 24 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 6 |
| 23 | Rice | 68.51 | 26 | 23 | 14 | 13 | 21 |
| 24 | Oklahoma State | 60.30 | 30 | 32 | 38 | – | – |
| 25 | Cal Poly | 68.78 | 25 | 27 | 28 | 38 | – |
| 26 | Texas A&M | 48.69 | 39 | 40 | 37 | 26 | 25 |
| 27 | Indiana | 62.38 | 29 | 39 | – | – | – |
| 28 | UC Irvine | 59.63 | 32 | 22 | 21 | 22 | 30 |
| 29 | Virginia Tech | 48.19 | 41 | 25 | 31 | 31 | 45 |
| 30 | San Diego | 53.93 | 35 | 36 | – | 33 | 20 |
| 31 | South Alabama | 48.08 | 43 | – | 34 | – | – |
| 32 | Florida Gulf Coast | 74.33 | 23 | 28 | 22 | – | – |
| 33 | Arizona | 78.21 | 21 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 19 |
| 34 | Houston | 47.68 | 44 | – | – | – | – |
| 35 | Louisiana-Lafayette | 54.78 | 34 | 42 | 43 | – | – |
| 36 | Mercer | 56.29 | 33 | 33 | 36 | – | – |
| 37 | Lamar | 52.45 | 37 | 45 | – | – | – |
| 38 | UNLV | 74.97 | 22 | – | – | – | – |
| 39 | Campbell | 43.60 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 40 | California | 48.50 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 41 | Austin Peay | 44.85 | 47 | – | – | – | – |
| 42 | Miami | 59.84 | 31 | 26 | 23 | 25 | 26 |
| 43 | Texas Tech | – | – | – | – | – | |
| 44 | Clemson | 62.97 | 28 | 31 | 27 | 29 | 28 |
| 45 | Texas | 53.91 | 36 | 35 | 25 | 27 | 24 |
| 46 | Furman | 49.36 | 38 | – | – | – | – |
| 47 | Illinois | 43.60 | 50 | – | – | – | – |
| 48 | Washington State | 43.60 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 49 | Dartmouth | 48.13 | 42 | 43 | – | – | – |
| 50 | Gonzaga | 53.11 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 50 | Auburn | 47.36 | – | – | – | – | 48 |
**
COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS (CNR) CRITERIA: As the season progresses, CB360′s 100-point Composite National Rankings formula ultimately becomes centered around upwards of 16 core ingredients – plus a bonus/penalty factor based on record over final-10 games. The CNR combines a diverse collection of “experts” (ranging from coaches, various media, computer calculations and postseason projections) – to help provide a preview of teams that could be in the running for the 2012 NCAA Championship field (hypothetically 50 teams, plus 14 others from lower-rated automatic-bid conferences).
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 are used only 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 late in the season (final-10 games), a maximum bonus/penalty of 0.3 (SOS) or 0.5 points (final-10) is factored into the formula (in that case, 39.7 or 39.5, rather than 40, is added to the poll/rating/projection avg.).
For the current CNR formula, a slight bonus (max. +0.6 pts) was awarded based on early-season RPI (per BoydsWorld.com).
Here are links to the six criteria currently used in the CNR, as of March 19, 2013:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN); top-25 plus rec. votes
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (top-30, plus rec. votes)
• Baseball America poll (top-25)
• Colllegiate Baseball magazine rankings (top-30)
• Perfect Game rankings (top-25, plus others to watch)
• Boyds World early-season RPI; top-60 (slight bonus; max. +0.6 pts)