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A few weeks removed from college baseball players again dominating the selections in the 2016 Major League Draft, there once more is a significant college baseball influence among the Major League All-Star selections. Of the 79 total players who were selected for the 2016 All-Star Game (including nine who are replacement players), there are five more (29) that played college baseball compared to those who went straight to pro baseball from high school (24). The rest of the 2016 All-Star contingent includes 26 foreign players (who did not attend college in the U.S.), an amount that also is fewer than the number of college baseball alums among the 2016 All-Star players.

(Note: all content and extensive research on this page courtesy of CB360’s Pete LaFleur, please credit accordingly … also note that an in-depth look at the wild 2016 college baseball postseason, including Coastal Carolina’s historic CWS title, is forthcoming on CollegeBaseball360.com … and be sure to follow along on Twitter via @CB360updates for notes on college baseball, MLB All-Star ties, etc.)

Buster Posey – who transitioned from middle infield to catcher later in his college career at Florida State – has developed into an All-Star starting catcher and three-time World Series champ with San Francisco.

One year ago among the 2015 All-Star selections, the ratio was even more significant – as there were nearly twice as many (41) who played college baseball compared to those who went straight to pro baseball from high school (22), plus 13 foreign-based players among the 2015 All-Stars. Similarly, the 2014 All-Stars included 33 college baseball products, 19 straight-from-high school and 29 foreign-based products.

Click on the links below to see releases similar to this one for the previous two MLB All-Star Games:
> 2015
> 2014

Here is a basic breakdown of the All-Stars from the past three seasons (2014–16):
• 2014: 33 college … 19 HS … 29 foreign
• 2015 41 college … 22 HS … 13 foreign
• 2016: 29 college … 24 HS … 25 foreign
> 2004–16: 103 college … 65 HS … 67 foreign-based

As shown in the breakdown above, nearly half (44%; 103 of 235) of the total All-Stars spanning the past three seasons have been college products (compared to only 28% that entered pro ball directly from high school and another 28% who are foreign-based).

Kris Bryant (Chicago Cubs/University of San Diego)

Most of the college baseball alums among the 2016 All-Stars are former Division I players (25 of 29), plus one former Division II player and three who entered pro ball directly from junior college.

For the third straight year, a toss around the National League starting infield will touch the gloves of several different college baseball alums – Giants catcher Buster Posey (Florida State), Blue Jays 2B Ben Zobrist (Dallas Baptist) and Cubs 3B Kris Bryant (Univ. of San Diego). … A year ago, the 2015 NL infield starters also included Posey, plus Diamondbacks 1B Paul Goldschmidt (Texas State), Rockies 2B DJ Le Mahieu (LSU; inj. replacement for fellow former college player Dee Gordon) and Reds 3B Todd Frazier (Rutgers). … And in 2014, the NL infield starters included Goldschmidt, Phillies 2B Chase Utley (UCLA), Rockies SS Troy Tulowitzki (Long Beach State) and Brewers catcher Jonathan Lucroy (Louisiana-Lafayette).

White Sox ace Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast) – the 2016 American League starting pitcher – was one of several 2014 All-Star lefthanded pitchers who entered pro ball from the college ranks.

In addition to Posey, Goldschmidt, Zobrist and Bryant, there are three other college baseball products among the 2016 All-Star position starters: White Sox LHP Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), Nationals RF Bryce Harper (Southern Nevada JC) and Red Sox CF Jackie Bradley, Jr. (Univ. of South Carolina). In addition to Sale, Steven Wright (Indians/Univ. of Hawaii) and Jake Arrietta (Cubs/TCU) also were considered top options to be All-Star starting pitchers.

A year ago in 2015, there were 10 total All-Star starters who were college baseball products: Posey, Goldschmidt, Le Mahieu/Gordon, Frazier, Harper, Blue Jays 3B Josh Donaldson (Auburn), Astros LHP Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas), the Royals OF duo of Alex Gordon (Nebraska/inj.) and Lorenzo Cain (Tallahassee JC), and Angels 1B Albert Pujols (Maple Woods JC).

TCU product and current Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta was a top contender to start for the National League in the 2016 All-Star Game.

In addition to being the only college baseball program to reach the College World Series in each of the past three seasons (2014–16), TCU also is the only college program with multiple 2016 MLB All-Stars: Arrieta and Cardinals 3B Matt Carpenter.

The 26 foreign-based 2016 All-Stars predictably are dominated by players from the Dominican Republic (12) and Venezuela (6), plus two each from Cololbia, Cuba and Puerto Rico, along with one each from Aruba and Curacao. The 24 direct-from-high-school players among the 2016 All-Stars include eight from Florida, four each from California and Texas, three from North Carolina, and one each from Georgia, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Washington.

 

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Courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com, here’s an assortment of notes about the 2016 All-Star Game within the context of college baseball (the info. also includes some corresponding 2014 & ’15 data, which can be accessed more in-depth via the links near top of this page) …

• Breaking Down The 2016 All-Star Selections
(79 total, includes nine replacement players)
29– former college baseball players (all listed below, scroll down)
24 – players who went straight to pro ball from high school
26 – foreign-based players

(note: in 2015, the breakdown was 41 college, 13 foreign & 22 straight from high school … and in 2014: 33 college, 29 foreign & 19 straight from high school)

Dallas Baptist product Ben Zobrist – who played for four different AL teams spanning the 2014–15 seasons (capped by helping the Royals win the 2015 World Series) – now is an All-Star starter for the National League, as the Chicago Cubs everyday second baseman

• Comparing the Leagues …
National League
16 – former college baseball players (all listed below)
13 – players who went straight to pro ball from HS
15 – foreign-based players
(2015: 20 college/5 foreign/13 HS
… 2014: 19 college/12 foreign/10 HS)

American League
13 – former college baseball players (all listed below)
11 – players who went straight to pro ball from HS
11 – foreign-based players
(2015: 21 college/8 foreign/9 HS
… 2014: 14 college/17 foreign/9 HS)
• Former College Baseball Players
who are 2016 All-Star Starters:
NL catcher Buster Posey  (S.F. Giants) – Florida St.
NL 2B Ben Zobrist  (Chicago Cubs) – Dallas Baptist
NL 3B Kris Bryant  (Cubs) – U. of san Diego
NL RF Bryce Harper  (Washington Nationals) – Southern Nevada JC
AL LHP Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) – Florida Gulf Coast
AL CF Jackie Bradley, Jr.  (Boston Red Sox) – South Carolina

University of South Carolina standout Jackie Bradley, Jr. – who led the Gamecocks to 2010 and ’11 College World Series titles – is an American League starter in the 2016 MLB All-Star Game (as a member of the Boston Red Sox).

(the 17 initial All-Star starters, with pitchers TBD, also include five foreign-based/non-college players and seven who entered pro ball straight from high school, plus two TBA/pitchers … this breakdown does not include a couple injury replacements into the starting lineup)

… a year earlier in 2015, there were 10 college baseball products among the initial 20 All-Star starters (listed above, within the intro. text) – compared to only five 2015 All-Star starters who had entered pro ball straight from high school)

… the six former college baseball players who were 2014 All-Star starters: Goldschmidt, Donaldson, NL catcher Jonathan Lucroy (Brewers/Louisiana-Lafayette), NL 2B Chase Utley (Phillies/UCLA), NL SS Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies/Long Beach St.) and AL RF Jose Bautista (Blue Jays/Chipola JC), plus seven foreign-based players and six who entered pro ball straight from high school.

• College Baseball Programs represented in the 2016 All-Star Game:
(28  programs/24 DI)
2 – TCU (Jake Arrieta & Matt Carpenter)
1 – Arizona, Auburn, Dallas Baptist, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Hawaii, Jacksonville, Long Beach State, Louisiana-Lafayette, LSU, Louisville, Mississippi, Missouri, Monmouth, North Carolina, San Diego, San Diego State, South Carolina, Stetson, Texas, Texas State and Texas Tech.
– also one each from: D2 Azusa Pacific, Southern Nevada JC, Wallace State (AL) JC and Tallahassee (FL) JC.

… in 2015, the breakdown of the 41 college baseball products among the All-Stars included 31 college programs (two each from Miami, UCLA, Vanderbilt and Chipola JC), 28 of them DI schools:
2 – Miami (Ryan Braun & Yasmani Grandel)
2 – UCLA (Brandon Crawford & Gerrit Cole)
2 – Vanderbilt (Sonny Gray and David Price)
2 – Chipola (FL) JC (Jose Bautista & Russell Martin)
1 – Arizona, Arizona State, Arkansas, Auburn, College of Charleston, Florida, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Long Beach State, LSU, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Missouri, Nebraska, Notre Dame, Rice, Rutgers, St. John’s, San Diego, USC, Southern Mississippi, Stetson, Texas A&M and Texas State.
– also one each from: D2 Azusa Pacific and Nova Southeastern; NAIA Southeastern (FL) Univ. (Cowley County (KS) JC, Maple Woods (MO) JC, Okaloosa Walton (FL) JC (now Northwest Florida State JC), Southern Nevada JC and Tallahassee (FL) JC.

American League third baseman Josh Donaldson (Blue Jays) was a starter in the 2014 and ’15 All-Star Games. Donaldson played for the A’s in 2014, when he joined Tim Hudson as former Auburn players who were named to the 2014 All-Star rosters.

… a total of 60 different college baseball programs can boast at least one MLB All-Star over the past three seasons (2014–16)

• These six schools can lay claim to at least one MLB All-Star in each of the past three seasons:
Auburn  (Josh Donaldson ’14, ’15 & ’16; Tim Hudson ’14)
Georgia Tech  (Matt Wieters ’14 & ’16; Charlie Blackmon ’14; Mark Teixeira ’15)
Missouri  (Max Scherzer ’14, ’15 & ’16; Ian Kinsler ’14)
Florida Gulf Coast  (Chris Sale ’14, ’15 & ’16)
Long Beach State  (Troy Tulowitzki ’14 & ’15; Marco Estrada ’16)
Texas State  (Paul Goldschmidt ’14, ’15 & ’16)

… eight other college programs had All-Star representation in 2014 and ’15 but not in 2016: Nebraska (Alex Gordon ’14 & ’15; Tony Watson ’14) … Minnesota (Glen Perkins ’14 & ’15) … Notre Dame (Jeff Samardzija ’14; A.J. Pollock ’15) … Rutgers (Todd Frazier ’14 & ’15) … UCLA (Chase Utley ’14; Gerrit Cole and Brandon Crawford ’15) … Vanderbilt (David Price ’14 & ’15; Sonny Gray ’15) … Southeastern Univ. (Dee Gordon ’14 & ’15) … and Chipola JC (Jose Bautista ’14 & ’15; Hector Santiago ’15)

… the 2014 All-Stars (33) included two former players from Auburn, Georgia Tech, Missouri and Nebraska, plus one each from Butler, California, Cal State Fullerton, Cincinnati, Florida Gulf Coast, Jacksonville, Long Beach State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Minnesota, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Rutgers, Texas, Texas-Arlington, TCU, Texas State, UCLA, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Western Carolina, D3 Wisconsin-Stevens Point, NAI Southeastern Univ., Chipola JC, Jefferson JC and Wallace State JC.

Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals/San Diego State)

• College Baseball Products 2016 MLB All-Stars sorted by position:
11 righthanded pitchers (of 25)
3 lefthanded pitchers (of 9)
4 catchers (of 6)
2 first baseman (of 6)
2 second baseman (of 4)
0 shortstops (of 6)
3 third basemen (of 5)
2 leftfielders (of 3)
1 centerfielder (of 7)
1 rightfielders (of 6)
0 designated hitters  (of 2)
(positions based on mlb.com bio listings)

… the 2015 breakdown of college baseball products that were MLB All-Stars:
11 RHPs (of 20) … 4 LHPs (of 9)
4 catchers (of 6) … 3 first baseman (of 7)
5 second baseman (of 6) … 2 SS (of 5)
4 third basemen (of 7) … 2 LF (of 4)
2 CF (of 6) … 4 RF (of 6)

… and the 2014 breakdown of former college baseball players among the MLB all-stars: 9 of 23 RHPs, 6 of 11 LHPs, 3 of 8 catchers, 1 of 7 1B, 4 of 6 2B, 1 of 5 SS, 4 of 6 3B, 1 of 3 LF, 0 of 4 CF, 4 of 6 RF)

St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter (pictured) and Chicago Cubs ace Jake Arrieta both were named to the 2016 MLB All-Star Game, making TCU the only college program with multiple products among the 2016 All-Stars.

… Combined 2014, 2015 & 2016 former college baseball players on All-Star rosters
11 second baseman (of 16) – 69%
11 third basemen (of 18) – 61%
11 catchers (of 20) – 55%
9 rightfielders (of 18) – 50%
5 leftfielders (of 10) – 50%
31 RH pitchers (of 68) – 46%
13 LH pitchers (of 29) – 45%
6 first baseman (of 20) – 30%
3 shortstops (of 16) – 19%
3 centerfielders (of 17) – 18%
0 DHs (of 2)
… over past three seasons, nearly half of the All-Star pitchers (44 of 97) have been former college baseball players, plus 11-of-16 second basemen, 11-of-18 third basemen, 11-of-20 catchers and 14-of-28 corner outfielders (but only 3-of-16 shortstops and 3-of-17 centerfielders).

• Lots-o-Lefties – In 2014, six of the 11 lefthanded pitchers named to the ’14 All-Star Game were former college baseball players, with that group including David Price (Vanderbilt), Chris Sale (Florida Gulf Coast), Sean Doolittle (Virginia), Tony Watson (Nebraska), Glen Perkins (Minnesota) and Mark Buehrle (Jefferson, MO, JC) … Price, Sale and Perkins returned as 2015 All-Stars, along with fellow LHP Dallas Kuechel (Arkansas), followed by three more LHPs with college baseball backgrounds among the 2016 All-Star rosters: Sale, Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss) and Andrew Miller (North Carolina).

University of Hawaii product Steven Wright (now a standout with the Cleveland Indians) was on the short list to be named the American League starting pitcher in the 2016 All-Star Game.

• Breakdown by Major League Team – the 29 college baseball products among the 2016 All-Star contingent come from 19 different Major League teams … there are four different MLB teams (Red Sox, Cubs, Jays and Nationals) each with three college baseball products among their All-Star contingent, plus two each from the Orioles and Giants:

3 – Boston Red Sox  (Craig Kimbrel, Steven Wright and Jackie Bradley, Jr.)
3 – Chicago Cubs  (Jake Arietta, Ben Zobrist and Kris Bryant)
3 – Toronto Blue Jays  (Marco Estrada, Josh Donaldson and Michael Saunders)
3 – Washington Nationals  (Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper)
2 – Baltimore Orioles
(Brad Brach and Matt Wieters)
2 – San Francisco Giants
(Buster Posey and Brandon Belt)
1 – Arizona Diamondbacks  (Paul Goldschmidt)
1 – Chicago White Sox  (Chris Sale)
1 – Cincinnati Reds  (Adam Duvall)
1 – Cleveland Indians  (Corey Kluber)
1 – Houston Astros  (Will Harris)
1 – Miami Marlins  (AJ Ramos)
1 – Milwaukee Brewers  (Matthew Lucroy)
1 – New York Mets  (Daniel Murphy)
1 – New York Yankees (Andrew Miller)
1 – Oakland A’s  (Stephen Vogt)
1 – Pittsburgh Pirates  (Mark Melancon)
1 – St. Louis Cardinals  (Matt Carpenter)
1 – San Diego Padres  (Drew Pomeranz)
… none from Anaheim Angels, Atlanta Braves, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers, Kansas City Royals, Los Angeles Dodgers, Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Seattle Mariners, Tampa Bay Rays and Texas Rangers)

Mark Melancon (Pittsburgh Pirates/University of Arizona)

… and a year ago, the 41 college baseball alums among the 2015 All-Star contingent came from 26 different Major League teams (all but Atlanta, San Diego, Seattle and Texas) … there were three San Francisco Giants 2015 All-Stars who played college baseball and three more from the Toronto Blue Jays, plus two each from 10 other teams:
3 – San Francisco Giants
(Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik)
3 – Toronto Blue Jays
(Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin & Jose Bautista)
2 – Oakland A’s
(Sonny Gray and Josh Donaldson)
2 – Arizona Diamondbacks
(Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock)
2 – St. Louis Cardinals
(Michael Wacha and Trevor Rosenthal)
2 – Pittsburgh Pirates
(Gerritt Cole and Mark Melancon, both Pac-12)
2 – Colorado Rockies
(Troy Tulowitzki and DJ LeMahieu)
2 – New York Yankees
(Mark Teixeira and Brett Gardner)
2 – Kansas City Royals
(Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain)
2 – Detroit Tigers
(David Price and J.D. Martinez)
2 – Washington Nationals
(Max Scherzer and Bryce Harper)
2 – Anaheim Angels
(Albert Pujols and Hector Santiago)

… the 2014 All-Stars included 33 former college baseball alums, spread out among 23 MLB teams (three from the As, and two each from the Giants, Cards, Padres, Royals, Tigers, Pirates, Blue Jays, Twins and Rockies) … all of those teams except the Padres also had multiple former college players among their 2015 All-Stars.

… notes: the American League East (9) features the most 2016 All-Stars who are former college players, followed by seven from the National League Central (which is the only division with all five teams represented by college baseball alums) … there also are five college baseball products among the NL East All-Stars, plus four from the NL West and two each from the AL Central and AL West … over the past three seasons (2014–16), the Texas Rangers are the only MLB team that has not featured at least one MLB All-Star who is a former college baseball player.

• Cold-Weather Products – Roughly 20% of the Division I college baseball products (6 of 32) among the 2015 All-Stars were products of programs from the Midwest or Northeast, including three (Frazier, Pollock and Panik) who played in the BIG EAST Conference (in the days before recent reconfiguration):
– Missouri: Max Scherzer  (Detroit Tigers)
– Nebraska: Alex Gordon  (Kansas City Royals)
– Rutgers: Todd Frazier  (Cincinnati Reds)
– Notre Dame: A.J. Pollock  (Arizona Diamondbacks)
– St. John’s: Joe Panik  (San Francisco Giants)
– Minnesota: Glen Perkins  (Minnesota Twins)

Monmouth College product Brad Brach emerged from a college baseball career in New Jersey to becoming a 2016 MLB All-Star (as a member of the Baltimore Orioles).

… Scherzer is back in the All-Star mix again this season, as is Orioles RHP Brad Brach, who – like Frazier – played his college ball in New Jersey (at Monmouth).

… and two years ago, there were 11 former college players from the Midwest or Northeast among the 2014 All-Stars: Scherzer, Gordon, Perkins and Frazier, plus Ian Kinsler (Tigers/Missouri), Tony Watson (Pirates/Nebraska), Pat Newshek (Cardinals/Butler), Josh Harrison (Pirates/Univ. of Cincinnati), Jeff Samardzija (Cubs & A’s/Notre Dame), Jordan Zimmerman (Nationals/Wis.-Stevens Point) and Mark Buehrle (Blue Jays/Jefferson JC).

• CWS Teams Representing – Three of the 2016 College World Series programs can boast proud alums among the 2016 All-Stars, including one from NCAA runner-up Arizona:
– TCU: RHP Jake Arrieta (Cubs) and 3B Matt Carpenter (Cardinals)
– Arizona: RHP Mark Melancon (Pirates)
– Texas Tech: RHP A.J. Ramos (Marlins)

… One year earlier, five of the 2015 CWS programs (all but UVa, TCU and Fullerton – each of which had former players among the 2014 All Stars) featured alums among the 2015 All-Stars (7 total), including two from NCAA runner-up Vanderbilt and two from Miami:
– Vanderbilt: LHP David Price (Rays) & RHP Sonny Gray (A’s)
– Miami: C Yasmani Grandal (Dodgers) & OF Ryan Braun (Brewers)
– Arkansas: LHP Dallas Kuechel (Astros)
– LSU: 2B DJ LeMahieu (Rockies)
– Florida: RHP Darren O’Day (Orioles)

… Half of the 2014 CWS teams had former players among the 2014 All-Stars: Carpenter, Price, Virginia LHP Sean Doolittle (A’s) and Texas RHP Huston Street (Padres).

… The 2016 All-Stars include six players who also played in the College World Series earlier in their baseball careers (one on a two-time champion; two others on runner-up teams):
– Will Harris (LSU infielder/pitcher 2003 & ’04)
– Andrew Miller (North Carolina 2006 runner-up)
– Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech catcher/closer 2006)
– Brandon Belt (Texas 2009 runner-up)
– Buster Posey (Florida State 2008)
– Jackie Bradley, Jr. (South Carolina 2010 & ’11 champs)

Will Harris – now a 2016 MLB All-Star (Houston Astros) – was an infielder/pitcher on two College World Series teams while at LSU (2003 and ’04).

… and the 2015 All-Stars included a boatload of players (15) from former CWS teams:

Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt 2011)
Michael Wacha (Texas A&M 2011)
Gerrit Cole (UCLA 2010 runner-up)
DJ Le Mahieu (LSU 2008, plus 2009 champs)
Dallas Kuechel (Arkansas 2009)
Brian Dozier (Southern Mississippi 2009)
Jason Kipnis (Arizona State 2009)
Buster Posey (Florida State 2008)
Yasmani Grandal (Miami 2008)
Ryan Braun (Miami 2003, ’04 and ’05)
Alex Gordon (Nebraska 2005)
Darren O’Day (Florida 2005 runner-up)
Mark Teixeira (Georgia Tech 2000)

> BONUS INFO. – 2016 MLB Futures Games connections to college baseball – The 2016 MLB Futures Game (played June 10, in San Diego) included 15 college baseball products among the 25 players on the U.S. team … seven of those 15 played at SEC schools, including two each from Vanderbilt and Arkansas (plus one each from Mississippi State, LSU and Tennessee) … the eight others played at: Rice, Stephen F. Austin, Furman, East Carolina, Oregon, San Jacinto JC and Yavapai JC (plus one who played at Cal State Fullerton and then Southern Nevada JC) … two schools – LSU and Southern Nevada (JC) – can boast a former player in both the 2016 MLB All-Star Game and Futures Game.

• 2016 MLB Future Games – U.S. Team Roster
Pitchers (7 of 10 college products)
LHP Anthony Banda (Diamondbacks AAA) – San Jacinto (TX) JC
RHP Phil Bickford (Giants A+) – CS Fullerton & Southern Nevada (JC)
RHP J.T. Chargois (Twins AAA) – Rice
RHP Carson Fulmer (White Sox AA) – Vanderbilt
RHP Jeff Hoffman (Rockies AAA) –East Carolina
LHP Nate Smith (Dodgers AAA) – Furman
RHP Ryne Stanek (Rays AA) – Arkansas
… the other three include a former St. John’s University basketball player, LHP Amir Garrett, plus two players direct-from-HS (from Maryland and California)

Catchers (0 of 2 college)
… direct from HS (Illinois and California)

Infielders (5 of 7 college)
Alex Bregman (Astros AAA) – LSU
Willie Calhoun (Dodgers AA) – Yavapai JC
Hunter Dozier (Royals AAA) – Stephen F. Austin
Ron Healy (A’s AAA) – Oregon
Dansby Swanson (Braves AA) – Vanderbilt
… also high school products from New York and California

Outfielders (3 of 6 college)
Andrew Benintendi (Red SoxB AA) – Arkansas
Hunter Renfroe (Padres AAA) – Mississippi State
Christin Stewart (Tigers A+) – Tennessee
… also HS products from Arizona, Alabama and Georgia

____________

• COLLEGE BASEBALL products among 2016 ALL-STAR Selections
(29 of 78, with only 24 straight-from HS players, plus 26 foreign players who did not play college baseball … 25 of the college baseball alums played on the DI level, plus one from D2 and three who entered pro ball out of junior college)
all info. courtesy of Pete LaFleur, CollegeBaseball360.com – please credit accordingly 

… note that the 2015 All-Stars included 41 of 76 who were college baseball products and only 22 are straight-from HS players, plus 13 foreign-based players … 32 of the college baseball alums among those 2015 All-Stars played on the DI level, plus a pair from D2, one NAIA and six who entered pro ball out of JC)

Corey Kluber (Cleveland Indians) follows in the footsteps of Mets talented young righthander Jacob de Grom as the second Stetson product to earn an All-Star spot during the past two seasons.

RIGHTHANDED PITCHERS (11, of 25)
… also 5 straight-from-HS & 9 foreign
National League
Jake Arrieta (Chicago Cubs) – TCU
Mark Melancon (Pittsburgh Pirates) – Arizona (also ’15 All-Star)
A.J. Ramos (Miami Marlins) – Texas Tech
Stephen Strasburg (Washington Nationals) – San Diego State
Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) – Missouri (also ’14 & ’15 All-Star)
> note: Scherzer is an injury replacement for his Nationals teammate Strasburg

American League
Brad Brach  (Baltimore Orioles) – Monmouth
Marco Estrada  (Toronto Blue Jays) – Long Beach State (injured)
Will Harris  (Houston Astros) – LSU
Craig Kimbrel  (Boston Red Sox) – Wallace State (AL) JC  (inj.; also ’14 All-Star)
Corey Kluber  (Cleveland Indians) – Stetson  (injury replacement)
Steven Wright  (Boston Red Sox) – Hawaii

> … 2015 RHPs (11 of 20): Melancon, Scherzer, Michael Wacha (Cards/Texas A&M), Jacob de Grom (Mets/Stetson), Gerrit Cole (Pirates/UCLA), Jonathan Papelbon (Phillies/Mississippi St), Trevor Rosenthal (Cards/Cowley County [KS] JC), Sonny Gray (A’s/Vanderbilt), Darren O’Day (Orioles/Univ. of Florida), Brad Boxberger (Rays/USC) and Hector Santiago (Angels/Okaloosa-Walton [FL] JC )

> … 2014 RHPs (9): Scherzer, Kimbrel, Tim Hudson (Giants/Auburn), Pat Newshek (Cards/Butler), Tyson Ross (Padres/Univ. of California), Jeff Samardzija (Cubs & A’s/Notre Dame), Huston Street (Padres/Univ. of Texas), Jordan Zimmerman (Nationals/Wis.-Stevens Point) and Greg Holland (Royals/Western Carolina)
___

Andrew Miller (New York Yankees/North Carolina)

LEFTHANDED PITCHERS (3, of 8)
… also 5 straight from HS and 1 foreign
National League
Drew Pomeranz  (San Diego Padres) – Mississippi  (injury replacement)

American League
Andrew Miller (New York Yankees) – North Carolina
Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox) – Florida Gulf Coast  *starter* (also 2014 and ’15 All-Star)

> … 2015 LHPs (4 of 9): Sale, Dallas Kuechel (Astros/Arkansas), David Price (Rays/Vanderbilt) and Glen Perkins (Twins/ Univ. of Minnesota)

> … 2014 LHPs (6): Price, Sale, Perkins, Tony Watson (Pirates/Univ. of Nebraska), Mark Buehrle (Blue Jays/Jefferson JC) and Sean Doolittle (A’s/Virginia)

___

Former Louisiana-Lafayette player Jonathan Lucroy (Milwaukee Brewers) has been named an MLB All-Star in two of the past three seasons.

CATCHERS (4, of 6)
… also 2 foreign-based players
National League
Buster Posey  (San Francisco Giants) – Florida State  *starter*
(also started in 2015 All-Star game)
Jonathan Lucroy  (Milwaukee Brewer) – Louisiana-Lafayette (also ’14 All-Star)

American League
Stephen Vogt  (Oakland A’s) – Azusa Pacific (also ’15 All-Star)
Matt Wieters  (Baltimore Orioles) – Georgia Tech (also ’14 All-Star)

> … 2015 catchers (4 of 6): Posey, Yasmani Grandel (Dodgers/Univ. of Miami), Russell Martin (Blue Jays/Chipola JC) and Stephen Vogt (A’s/Azusa Pacific)

> … 2014 catchers (3): Lucroy (Brewers/Louisiana-Lafayette), Kurt Suzuki (Twins/Fullerton) and Matt Wieters (Orioles/Georgia Tech)

___

Diamondbacks big bopper Paul Goldschmidt honed his craft as a college baseball player at Texas State (previously known as Southwest Texas State).

 

FIRST BASEMEN (2, of 6)
… also 3 straight from HS and 1 foreign
National League
Brandon Belt  (San Francisco Giants) – Texas
Paul Goldschmidt (Arizona Diamondbacks) – Texas State
(also 2014 & ’15 All-Star/starter both years)

American League
none

> … 2015 first basemen (3 of 7): Goldschmidt, Mark Teixeira (Yankees/Georgia Tech) and Albert Pujols (Angels/Maple Woods [MO] JC)

> … 2014 first basemen (1): Goldschmidt

___

2015 MLB postseason hero Daniel Murphy – a 2014 and ’16 All-Star – emerged from a college career at Jacksonville University.

 

 

SECOND BASEMEN (2, of 4)
… also two foreign-based players
National League
Daniel Murphy  (Washington Nationals) – Jacksonville Univ.
(also 2014 All-Star)
Ben Zobrist  (Chicago Cubs) – Dallas Baptist *starter*
(also 2013 Alll-Star)

American League
none

> … 2015 second basemen (5 of 6): Dee Gordon (Dodgers/Southeastern [FL] Univ), DJ LeMahieu (Rockies/LSU), Joe Panik (Giants/St. John’s), Brian Dozier (Twins/Southern Mississippi) and Jason Kipnis (Indians/Arizona State)

> … 2014 second basemen (4): Murphy, Gordon, Chase Utley (Phillies/UCLA) and Ian Kinsler (Tigers/Missouri)

___

SHORTSTOPS (0, of 6)
… also 3 direct from HS and 3 foreign
National League
none

American League
none

> … 2015 shortstops (2 of 5): Brandon Crawford (Giants/UCLA) and Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies/Long Beach State)

> … 2014 shortstops: Tulowitzki

___

THIRD BASEMEN (3, of 5)
… also 2 direct from high school
National League
Kris Bryant  (Chicago Cubs) – U. of San Diego *starter* (also ’15 All-Star)
Matt Carpenter  (St. Louis Cardinals) – TCU (inj.; also ’14 all-star)

American League
Josh Donaldson  (Toronto Blue Jays) – Auburn
(also 2015 All-Star … and 2014 All-Star w/ Oakland A’s)

> … 2015 third basemen (4 of 7): Bryant, Donaldson, Todd Frazier (Reds/Rutgers) and Brock Holt (Red Sox/Rice)

> … 2014 third basemen (4): Frazier, Donaldson, Carpenter and Kyle Seager (Mariners/North Carolina)

___

Adam Duvall (Cincinnati Reds/Louisville)

LEFT FIELDERS (2, of 3)
… also 1 foreign-based player
National League
Adam Duvall  (Cincinnati Reds) – Louisville

American League
Michael Saunders  (Toronto Blue Jays) – Tallahassee JC

> … 2015 left fielders (2 of 4): Alex Gordon (Royals/Nebraska) and Brett Gardner  (Yankees/Coll. of Charleston)

> … 2014 left fielders: Gordon

___

CENTER FIELDERS (1, of 7)
… also 3 direct from HS and 3 foreign
National League
none

American League
Jackie Bradley, Jr.  (Boston Red Sox) – South Carolina

> … 2015 center fielders (2 of 6): A.J. Pollock (Diamondbacks/Notre Dame) and Lorenzeo Cain (Royals/Tallahassee JC)

> … 2014 center fielders: none

___

RIGHT FIELDERS (4, of 6)
… also 3 direct from HS and 2 foreign
National League
Bryce Harper  (Washington Nationals) – Southern Nevada JC
*starter*  (also 2015 All-Star starter)

American League
none

> … 2015 right fielders: Harper, Ryan Braun (Brewers/U. of Miami), J.D. Martinez  (Tigers/Nova Southeastern) and Jose Bautista (Blue Jays/Chipola JC)

 

> … 2014 right fielders: Bautista, Charlie Blackmon (Rockies/Georgia Tech), Josh Harrison (Pirates/U. of Cincinnati) and Hunter Pence (Giants/Texas-Arlington).

___

DESIGNATE HITTERS (0, of 2)
… both are foreign-based players

 Additional 2016 All-Stars pictured below (hope to add one of Ben Zobrist to this release later):

______________________

Max Scherzer (Missouri) – Detroit Tigers

Matt Wieters (Georgia Tech) – Baltimore Orioles)

 

Marco Estrada (Long Beach State) – Toronto Blue Jays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brandon Belt (Texas) – San Francisco Giants

 

AJ Ramos (Texas Tech) – Miami Marlins

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Steven Vogt (Azusa Pacific) – Oakland A’s

Craig Kimbrel (Wallace State) – Cleveland Indians

 

Drew Pomeranz (Ole Miss) – San Diego Padres

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The CB360 Composite National Ranking (CNR) – a statistical formula created in 2009 and enhanced over the years by CollegeBaseball360 founder Pete LaFleur – are back for an eighth season in 2016, with plenty of familiar faces among the top teams but also some squads from across the country who are on the move upwards.

Outfielder Buddy Reed (23) and pitcher A.J. Puk (10) are among Florida’s talented returning core, as the top-ranked Gators are eyeing another appearance at the College World Series and an improvement on last season’s semifinal (bracket final) finish in Omaha. > photo courtesy Florida Athletics

(Scroll down for the full CNR preseason top-50, plus plenty of historical notes, some photos of 2016 teams/players and archived CNR preseason/final polls from 2011-15).

The Florida Gators – who have made three College World Series trips over the past five seasons (including 2011 runner-up and reaching the 2015 bracket finals/CWS semifinalist) – are the clear No. 1 in the 2016 preseason CNR, nearly reaching the maximum 100 points (99.64) to finish 2.55 points ahead of 2nd-place Vanderbilt (97.09), which reached the CWS title series in 2014 (beat Virginia) and again in 2015 (lost to UVa). The Commodores join the Gators and the Cavaliers as the teams with the most CWS trips (3) over the past three seasons, with Vandy and UVa both also reaching Omaha in 2011.

In a sampling of the 2011-16 CNR preseason top-50, it has been rare for two teams from the same conference to be among the top-3. All of the top-3 from the same conference? Didn’t happen at all from 2011-15 (will be checking the 2009 and ’10 seasons later) … but that’s the case in 2016, as Texas A&M checks in at No. 3, edging 4th-place Louisville (94.81 to 94.58) and, yet another SEC team, No. 5 LSU (94.44), with those three teams separated by only 0.37 of a point.

This marks the fourth time in the past five years that a Southeastern Conference team has sat atop the CB360 preseason CNR top-50: Florida in 2012, Arkansas in ’13, Vanderbilt in ’15 and now Florida again in ’16 (also Cal State Fullerton in 2014). Since 2011 (when UCLA held the top spot), Florida is the only repeat #1 in the CNR preseason top-50.

Spanning the previous five seasons, only twice were two of the top-3 teams in the CNR preseason top-50 from the same conference: 2012 (Florida and South Carolina) and 2013 (Arkansas and Vanderbilt). From 2011-16, Florida and Vanderbilt lead the way with being a CNR preseason top-3 in three different seasons (TCU and UVA have two top-3 preseason CNR rankings since 2011, plus one each for UCLA, South Crolina, Stanford, Arkansas, North Carolina, Fullerton, Oregon State and A&M).

> Here’s how the CNR preseason top-3 have shaken out over the past six seasons:
2011: [1] UCLA … [2] Florida … [3] TCU
2012: [1] Florida … [2] South Carolina … [3] Stanford
2013: [1] Arkansas … [2] North Carolina … [3] Vanderbilt
2014: [1] Cal State Fullerton … [2] Oregon State … [3] Virginia
2015: [1] Vanderbilt … [2] Oregon State … [3] Virginia
2016: [1] Florida … [2] Vanderbilt … [3] Texas A&M

The rest of the CNR preseason top-10 includes (6th-10th): Miami, Virginia, Oregon State, UCLA and Oklahoma State. The top-10 features the four SEC teams, plus three from the Atlantic Coast Conference, two Pac-12 and one Big 12.

Expanding out to top-16 (i.e. potential NCAA No. 1 seeds): there still are four SEC teams but also four from the SEC (add #13 Florida State) and four more from the Pac-12 (with #12 California and #14 Oregon), plus #11 TCU to give the Big 12 a pair within the top-16 (which also includes the Sun Belt’s Louisiana-Lafayette at #15 and the Big West’s CS Fullerton at #16).

CB360’s expanded CNR formula for the 2016 preseason includes the following 11 elements:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 59 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (77 total teams)
• DIBaseball.com preseason top-25, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (48 teams)
• Baseball America poll, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (48 teams)
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (preseason top-40)
• Perfect Game preseason rankings (40 total teams)
• Massey preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• DISportsNet computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Projected season strength of schedule (per Massey; bonus points, max. 1.0)
• Assorted Conference preseason coaches polls (bonus points, max. 1.0)
> SEC … ACC … Pac-12 … Big 12 … Big Ten … Big West …
AAC … MVC … Mt West … Sun Belt … Big South … Colonial … WCC

Note: scroll down near bottom of this page for complete 2016 preseason CB360 Top-50 – plus the final 2014 and 2015 CB360 Top-50 (mid-May, prior to postseason) and the preseason Top-50 for each of the previous five seasons (2011–15).

NEAR-UNANIMOUS #1 – Florida came up shy of the maximum 100 points in the 2015 preseason CNR, due mostly to not receiving all of the first-place votes in the ABCA preseason coaches poll (but still being No. 1). The Gators received 21 of the 31 first-place votes in the coaches poll, with the rest going to Vanderbilt (3), Virginia (3), Louisville (2) and one each for Texas A&M and LSU. Florida was No. 1 in seven of the eight other preseason national polls/rankings listed above (all but the Moore Power Rankings: #3 behind UVa and Vandy). The Gators also are #1 in the SEC Coaches Poll while coming in at #3 in projected season strength of schedule (these two elements play a smaller part in the CNR formula).

Oklahoma State juniors Ryan Sluder (8) and Dustin Williams (22) were freshman contributors on the 2014 team that nearly reached the College World Series, losing at home in the Super Regional round vs. UC Irvine. The #10 team in CB360’s 2016 preseason CNR, OK State could be primed to close the deal this time around and make the program’s first CWS appearance since 1999 (it would be the 20th all-time CWS trip for the Cowboys). >photo courtesy OK State

PROJECTING THE POSTSEASON ELITE – Based on the preseason CNR, the following eight teams project to be NCAA tournament seeds (and, if form holds, 2016 CWS participants): Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Louisville, LSUm Miami, Virginia and Oregon State. The CNR projects those eight teams plus the following eight as 2016 NCAA Regional hosts: UCLA, Oklahoma State, TCU, California, Florida State, Oregon, Louisiana-Lafayette and Cal State Fullerton..
The eight projected NCAA seeds/CWS participants include four SEC teams, three ACC and one Pac-12. The 16 projected NCAA Regional hosts include four each from the SEC, ACC and Pac-12 (plus two Big 12, and one each from the Sun Belt and Big West).

> One year ago, the 2015 preseason CNR was incredibly accurate, as the preseason #1 and #2 (Vanderbilt and Virginia) both reached the CWS finals (won by UVa), while the CNR preseason #3 teams TCU and Florida both ended up reaching the CWS semifinals/bracket finales. The #5 team in the preseason CNR (LSU) also made it all the way to Omaha in 2015 … but the #6-#8 teams were knocked off in earlier rounds (UCLA, Oklahoma State and Houston).

Among the “second eight” (9th-16th) in the 2015 preseason CNR, Cal State Fullerton joined the #1-#5 teams at the 2016 CWS (as did Miami, #18 in the preseason CNR, and Arkansas, which opened the season all the way down at #36 in the CNR top-50).

… SURPRISE CHAMPIONS – In recent years, college baseball has been a volatile sport, both in the regular season and the NCAA Tournament. In fact, four of the past five teams that were preseason No. 1 in the CNR – UCLA (2011), Florida (’12), Arkansas (’13) and Cal State Fullerton (’14) – failed to even reach the CWS for that season … Vanderbilt was a 2015 CWS participant (runner-up), after being the CNR preseason #1.

Here’s where the past four CWS champions were ranked in the preseason CNR for that season (avg. rank of 8.0, essentially projecting on average right on the fringe for even making the CWS for that season) :
• (CNR preseason #9) South Carolina (2011)
• (14) Arizona (2012)
• (5) UCLA (2013)
• (10) Vanderbilt (2014)
• (2) Virginia (2015)

… And here are the teams that have been CWS runner-up during the past five seasons, preceded by where they ranked in the preseason CNR for that season (interesting to note that four of the five were among the top-3 in the preseason CNR):
• (CNR preseason #2) Florida (2011)
• (2) South Carloina (2012)
• (13) Mississippi State (2013)
• (3) Virginia (2014)
• (1) Vanderbilt (2015)

SET UP FOR OMAHA? – Preseason hype, more often than not, does not predict actual postseason glory … here’s a look at recent CNR Preseason Top-8 teams that have ended up in the CWS later that season (avg. of only 3.0 per year, including only one of the preseason top-8 in 2014 … but then all of the top-5 in 2015):

• 2011 – three teams: CNR preseason #2 Florida, (4) Vanderbilt & (6) Texas
(did not reach CWS: 1–UCLA, 3–TCU, 5–OU, 7–Clemson, 8–CSF)

• 2012 – three teams: (1) Florida, (2) South Carolina & (8) Arkansas
(did not reach CWS: 3–Stanford, 4–UNC, 5–A&M, 6–Rice, 7–Texas)

• 2013 – three teams: (2) North Carolina, (4) LSU & (5) UCLA
(did not reach CWS: 1–Arkansas, 3–Vandy, 6–Stanford, 7–SC, 8–Oregon)

• 2014 – only one team: (3) Virginia
(did not reach CWS: 1–CSF, 2–Oregon St, 4–Miss. St, 5–FSU, 6–LSU, 7–IU and 8–NC St … the ’Pack did not even reach the NCAAs)

• 2015 – five teams: (1) Vanderbilt, (2) Virginia, (3) TCU, (4) Florida and (5) LSU
(did not reach CWS: 6–UCLA, 7–Oklahoma State and 8–Houston)

Recent history has seen plenty of teams from outside the preseason top-10 (and several from outside the early-season top-50) make it to Omaha for the College World Series. The Cal Bears picked up steam in 2015, starting the year outside the CB360 top-50 (CNR) but rising to #26 by season’s end. Now, the Bears are starting the 2016 season at #12 in the CNR, taking aim at the program’s second College World Series trip this decade (also 2011). > photo courtesy Cal Athletics

PREDICTABLY UNPREDICTABLE – Spanning the 2012-14 seasons, five different teams – Kent State (’12), Stony Brook (’12), Indiana (’13), Texas Tech (’14) and UC Irvine (’14) – reached the College World Series after not even being in the CB360 preseason top-50.

• Teams outside the CNR preseason top-8 that ultimately reached the CWS later that season, during past five years (25 teams, from 2011–15):
(–) Kent State, in 2012
(–) Stony Brook, in 2012
(–) Indiana, in 2013
(–) Texas Tech, in 2014
(–) UC Irvine, in 2014
(CNR preseason #36) Arkansas, in 2015
(32) Ole Miss, in 2014
(30) North Carolina, in 2011
(24) California, in 2011
(23) Texas, in 2014
(22) TCU, in 2014
(18) Miami, in 2015
(16) UCLA, in 2012
(16) Louisville, in 2013
(16) Cal State Fullerton, in 2015
(15) Virginia, in 2011
(14) Texas A&M, in 2011
(14) Arizona, in 2012
(14) Louisville, in 2014
(13) Mississippi State, in 2013
(12) Florida State, in 2012
(10) North Carolina State, in 2013
(10) Vanderbilt, in 2014
(9) South Carolina, in 2011
(9) Oregon State, in 2013
> teams listed above, by year: 5 in 2011 … 5 in 2012 … 5 in 2013 … 7 in 2014 … 3 in 2015
(avg. 5.0 per year; 5+ every year from 2011-14)

The final CNR release during the 2015 season (mid-May, prior to postseason) included 38 teams that ultimately earned berths in the 2015 NCAA Tournament – all except for: (23) Nevada, (31) North Carolina, (32) North Florida, (33) Ohio State, (35) UC Irvine, (38) Georgia Tech, (42) Southeastern Louisiana, (43) Michigan State, (45) Southern Mississippi, (48) Nebraska, (49) South Alabama and (49) Missouri. … That number (38) was down from the 42 teams from the final CNR top-50 release during the 2014 season (mid-May, prior to postseason) that went on to earne berths in the 2014 NCAAs – all except for (26) Mercer, (31) West Virginia, (32) FIU, (37) USD, (38) UCF, (42) New Mexico, (44) UCSB and (47) Tennessee.

CONFERENCE CALL – All but three of the 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference are included in the 2016 CB360 preseason top-50 … here is the breakdown, by conference (35 of 50 from these five leagues: SEC, ACC, Pac-12, Big 12 and Big Ten):

• 11 SEC teams (3 top-4; 4 top-8; 4 top-16; 6 top-25) – (1) Florida, (2) Vanderbilt, (3) Texas A&M,
(5) LSU, (18) Arkansas, (22) Mississippi St, (29) SC, (31) Ole Miss, (32) Kentucky, (43) Mizzou & (47) Auburn

• 8 ACC teams (3 top-8; 4 top-16; 6 top-25 ) – (4) Louisville, (6) Miami, (7) Virginia, (13) Florida State, (19) North Carolina State, (23) North Carolina, (33) Notre Dame & (39) Georgia Tech

• 6 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 4 top-16; 5 top-25): – (8) Oregon State, (9) UCLA, (12) California,
(14) Oregon, (20) USC & (38) Arizona State

• 5 Big 12 teams (2 top-16; 3 top-25): –  (10) OK St., (11) TCU, (25) Texas, (34) Okla. & (35) TX Tech

• 5 Big Ten teams (1 top-25) – (24) Maryland, (27) Michigan, (36) Indiana, (42) Illinois & (48) Iowa

• 3 Big West teams (1 top-16; 1 top-25) – (16) Fullerton, (44) UC Irvine, (46) UCSB & (49) Long Beach St.

• 2 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-25) – (17) Houston & (40) Tulane

• 2 Conference USA teams (1 top-25) – (21) Rice & (46) Florida Atlantic

• 2 Missouri Valley teams – (26) Missouri State & (28) Dallas Baptist

• 2 Colonial Athletic Assoc. teams – (37) College of Charleston & (50) UNC Wilmington

• 1 each (4 teams) – Sun Belt (#15 Louisiana-Lafayette) … Big South (#30 Coastal Carolina) …
Colonial (#34 College of Charleston) … Mountain West (#41 San Diego State)

> One year earlier, in 2015, here’s how the preseason CNR top-50 broke down by conference:

2015 CNR PRESEASON CONFERENCE CALL – All but there of the 14 teams in the Southeastern Conference were included in the 2015 CB360 preseason top-50:

• 11 SEC teams (3 top-8; 4 top-16; 6 top-25) – (1) Vandy, (4) Florida, (5) LSU, (11) SC, (19) Miss. St., (24) Ole Miss, (30) TN, (33) A&M, (35) AL, (36) ARK and (49) Kentucky.

• 7 ACC teams (1 top-8; 4 top-16; 5 top-25 ) – (2) UVa, (10) Louisville, (12) UNC, (13) FSU, (18) Miami, (27) Clemson and (39) Ga. Tech

• 5 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 2 top-16; 4 top-25): – (6) UCLA, (15) ASU, (21) Oregon, (22) Stanford and (31) Oregon St.

• 4 Big 12 teams (2 top-8; 3 top-16; 4 top-25) – (3) TCU, (7) Oklahoma St., (9) Texas and (17) Texas Tech

• 4 Big West teams (1 top-16; 2 top-25) – (16) Fullerton, (25) UCSB, (28) Cal Poly and (41) Irvine

• 3 Big Ten teams (1 top-25 team) – (20) Maryland, (26) Nebraska and (37) Illinois

• 3 West Coast Conf. teams – (32) LMU, (45) Pepperdine and (48 ) San Diego

• 2 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-8) – (8) Houston and (38) UCF)

• 2 Mid-American ∫ Conf. teams – (42) Kent State and (46) Ball State

• 2 Missouri Valley teams – (43) Wichita State and (50) Dallas Baptist

• 1 each (7 teams) – Conf. USA (#14 Rice) … Atlantic Sun (#23 Kennesaw) … Big South (#29 Liberty) … Colonial (#34 Coll. Charleston) … BIG EAST (#40 St. John’s) … Southland (#44 La.-Lafayette) … Sun Belt (#47 Sam Houston)

_______________

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – The following 17 teams find themselves in the CB360 2016 preseason top-50, after not being in the 2015 preseason top-50:

(12) California
(19) North Carolina State
(20) USC
(26) Missouri State
(27) Michigan
(30) Coastal Carolina
(33) Notre Dame
(34) Oklahoma
(36) Indiana
(40) Tulane
(41) San Diego State
(43) Missouri
(46) Florida Atlantic
(47) Auburn
(48) Iowa
(49) Long Beach State
(50) UNC Wilmington
> One year previously, these 14 teams cracked the 2015 CNR preseason top-50 after not being among the 2014 preseason top-50: (17) Texas Tech, (20) Maryland, (23) Kennesaw St., (30) Tenn., (32) LMU, (34) Charleston, (37) Illinois
(38), UCF, (40) St. John’s, (41) UC Irvine, (42) Kent St., (45) Pepperdine, (46) Ball St. & (50) Dallas Baptist.

… While these teams have jumped up 15 or more spots from the 2015 preseason top-50 to the 2016 preseason top-50:
Texas A&M (opened 2015 at #33 in the CNR; now starting 2016 at #3)
Louisiana-Lafayette (#44 to #15)
Oregon State (#31 to #8)
North Carolina State (#41 to #19)
Dallas Baptist (#50 to #28)
Arkansas (#36 to #18)
Kentucky (#49 to #32)
> Similarly, these six teams make big leaps from the 2014 preseason top-50 to the 2015 preseason top-50: Houston (#50 to #8), Stanford (#42 to #22), TCU (#22 to #3), Liberty (#45 to #29), Florida (#19 to #4) & OK St. (#20 to #7)

… And these teams have dropped the most from 2015 preseason to 2016 preseason (while remaining in the top-50 from one preseason to the next):
Arizona State (#15 in 2015 preseason CNR; now starting 2016 at #38)
UCSB (#25 to #45)
South Carolina (#11 to #29)
Texas Tech (#17 to #35)
Texas (#9 to #25)
> … The previous year, these teams had dropped 15-plus spots from the 2014 preseason top-50 to the 2015 preseason top-50: Oregon State (#2 to #31), La.-Lafayette (#24 to #44), Fullerton (#1 to #16), 
Mississippi State (#4 to #19) & San Diego (#33 to #48).

________________

SURGING, REFOCUSING & REBUIDLING – The following 13 teams were not in the final CNR top-50 release in 2015 (mid-May, prior to postseason) but are in the 2016 preseason top-50, with several very notable programs at the top of this list::

(14) Oregon
(15) Louisiana-Lafayette
(22) Mississippi State
(25) Texas
(27) Michigan
(29) South Carolina
(32) Kentucky
(34) Oklahoma
(35) Texas Tech
(36) Indiana
(41) San Diego State
(49) Long Beach State
(50) UNC Wilmington
> One year earlier, these 12 teams were in the 2015 preseason CNR after not being in the final 2014 CNR top-50: (6) UCLA, (12) UNC, (16) Fullerton, (20) Maryland, (23) Kennesaw St., (32) LMU, (34) Charleston, (37) Illinois, (40) St. John’s, (42) Kent St., (43) Wichita St. & (46) Ball St.

… And these teams have made the biggest jump while staying within the top-50, since late in the 2015 season to the 2016 preseason:
Virginia (#34 to #7)
North Carolina State (#41 to #19)
California (#26 to #12)
Oregon State (#21 to #8)
> 12 months earlier, these teams made big jumps within the CNR top-50 (from end of 2014 regulars season to 2015 preseason): Arizona St (#46 to #15)…Stanford (#42 to #22)…and UCSB (#44 to #25)

• On the flip side, the following 13 teams are not in the 2016 CB360 preseason top-50 but were in the final CNR top-50 during the 2015 season (mid-May, prior to postseason):
(23) Nevada
(24) Radford
(30) Oral Roberts
(32) North Florida
(33) Ohio State
(40) Bradley
(42) Southeastern Louisiana
(43) Michigan State
(44) East Carolina
(45) Southern Miss.
(46) South Florida
(48) Nebraska
(49) South Alabama
Note – Similarly one year earlier, 12 teams that were in the top-50 of the final 2014 CNR, at end of the regular season, were not in the 2015 preseason CNR top-50: (8) Indiana, (11) Washington, (26) Mercer, (28) Indiana St., (31) West Virginia, (32) FIU, (33) UNLV, (40) Kansas, (41) Bryant, (42) New Mexico, (45) San Diego State & (48) Old Dominion
… and going two years back, 15 teams that were in the top-50 of the final 2013 CNR, at end of the regular season, were not in the 2014 preseason CNR top-50: (17) So. Alabama, (19) Va. Tech, (23) Troy, (29) Pittsburgh, (30) Campbell, (37) So. Florida, (41) Seton Hall, (42) Gonzaga, (43) Michigan St., (44) Austin Peay, (45) Maryland, (46) UC Irvine, (47) Notre Dame, (48) Illinois & (50) Ohio St.

… And these teams have made quick falls (while staying within the top-50) from late in 2015 to the 2016 preseason top-50:
Illinois (#4 in final 2015 CNR all the way down to #42 in 2016 preseason)
UC Santa Barbara (#14 to #45)
Iowa (#18 to #48)
Florida Atlantic (#46 to #20)
College of Charleston (#15 to #37)
Dallas Baptist (#9 to #28)
Missouri State (#10 to #26)
Arizona State (#22 to #38)
> Again, looking at the previous year, these six teams had the biggest plunge while still staying in the top-50 (from late 2014 to 2015 preseason): Louisiana-Lafayette (#3 to #44), Oregon St. (#2 to #31), Cal Poly (#6 to #28), Pepperdine (#25 to #45), UC Irvine (#22 to #41) & Kentucky (#29 to #49).

… Finally, these 17 teams (one-third of the total) were in the 2015 CB360 preseason top-50 but are not in the 2016 preseason top-50 (all based on Composite National Rankings formula):

Stanford (2015 CB360 preseason #22)
Kennesaw State (23)
Nebraska (26)
Clemson (27)
Cal Poly (28)
Liberty (29)
Tennessee (30)
Loyola Marymount (32)
Alabama (35)
Central Florida (UCF) (38)
St. John’s (40)
Kent State (42)
Wichita State (43)
Pepperdine (45)
Ball State (46)
Sam Houston State (47)
San Diego (48)

> And there were 15 teams that were in the 2014 preseason top-50 but not in the 2015 preseason top-50: Indiana (2014 CB360 preseason #7), NC St. (8), Kansas St. (18), Arizona (28), E. Carolina (29), FAU (31), Oklahoma (34), UNC Wilmington (36), W. Carolina (38), New Mexico (40), Coastal Carolina (43), Mercer (t46), UNLV (t46), Washington St. (t46) & No. Florida (50) … 20 months removed from competing in the 2013 CWS, Indiana and NC State found themselves outside the CNR preseason top-50 in 2015.

________________________

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.).

Here are links to the 11 criteria used in the 2016 preseason CNR:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 59 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (77 total teams)
• DIBaseball.com preseason top-25, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (48 teams)
• Baseball America poll, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (48 teams)
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (preseason top-40)
• Perfect Game preseason rankings (40 total teams)
• Massey preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• DISportsNet computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Projected season strength of schedule (per Massey; bonus points, max. 1.0)
• Assorted Conference preseason coaches polls (bonus points, max. 1.0)
> SEC (released to public 2/18) … ACC … Pac-12 … Big 12 … Big Ten … Big West …
AAC … MVC … Mt West … Sun Belt … Big South … Colonial … WCC

> CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2016

(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2015 CNR, at end of reg. season)  [2015 preseason CNR]
1. Florida – 99.64  (#8 in final 2015 top-50/end reg.-season) [#4 in 2015 preseason top-50]
2. Vanderbilt – 97.09  (11) … [1]
3. Texas A&M – 94.81  (5) [33]
4. Louisville – 94.58  (6) [10]
5. LSU – 94.44  (1) [5]
6. Miami – 93.34  (7) [18]
7. Virginia – 92.55  (34) [2]
8. Oregon State – 91.42  (21) [31]
9. UCLA – 91.11  (2) [6]
10. Oklahoma State – 87.95  (13) [7]
11. TCU – 87.83  (3) [3]
12. California – 86.51  (26) [–]
13. Florida State – 84.84  (12) [13]
14. Oregon – 83.04  (–) [21]
15. Louisiana-Lafayette – 82.46 (–) [44]
16. Cal State Fullerton – 82.09  (28) [16]
17. Houston – 79.97  (16) [8]
18. Arkansas – 78.15  (25) [36]
19. North Carolina State – 76.12  (41) [–]
2o. USC – 75.60  (17) [–]
21. Rice – 75.07  (19) [14]
22. Mississippi State – 73.82  (–) [19]
23. North Carolina – 72.02  (31) [12]
24. Maryland – 70.14  (36) [20]
25. Texas – 69.00  (–) [9]
26. Missouri State – 67.86  (10) [–]
27. Michigan 66.99  (–) [–]
28. Dallas Baptist – 66.41  (9) [50]
29. South Carolina – 66.18  (–) [11]
30. Coastal Carolina – 65.61  (27) [–]
31. Mississippi – 64.87  (39) [24]
32. Kentucky – 62.63  (–) [49]
33. Notre Dame – 62.55  (29) [–]
34. Oklahoma – 59.74  (–) [–]
35. Texas Tech (21) – 59.45  (–) [17]
36. Indiana – 58.52  (–) [–]
37. College of Charleston – 58.02  (15) [34]
38. Arizona State – 57.22  (22) [15]
39. Georgia Tech – 57.15  (38) [39]
40. Tulane – 56.42  (47) [–]
41. San Diego State – 54.47  (–) [–]
42. Illinois – 52.18  (4) [37]
43. Missouri – 51.64  (49) [–]
44. UC Irvine – 51.57  (35) [41]
45. UC Santa Barbara – 51.15  (14) [25]
46. Florida Atlantic – 49.70  (20) [–]
47. Auburn – 49.46  (37) [–]
48. Iowa – 48.75  (18) [–]
49. Long Beach State – 47.39  (–) [–]
50. UNC Wilmington – 46.60  (–) [–]

next five: Pepperdine, San Diego, Southeastern Louisiana, Alabama & Winthrop

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• CB360 Composite Top-50 Rankings – Final 2015 Regular-Season

(12 of these teams, noted below, did not make the 2015 NCAAs)
> CLICK HERE for full release page (2015 final regular-season CNR)
1. LSU
2. UCLA
3. TCU
4. Illinois
5. Texas A&M
6. Louisville
7. Miami
8. Florida
9. Dallas Baptist
10. Missouri State
11. Vanderbilt
12. Florida State
13. Oklahoma State
14. UC Santa Barbara
15. College of Charleston
16. Houston
17. USC
18. Iowa
19. Rice
20. Florida Atlantic
21. Oregon State
22. Arizona State
23. Nevada – did not make 2015 NCAAs
24. Radford
25. Arkansas
26. California
27. Coastal Carolina
28. Cal State Fullerton
29. Notre Dame
30. Oral Roberts
31. North Carolina – did not make 2015 NCAAs
32. North Florida – did not make 2015 NCAAs
33. Ohio State – did not make 2015 NCAAs
34. Virginia
35. UC Irvine – did not make 2015 NCAAs
36. Maryland
37. Auburn
38. Georgia Tech – did not make 2015 NCAAs
39. Mississippi
40. Bradley
41. North Carolina State
42. Southeastern Louisiana – did not make 2015 NCAAs
43. Michigan State – did not make 2015 NCAAs
44. East Carolina
45. Southern Mississippi – did not make 2015 NCAAs
46. South Florida
47. Tulane
48. Nebraska – did not make 2015 NCAAs
49. South Alabama – did not make 2015 NCAAs
49. Missouri – did not make 2015 NCAAs

Next Five: UNC Wilmington, Liberty, Indiana, Alabama and St. John’s

CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2015

(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2014 CNR, at end of reg. season)  [2014 preseason CNR]
1. Vanderbilt – 99.11  (#14 in final ’14 top-50) [#10 in ’14 preseason top-50] … 2015 CWS Runner-Up
2. Virginia – 97.11  (1) [3] … 2015 CWS Champion
3. TCU – 96.50  (9) [22] … 2015 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
4. Florida – 94.53  (5) [19] … 2015 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
5. LSU – 93.48  (16) [6] … 2015 CWS Participant
6. UCLA – 92.53  (–) [11]
7. Oklahoma State – 91.66  (18) [20]
8. Houston – 91.65 (15) [t50]
9. Texas – 90.68  (19) [23]
10. Louisville – 89.13  (7) [14]
11. South Carolina – 87.91  (17) [12]
12. North Carolina – 85.21  (–) [13]
13. Florida State – 83.23  (4) [5]
14. Rice – 82.99  (12) [15]
15. Arizona State – 81.22  (46) [21]
16. Cal State Fullerton – 80.96  (–) [1] … 2015 CWS Participant
17. Texas Tech (21) – 80.17
18. Miami – 79.63  (13) [17] … 2015 CWS Participant
19. Mississippi State – 76.13  (27) [4]
20. Maryland – 75.90 (–)
21. Oregon – 75.77  (20) [9]
22. Stanford – 70.90  (49) [42]
23. Kennesaw State – 67.91 (–)
24. Mississippi – 66.58  (10) [32]
25. UC Santa Barbara – 66.28 (44) [37]
26. Nebraska – 65.66 (34) [39]
27. Clemson – 63.95  (35) [16]
28. Cal Poly – 63.73  (6) [27]
29. Liberty – 61.53 (23) [45]
30. Tennessee – 61.30 (47)
31. Oregon State – 61.03  (2) [2]
32. Loyola Marymount – 60.44 (–)
33. Texas A&M – 60.20  (30) [25]
34. College of Charleston – 59.97 (–)
35. Alabama – 58.48  (24) [26]
36. Arkansas – 56.66  (50) [30] … 2015 CWS Participant
37. Illinois – 53.84 (–)
38. Central Florida (UCF) – 52.86 (38)
39. Georgia Tech – 50.77  (43) [35]
40. St. John’s – 50.32 (–)
41. UC Irvine – 50.30 (22)
42. Kent State – 47.92 (–)
43. Wichita State – 47.65 (–) [41]
44. Louisiana-Lafayette – 47.43 (3) [24]
45. Pepperdine – 47.06 (25)
46. Ball State – 46.34 (–)
47. Sam Houston State – 45.14 (36) [46]
48. San Diego – 44.29  (37) [33]
49. Kentucky – 43.67 (29) [44]
50. Dallas Baptist – 43.36 (39)
– next five: Oklahoma, Indiana, New Mexico, USC and Ohio State.

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• CB360 Composite Top-50 Rankings – Final 2014 Regular-Season

(all but eight teams, noted below, made the 2014 NCAAs)
(1) Virginia
(2) Oregon State
(3) Louisiana (Lafayette)
(4) Florida State
(5) Florida
(6) Cal Poly
(7) Louisville
(8) Indiana
(9) TCU
(10) Mississippi
(11) Washington
(12) Rice
(13) Miami
(14) Vanderbilt
(15) Houston
(16) LSU
(17) South Carolina
(18) Oklahoma State
(19) Texas
(20) Oregon
(21) Texas Tech
(22) UC Irvine
(23) Liberty
(24) Alabama
(25) Pepperdine
(26) Mercer – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(27) Mississippi State
(28) Indiana State
(29) Kentucky
(30) Texas A&M
(31) West Virginia – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(32) Florida International – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(33) UNLV
(34) Nebraska
(35) Clemson
(36) Sam Houston State
(37) San Diego – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(38) Central Florida (UCF) – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(39) Dallas Baptist
(40) Kansas
(41) Bryant
(42) New Mexico – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(43) Georgia Tech
(44) UC Santa Barbara – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(45) San Diego State
(46) Arizona State
(47) Tennessee – did not make 2014 NCAAs
(48) Old Dominion
(49) Stanford
(50) Arkansas

• CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2014

(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2014 CNR, at end of reg. season)
1. Cal State Fullerton – 98.92  (4)
2. Oregon State – 97.54  (6)
3. Virginia – 96.03  (5) … 2014 CWS Runner-Up
4. Mississippi State – 95.75  (12)
5. Florida State – 95.48  (7)
6. LSU – 94.24  (3)
7. Indiana – 93.82  (13)
8. North Carolina State – 92.10  (8)
9. Oregon – 91.60  (9)
10. Vanderbilt – 90.88  (2) … 2014 CWS Champion
11. UCLA – 89.59  (10)
12. South Carolina – 89.54  (11)
13. North Carolina – 87.16  (1)
14. Louisville – 86.14  (14) … 2014 CWS Participant
15. Rice – 84.10  (22)
16. Clemson – 83.91  (16)
17. Miami – 83.28  (25)
18. Kansas State – 81.54  (21)
19. Florida – 80.82  (34)
20. Oklahoma State – 78.50  (31)
21. Arizona State – 78.30  (15)
22. TCU – 77.71  (–) … 2014 CWS Participant
23. Texas – 77.70  (–) … 2014 CWS Participant
24. Louisiana-Lafayette – 77.59  (32)
25. Texas A&M – 76.27  (–)
26. Alabama – 73.90  (39)
27. Cal Poly – 71.34  (28)
28. Arizona – 67.06  (–)
29. East Carolina – 67.02  (–)
30. Arkansas – 65.09  (20)
31. Florida Atlantic – 64.44  (–)
32. Mississippi – 61.37  (18) … 2014 CWS Participant
33. San Diego – 59.86  (–)
34. Oklahoma – 57.87  (27)
35. Georgia Tech – 57.52  (26)
36. UNC Wilmington – 57.46  (33)
37. UC Santa Barbara – 55.70 (–)
38. Western Carolina – 55.50 (–)
39. Nebraska – 55.13 (–)
40. New Mexico – 54.00  (35)
41. Wichita State –53.24 (–)
42. Stanford – 53.02  (38)
43. Coastal Carolina – 52.86  (40)
44. Kentucky – 51.80  (36)
45. Liberty – 50.31 (–)
46. Mercer –49.70  (24)
46. Sam Houston State – 49.70 (–)
46. UNLV – 49.70 (–)
46. Washington State – 49.70 (–)
50. Houston – 48.20 (–)
50. North Florida – 48.20  (49)
note: 2014 CWS participants Texas Tech and UC Irvine were not in 2014 preseason CNR top-50

_____________________________

• CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2013
1-Arkansas
2-North Carolina … 2013 CWS Participant
3-Vanderbilt
4-LSU … 2013 CWS Participant
5-UCLA … 2013 CWS Champion
6-Stanford
7-South Carolina
8-Oregon
9-Oregon State … 2013 CWS Participant
10-North Carolina State … 2013 CWS Participant
11-Kentucky
12-TCU
13-Mississippi State … 2013 CWS Runner-Up
14-Florida
15-Florida State
16-Louisville … 2013 CWS Participant
17-Oklahoma
18-Georgia Tech
19-Arizona
20-San Diego
21-Rice
22-Mississippi
23-Cal State Fullerton
24-Texas
25-Texas A&M
26-Miami
27-Arizona State
28-Clemson
29-Virginia
30-UC Irvine
31-Baylor
32-New Mexico
33-Southern Mississippi
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-Florida Atlantic
44-St. John’s
45-Pepperdine
46-Virginia Tech
47-College of Charleston
48-Auburn
49-Elon
50-Notre Dame
Note: 2013 CWS participant Indiana was not in the CNR preseason top-50

_____________________________

• CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2012

(rank) Team – voting pts
1. Florida … 99.86 … 2012 CWS Participant
2. South Carolina … 98.41 … 2012 CWS Runner-Up
3. Stanford … 97.42
4. North Carolina … 95.27
5. Texas A&M … 94.83
6. Rice … 94.26
7. Texas … 92.64
8. Arkansas … 92.45 … 2012 CWS Participant
9. Georgia Tech … 90.71
10. LSU … 88.95
11. Vanderbilt … 87.57
12. Florida State … 86.87 … 2012 CWS Participant
13. TCU … 85.95
14. Arizona … 85.73 … 2012 CWS Champion
15. Miami … 84.33
16. UCLA … 81.79 … 2012 CWS Participant
17. Oklahoma … 81.01
18. Clemson … 79.79
19. Cal State Fullerton … 79.56
20. Georgia … 79.13
21. Arizona State … 76.93
22. California … 76.26
23. Virginia … 74.74
24. St. John’s … 74.10
25. UC Irvine … 74.02
26. Stetson … 73.72
27. Oregon State … 72.20
28. Louisville … 71.38
29. Baylor … 65.18
30. Central Florida … 62.93
31. East Carolina … 59.58
32. Mississippi State … 59.10
33. Mississippi … 58.35
34. Southern Mississippi … 57.80
35. Georgia Southern … 57.55
36. College of Charleston … 57.18
37. Dallas Baptist … 54.90
38. Florida International … 53.64
39. Jacksonville … 52.58
40. Oregon … 52.30
41. Coastal Carolina … 52.10
42. Missouri State … 51.48
43. Wichita State … 49.43
44. Troy … 49.24
45. Oklahoma State … 49.02
46. North Carolina State … 48.94
47. Texas State … 48.68
48. Purdue … 48.12
49. Fresno State … 46.71
50. USC … 46.60
Note: 2012 CWS participants Kent State and Stony Brook were not in CNR preseason top-50

_____________________________

• CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2011
1. UCLA
2. Florida … 2011 CWS Runner-Up
3. TCU
4. Vanderbilt … 2011 CWS Participant
5. Oklahoma
6. Texas … 2011 CWS Participant
7. Clemson
8. Cal State Fullerton
9. South Carolina … 2011 CWS Champion
10. Arizona State
11. Oregon
12. Florida State
13. Stanford
14. Texas A&M … 2011 CWS Participant
15. Virginia … 2011 CWS Participant
16. Connecticut
17. Rice
18. Rice
19. LSU
20. Miami
21. Coastal Carolina
22. Auburn
23.Georgia Tech
24. California … 2011 CWS Participant
25. Baylor
26. College of Charleston
27. Louisville
28. UC Irvine
29. Arkansas
30. North Carolina … 2011 CWS Participant
31. St. John’s
32. Fresno State
33. Wichita State
34. Washington State
35. Florida Atlantic
36. San Diego
37. Alabama
38. Tulane
39. Pittsburgh
40. Kansas State
41. Hawaii
42. Kent State
43. Mississippi
44. Oregon State
45. Virginia Tech
46. Southern Mississippi
47. Central Florida
48. Liberty
48. Minnesota
48. North Carolina State

Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton is a rare breed of high-end collegiate two-sport athlete, with the unique combination of basketball and baseball excellence. Other two-sport greats of the past few decades have included football–baseball standouts such as Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders (more recently: the likes of former ND star Jeff Samardzija, plus current NFL quarterback Russell Winston and 2013 Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston). Another former Florida State quarterback, Charlie Ward, also starred in basketball and went on to play in the NBA.

Notre Dame’s Pat Connaughton blocks a shot by Butler late in the 2015 NCAA round-of-32 game. Photo by Geoff Burke (USA Today), courtesy Notre Dame.

– front-page photo (also at right) courtesy Notre Dame, taken by Geoff Burke of USA Today

The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Connaughton – who interestingly played AAU basketball with Cooper Ainge and cites Cooper’s father, Danny Ainge, as a notable basketball–baseball two-sport star – has given NBA scouts plenty to think about in terms of his pro prospects. A 2014 Major League Baseball third-round selection of the Baltimore Orioles, Connaughton likely would have been drafted even higher, if not for the two-sport factor. The mid-90s fireballer spent the 2014 summer pitching in the Orioles organization.

Earlier in the current college basketball season, Connaughton sat down with CB360’s Pete LaFleur for a video interview focusing on his two-sport career. It’s interesting to note that Samardzija’s older brother Sam serves as Connaughton’s agent, lending plenty of keen perspective as to the challenges, options, etc., facing an elite two-sport athlete.

In this video interview, Connaughton shares some intriguing insights about his own career and reveals what he considers to be the most impressive combination for a two-sport athlete. He also notes that the mental challenges that come with life as a pitcher – “literally, being out there on an island” – have helped him immensely during similar tense moments on the basketball court.

Pat Connaughton in action with Notre Dame baseball during the 2014 season (photo courtesy of Matt Cashore/Notre Dame).

For those of you college baseball fans who rarely follow college hoops (even during “March Madness”), you might want to check out some of Connaughton’s recent basketball exploits: tremendous three-point sharpshooting, “sneaky” effectiveness as a rebounder, great court vision and movement without the ball, and even some clutch defensive plays … none bigger than his last-second block that possibly saved Notre Dame’s season in the NCAA round-of-32 vs. Butler (pictured above).

CB360’s one-on-one video visit with Connaughton is posted below:

Four weekends into the season, we are getting a big enough sample size to get an idea of what teams are legit and which still have work to do. Two college baseball teams that are separating themselves from the pack in 2015 are Southern California (USC)and Central Florida (UCF). The teams on opposite coasts are a combined 29-3 heading into midweek games Tuesday night.

USC celebrates after a 3-0 weekend at the Dodgertown Classic in L.A.

Imagine a weekend where you beat the last two National Champions – one of which is your biggest rival – and another team coming off a College World Series season. That’s the weekend USC (15-1) had after taking down TCU (2014 CWS), Vanderbilt (2014 National Champion) and UCLA (2013 National Champion) in succession.

“I think (the weekend) says that we don’t fear anybody and that we’re capable of beating anybody,” USC head coach Dan Hubbs said after Sunday’s 8-4 win over arch-rival UCLA at Dodger Stadium.

With an offense batting .311 and a pitching staff with a 2.26 ERA after facing the three heavyweights, there’s not much reason for the Trojans to feel fear.

Starter Brent Wheatley (1-0) pitched 6 1/3 strong innings in Friday’s 12-inning win over the Horned Frogs (TCU’s only loss of the weekend). Wheatley has fanned 30 batters in 23 1/3 innings this year. Kyle Davis brought the win home with 4 1/3 innings for his first win of the year. He already has five saves as well for a staff that has 158 Ks in 147 2/3 IP.

Offensively, seven different Trojans have at least 10 RBIs through 16 games. Garrett Stubbs leads the lineup with a .443 average. Timmy Robinson and A.J. Ramirez have each driven in 14 runs. Ramirez is hitting just .263, but he also has a team-best three home runs and five doubles.

“A lot of people were looking this weekend, trying to see who this team really is,” said Hubbs. “Well, I think we made the statement that we’re pretty good. We have a lot left to do.”

USC faces another 2014 CWS team, UC Irvine, Tuesday night before opening Pac-12 play this weekend when it hosts Washington State.

UCF

UCF has three wins over SEC teams, including a series win over Ole Miss this season.

Terry Rooney’s Knights have come out of the gates with all guns blazing in 2015. His current group of seniors were freshmen on a 2012 team that won 45 games and had every reason to expect they could make a run to Omaha. They were upset at home though by the Cinderella Stony Brook team that knocked-off LSU in Super Regional play en-route to its own CWS run.

The current edition of UCF (14-2) rattled-off 10 straight wins before falling to Ole Miss, a 2014 CWS team, in the finale of a three-game series in Orlando. UCF’s only other loss is to Florida, a team with a No. 1 ranking this week (the Knights beat the Gators as well the night before that loss).

“We talk about it all the time that it takes 35 guys,” Rooney said after UCF’s 4-3 win over Florida. “Tonight it took every single player on the bench (and) on the field to get it done.”

Shortstop Dylan Moore leads the Knights with three home runs, 21 RBIs and a .621 slugging percentage after a grand slam in Sunday’s win over Columbia. Tommy Williams, one of the seniors who was on the 2012 team, leads the team with a .397 average.

UCF’s weekend rotation of Cre Finfrock, Zach Rodgers and Robby Howell have combined to go 9-0 with a 2.31 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 66 innings, while closer Harrison Hukari is 3-0 with a pair of saves, a 2.25 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 16 innings and seven appearances out of the pen.

The Knights face another stiff midweek test this week with two games against Florida State. Both games are in Tallahassee. They don’t open conference play until March 27 against Houston.

There are but two remaining unbeaten teams with double-digit games played heading into college baseball’s fourth weekend of the 2015 season. Virginia (10-0) is no surprise after going all the way to the College World Series Finals last June. Texas A&M (13-0) is not all that surprising either, considering the Aggies won seven of their first eight games and advanced to a Regional last year.

Pavin Smith leads Virginia with a .500 batting average.

.280…Virginia team batting average. The Cavs have still averaged 5.9 runs-per-game.

7…Players who have started all 10 Virginia games to date. Six other players each have at least one start.

.371…Combined batting average of Virginia’s top four bats in the line-up. The team is led by first baseman Pavin Smith’s .500 (21-for-42) clip. He also leads the Cavs with seven doubles and an .810 slugging percentage.

.162…Combined batting average of the next three players who have started all 10 games. Second baseman Justin Novak has just one hit in 34 at-bats – a .029 average – to start the year.

1.27…Staff ERA posted by Virginia. The team’s 111 strikeouts and just 31 walks issued have held teams to just 2.1 runs-per-game.

0.84…ERA of UVA closer Josh Sborz – a weekend starter in 2014. Sborz has three of his team’s six saves.

6…Virginia pitchers who have more strikeouts than innings pitched. The group is led by Friday starter Nathan Kirby (3-0). The lefty has fanned 24 opposing batters in 18 1/3 innings while posting a 0.49 ERA in three starts.

0.56…ERA of Saturday starter Connor Jones. The sophomore has allowed just one earned run in his three starts, but he has the second-best ERA on the team.

0…Home games Virginia has played so far. Three midweek games have been canceled and three other games were moved to Myrtle Beach, SC last weekend.

167…Virginia’s current Warren Nolan strength of schedule – a full 103 spots ahead of Texas A&M’s 270 SOS.

.342…Texas A&M’s team batting average. The Aggies have mashed the ball to the tune of 8.9 runs-per-game in their 13-0 start.

4…Times the Aggies have scored at least 10 runs this season. The high-water mark came in a 19-2 thumping of Holy Cross to open the season.

Logan Taylor leads Texas A&M with five home runs.

7…Aggie players with at least 10 RBIs. The group is led by Nick Banks (14), who has played in 12 of 13 games.

5…Team-leading home runs by Logan Taylor. The left fielder is hitting .405 with a team-best .892 slugging percentage.

.450…Team-leading batting average of Mitchell Nau. Nick Banks is on his heels at .444.

7…Relievers who are yet to allow an earned run. The group has combined for five saves, 26 1/3 IP, 29 strikeouts and just one walk while helping the Aggies to a 1.85 ERA.

0.56…ERA sported by starting pitcher A.J. Minter (2-0). The lefty has 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 16 IP.

13…Home games TAMU has played. The three games in Houston this weekend will be the first away from College Station in 2015.

It’s hardly a secret formula. Good pitching + good defense goes a long way on the baseball diamond and great pitching + great defense tends to lead to big championships.

Florida’s Dane Dunning fired 5.0 no-hit innings in Sunday’s start against rival Miami (Photo Courtesy Florida).

Case in point – the top four teams in this week’s CB360 Top-50 Rankings. Vanderbilt, Virginia, TCU and Florida, have been stellar on the mound and in the field. Those four teams have combined to go 24-4 and have a total of 22 errors and 18 unearned runs.

The defending national champion Commodores have outscored opponents just 26-22 in their 4-2 start after a 6-0 series-clinching win over Indiana State Sunday, but stellar pitching and defense have (as always) made up for it. The Commodores have just six errors and four unearned runs allowed while also posting a 2.95 ERA.

Virginia (8-0), runner-up to Vandy in Omaha last year, has committed eight errors and allowed six unearned runs while turning in a stealth 1.12 ERA. Virginia has also essentially played a ninth game after Sunday’s 5-4 win over Marist in 18 program record-setting innings.

TCU (6-1), another 2014 CWS team, and Florida (6-1) have been stellar both in the field and on the mound so far. The Horned Frogs (1.45 ERA) have just four errors and four unearned runs charged through seven games. That includes a weekend series win at Arizona State. Florida (2.14 ERA) has just six errors and four unearned runs after taking two of three games against Miami this weekend.

At the other end of the spectrum in the early part of 2015 is Cal Poly. The Mustangs started the season at 28th in our preseason rankings after a 47-12 record and a Big West championship in 2014. They have limped out of the gates to a 1-7 start in 2015 though, and pitching and defense have been the main culprits.

After committing two errors and surrendering four unearned runs in Sunday’s 9-3 loss to Grand Canyon, Poly now has 17 errors and 18 unearned runs allowed in the first two weeks of the season. On top of that, the staff ERA, which finished at 3.05 last year, is currently a hefty 4.95.

Kyle Smith leads Cal Poly with 16 strikeouts in 9 1/3 IP (Photo courtesy Cal Poly).

Casey Bloomquist only went 4.0 innings in Poly’s season-opening 8-6 loss at Baylor. He surrendered five total runs on 81 pitches and four hits, but he walked four and yielded two unearned runs thanks to three errors in the field.

Slater Lee lasted just 2.0 innings in another 8-6 loss the next day. Two of the four runs reliever Kyle Smith allowed in his 3.1 innings were unearned. The Mustangs committed three more errors in that setback.

Justin Calomeni needed 63 pitches (just 58% for strikes) to get through 3.0 innings in a demoralizing 6-0 loss to the Bears in the series finale. He did go 6.0 innings against Grand Canyon on Sunday, but two errors led to four unearned runs in the 9-3 defeat.

Andrew Bernstein provided Cal Poly with its first quality start in a midweek win at Fresno State. Bernstein allowed just two hits in 5.1 shutout innings in the 7-6 victory. Two late errors paved the way for four unearned runs to score after the Mustangs led 7-0 going into the bottom of the 8th inning. Poly still out-hit the Bulldogs 16-8 and the pitching staff combined for 10 strikeouts and just three walks.

Bloomquist made it to 6.2 innings against Grand Canyon in his second start this past Friday, but he needed 110 pitches to get there. Three Mustang errors led to two unearned runs allowed by Bloomquist, who fanned nine batters, as well as another unearned run tagged to reliever Erich Uelman in the 10-4 loss.

UCSB pitcher Dillon Tate is yet to allow a run in 13 2/3 IP this season (Photo courtesy UCSB).

Two other teams whose fortunes correlate directly to defense through the first two weekends have been Indiana and Arizona State.

Indiana committed just two errors in its first two games of the season – a pair of wins at Stanford – before committing eight errors and allowing a total of four unearned runs in consecutive losses to Stanford, Presbyterian and Furman. The spiral was punctuated by five miscues and three unearned runs in Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Blue Hose.

Arizona State struggled holding onto the ball this weekend as well. The Sun Devils had a pair of errors that led to two unearned runs in Friday’s 3-0 loss to visiting TCU. To be fair, Preston Morrison (2-0) was so dominant the miscues were probably moot. Morrison needed just 88 pitches to fire a three-hit complete game.

ASU had three more errors, but just one unearned run allowed, the next day in a 7-6 win. Two errors in Sunday’s series finale gave the Horned Frogs their first two runs.

UC Santa Barbara (6-1) committed just five errors and allowed a mere three unearned runs while getting off to a 6-0 start. The injury bug hit in Sunday’s series finale against Kentucky in a 12-7 Wildcat win (the only Kentucky victory in the series). Three Gaucho errors accounted for seven, yes – seven unearned runs in defeat.

UCSB, which sports a stellar 1.57 team ERA, will put its pitching, defense and strong start to the test with a midweek game at Pepperdine followed by a three-game home series vs. Oregon next weekend.

As usual, there is a little bit of everything in this week’s Tweets Of The Week. From a big comeback, to a marathon and Big Leaguers in pics and Tweeting themselves (not to mention a new firefighter with SEC ties).

What a comeback for #kubaseball .. six runs in the 8th to steal the win from Washington, 11-8 #RockChalk pic.twitter.com/PoJ0GfMNlj

— Kansas Baseball (@KUBaseball) February 19, 2015

While on the field wearing just my @Easton_Baseball t-shirt, this @CanesBaseball player jogged by in a winter mask pic.twitter.com/d1S8trPZIZ

— Eric Sorenson (@Stitch_Head) February 20, 2015

“@PeppBaseball: IT'S A WALKOFF!! Jordan Qsar hits the game winning, two-run homer to right! WAVES WIN, 2-1!!” Vs Tulane

— College Baseball 360 (@CB360updates) February 15, 2015

So much for that marquee duel in Gainesville. Andrew Suarez was scratched in pregame bullpen, and Logan Shore is out after 9 pitches…

— Aaron Fitt (@aaronfitt) February 21, 2015

Heck of a job by Bobby Poyner. Comes in and goes through Miami's powerful middle of the order with two on in the first.

— Cody Jones (@CJonesScout) February 21, 2015

Oops, I meant, According to @GatorZoneBB's super-stud SID John Hines, UM ace Andrew Suarez had "possible oblique strain during warmups"

— Eric Sorenson (@Stitch_Head) February 21, 2015

Saturday

Quite an eventful Saturday in CB360 top-50: higher-ranked teams went only 35–22 (61%) … scores & more here: http://t.co/aBbeAzwtQ1

— College Baseball 360 (@CB360updates) February 22, 2015

Congrats from Mississippi State head coach John Cohen to former Bulldog Mitch Slauter, who was a member of MSU’s 2013 CWS team:

Congrats to @mslauter29 Mississippi's newest firefighting graduate -Really proud of you Mitch! #HailState pic.twitter.com/P6EmVyresU

— John Cohen (@Coach_Cohen) February 21, 2015

TCU’s Preston Morrison fired a three-hit shutout Friday against Arizona State. His weapon of choice?

Thx @d1baseball for this pic. Hitters u better know what pitch is being thrown here, if u don't ur in BIG TROUBLE! pic.twitter.com/8Odi2BTxIy

— Chris Burke (@ChrisBurke02) February 21, 2015

From Ole Miss assistant Mike Clement:

This picture is the definition of loyalty! Appreciate everyone who showed up last night! pic.twitter.com/KhgalCirAL

— Mike Clement (@MClementBSB) February 21, 2015

#SWEEP #TexasTech Shuts Out #NIU 6-0 to Sweep 4-Game Series. Pitching Staff Recorded 35-of-36 Scoreless Innings #WreckEm

— Scott Lacefield (@ScottLacefield) February 21, 2015

Sunday

Hello, gorgeous. It's another beautiful day for #FAU vs. Ohio State at Noon! pic.twitter.com/YqSxPdwM8b

— FAU Baseball (@FAU_Baseball) February 22, 2015

#Gators (6-1) defeat No. 8 Miami (5-3), 2-1, to take the series – Florida has beaten the Hurricanes in 19 of the last 24 meetings

— Gator Baseball (@GatorZoneBB) February 22, 2015

Coverage begins at 10:30 ET! #BeatArkansas pic.twitter.com/yikKe9rlHM

— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) February 22, 2015

What a game! Maryland closes out its time in Mobile with a 13-6 win over Arkansas. The #Terps nine-run sixth keyed the victory. #GoTerps

— Maryland Baseball (@TerpsBaseball) February 22, 2015

From Virginia’s marathon vs. Marist in Charleston, SC:

As we head to 18th inning, this becomes the longest game by innings in program history. Still knotted 4-4.

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) February 22, 2015

Oddly enough, #UVaBase played 17 innings vs College of Charleston in Hoos' last trip to Charleston in 2006.

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) February 22, 2015

HOOS FINALLY WIN! Christian Lowry ends longest game in program history with 18th-inning walkoff 1B & #UVaBase tops Marist 5-4.

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) February 22, 2015

Perks of #UConn playing at the spring training home of the @Mets…thanks to David Wright for stopping for a pic! pic.twitter.com/oN3OcrY8Op

— UConn Baseball (@UConnBaseball) February 22, 2015

Billy Reitmeier hurled a no-hitter in 1967 vs Georgia. He signed former player wall and is throwing out 1st pitch pic.twitter.com/MLVrCvN7qs

— Gamecock Baseball (@GamecockBasebll) February 22, 2015

Braves great Tom Glavine is here today. The #Gamecocks start LHP Josh Reagan, whose favorite player was Glavine and wears #47 in his honor.

— Andy Demetra (@GamecockRadio) February 22, 2015

#ASU baseball draws 3,112 for game 3 vs. TCU and 10,748 for series … 23,343 overall in 7 games at Phx Muni pic.twitter.com/pbwUJy0VoR

— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) February 22, 2015

Here to watch the #frogs lockdown this series. @TCU_Athletics @TCU_Baseball pic.twitter.com/oECSlgi2gu

— Jake Arrieta (@JArrieta34) February 22, 2015

Incredible double play by @errol_robinson6 to win the game!! @OleMissBSB wins!!! pic.twitter.com/22zaihKfiJ

— OleMissPix (@OleMissPix) February 22, 2015

The second weekend of the 2015 college baseball season is underway. CB360 Co-editor Sean Stires has a look at some of the current Top-50 teams and marquee match-ups heading into the weekend.

CLICK HERE to listen to the Sound Cloud CB360 Radio update!

Here are a few more Top-50 match-ups this weekend:

No. 1 Vanderbilt plays a three-game series against Indiana State in Port Charlotte, Fla.

No. 2 Virginia vs. Marist (3 games) and LaSalle in Charleston, S.C. (at four different venues)

No. 5 LSU hosts three games with Boston College.

No. 12 South Carolina hosts four games with Northeastern.

No. 18 Oregon hosts four games with New Mexico State.

No. 20 Maryland plays South Alabama, UCF and Arkansas in Mobile, Ala.

Check our CB360 Weekend Scoreboard for more matchups and results all weekend!

The top six teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings (CNR) Top-50 – Vanderbilt, Virginia, TCU, Florida, LSU and UCLA – remain unchanged following Opening Week of the 2015 college baseball season. Current [7] Houston and [8] Texas each have moved up one spot within the top-10, while Texas Tech is the newcomer among the top tier – making the move from 17th to 9th (Louisville remains in the final spot of the top-10). Oklahoma State, after losing 2-of-3 at Arizona State, slid outside of the top-10, from 7th to 13th.

– Scroll down for the current CB360 Top-50 … CLICK HERE for the preseason top-50, with complete release, historical notes, etc.

(Note: this first update to the CNR always includes some quirks within the formula, as the coaches poll does not do an updated ranking after week-1 while the CNR formula initially includes more elements for the preseason listing, based on the bonus inclusion of deeper polls, projected tournament fields, etc.) 

Coming and Going – Here are the six teams that have moved into the CB360 Top-50 following week-1:
[31] Florida International (FIU) … won series vs. Tennessee
[32] Indiana … won series at Stanford
[40] UNLV … won series vs. Nebraska
[43] Baylor … swept series vs. Cal Poly
[47] Washington … swept 4-game series vs. UOP
[50] Fresno State … swept series vs. UC Irvine

… and these six have slipped outside the top-50:
[42] Kent State … lost series at Winthrop
[43] Wichita State … lost series at Sam Houston State
[46] Ball State … lost vs. Kentucky and UNC Wilmimgton
[48] San Diego … lost 3-of-4 at home vs. Morehead State
[49] Kentucky
[50] Dallas Baptist

Movers & Shakers – In addition to Texas Tech (4-gm sweep of San Francisco), three other teams climbed seven of more spots within the top-50:
• Arkansas (#36 to #25) … swept series vs. North Dakota
• Texas A&M (#33 to #24) … swept series vs. Holy Cross
• Illinois (#37 to #30) … two wins vs. New Mexico State and two wins vs. host Lamar

… and these six teams each slid seven or more sports while still remaining within the top-50:
• Clemson (#27 to #44) … lost home series vs. West Virginia
• Tennessee (#30 to #41) … lost series at FIU
• Nebraska (#26 to #36) … lost series at UNLV
• St. John’s (#40 to #49) … lost at Georgia Tech and split two games at Kennesaw State
• Cal Poly (#28 to #37) … swept in series at Baylor
• Oregon State (#31 to #38) … wins over Northwestern and Michigan State, loss vs. New Mexico (all in Surprise, AZ)

CONFERENCE CALL – Here is the breakdown of the current CB360 top-50, by conference:

• 10 SEC teams (3 top-8; 4 top-16; 7 top-25) – (1) Vandy, (4) Florida, (5) LSU, (12) SC, (19) Miss. St., (24) A&M, (25) ARK, (28) Ole Miss, (29) AL and (39) TN

• 7 ACC teams (1 top-8; 5 top-16; 5 top-25 ) – (2) UVa, (10) Louisville, (11) Miami, (14) UNC, (16) FSU, (35) Ga. Tech and (43) Clemson

• 6 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 1 top-16; 3 top-25): – (6) UCLA, (17) ASU, (18) Oregon, (26) Stanford,  (41) Oregon St and (47) Washington

• 5 Big 12 teams (2 top-8; 4 top-16; 4 top-25) – (3) TCU, (8) Texas, (9) Texas Tech,  (13) Oklahoma St and (44) Baylor

• 4 Big Ten teams (1 top-25 team) – (20) Maryland, (30) Illinois, (32) Indiana and (37) Nebraska

• 4 Big West teams (2 top-25) – (21) UCSB, (22) Fullerton, (36) Cal Poly and (38) Irvine

• 2 West Coast Conf. teams – (34) LMU and (48) Pepperdine

• 2 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-8) – (7) Houston and (33) UCF)

• 2 Conference USA teams (1 top-16) – (15) Rice and (31) FIU

• 2 Mountain West teams (1 top-16) – (40) UNLV and (50) Fresno State

• 1 each (6 teams) – Atlantic Sun (#23 Kennesaw) … Big South (#27 Liberty) … Colonial (#42 Coll. Charleston) …  Southland (#45 La.-Lafayette) … Sun Belt (#46 Sam Houston) … BIG EAST (#49 St. John’s)

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.).

Here are links to the eight criteria currently used in the CNR:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; top-25, plus rec. votes)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (top-30, plus rec. votes)
• DIBaseball.com top-25 (plus rec. votes)
• Baseball America top-25
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (30 teams)
• Perfect Game rankings (top-25)
• Boyd’s World projected season strength of schedule (bonus points, max. 1.0)
• Assorted conference preseason coaches polls (bonus points, max. 1.0)

CB360 Composite National Rankings #2 (top-50; as of 2–19–15)

(rank) Team – voting pts (previous/2015 preseason)
1. Vanderbilt – 98.59  (1)
2. Virginia – 97.30  (2)
3. TCU – 96.45  (3)
4. Florida – 95.25  (4)
5. LSU – 94.73  (5)
6. UCLA – 92.99  (6)
7. Houston – 92.74  (8)
8. Texas – 91.16  (9)
9. Texas Tech – 89.34  (17)
10. Louisville – 88.55  (10)
11. Miami – 87.12  (18)
12. South Carolina – 87.11  (11)
13. Oklahoma State – 86.38  (7)
14. North Carolina – 84.77  (12)
15. Rice – 84.42  (14)
16. Florida State – 84.13  (13)
17. Arizona State – 83.13  (15)
18. Oregon – 81.55  (21)
19. Mississippi State – 78.75  (19)
20. Maryland – 73.22  (20)
21. UC Santa Barbara – 73.01  (25)
22. Cal State Fullerton – 70.48  (16)
23. Kennesaw State – 67.37  (23)
24. Texas A&M – 64.92  (33)
25. Arkansas – 62.88  (36)
26. Stanford – 60.27  (22)
27. Liberty – 59.79  (29)
28. Mississippi – 59.32  (24)
29. Alabama – 57.06  (35)
30. Illinois – 55.92  (37)
31. Florida International – 53.49  (–)
32. Indiana – 52.21  (–)
33. Central Florida (UCF) – 51.19  (38)
34. Georgia Tech – 49.95  (39)
35. Loyola Marymount – 49.88  (32)
36. Nebraska – 48.15  (26)
37. Cal Poly – 47.53  (28)
38. Oregon State – 46.69  (31)
39. UC Irvine – 46.42  (41)
40. UNLV – 46.18  (–)
41. Tennessee – 45.97  (30)
42. College of Charleston – 45.62  (34)
43. Baylor – 44.89  (–)
44. Clemson – 44.40  (27)
45. Louisiana (Lafayette) – 43.75  (44)
46. Sam Houston State – 43.66  (47)
47. Washington – 43.57  (–)
48. Pepperdine – 43.34  (45)
49. St. John’s – 41.78  (40)
50. Fresno State – 41.64  (–)

– Dropped Out of the Top-50:
(42) Kent State
(43) Wichita State
(46) Ball State
(48) San Diego
(49) Kentucky
(50) Dallas Baptist

Twitter Thoughts From College Baseball’s Opening Weekend…

This is the fourth straight year #Gators baseball has used three freshmen in the opening night lineup.

— Cody Jones (@CJonesScout) February 13, 2015

After a 6-3 opening day loss to College of Charleston:

"That performance from an offensive standpoint was inexcusable in my book." – #Gamecocks head coach Chad Holbrook

— John Whittle (@johnmwhittle) February 14, 2015

San Diego State to retire Tony Gwynn's No. 19 before tonight's season opener: http://t.co/7nQkEWdp2Q

— NCAA Baseball (@NCAACWS) February 14, 2015

Go Cougs pic.twitter.com/anE1xyDYQh

— Don Marbut (@DonMarbut) February 14, 2015

Opening Night Friday the 13th…a terrifying night at Blair…1st 100 kids receive Dirtbag Jason masks. pic.twitter.com/iTSwYdctpo

— LBSU Dirtbags (@LBDirtbags) February 12, 2015

From Arizona State’s extra inning walk-off win:

The Woodmansee home run trot and scream. @ASU_Baseball wins pic.twitter.com/yBi3EpLutz

— Eric Sorenson (@Stitch_Head) February 14, 2015

Saturday

Happy 49th birthday to #ASU baseball coach Tracy Smith pic.twitter.com/HSxu5MgnIA

— jeffmetcalfe (@jeffmetcalfe) February 14, 2015

From Florida’s 22-3 win over Rhode Island:

Florida baseball has scored 21 runs today — as many or more than points scored for the football team in five of 12 games last year.

— Cody Jones (@CJonesScout) February 14, 2015

Texas' Kacy Clemens in his first collegiate outing today: 3 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Coming back from labrum surgery.

— Michael Lananna (@mlananna) February 14, 2015

OF @JakeRobson7 is living at first base. RBI single up the middle makes it 6-4. 11-straight appearances he's reached first to start 2015.

— MSU Baseball (@HailStateBB) February 14, 2015

Congratulations to @LamarCards Head Coach Jim Gilligan on his 1,300th career win to open the season yesterday!

— ABCA (@ABCA1945) February 14, 2015

This guy knew it was coming… RT @tyweglarz3: Wes Rea with a grand slam @HailStateBB pic.twitter.com/3l31y9Piir

— MSU Baseball (@HailStateBB) February 14, 2015

Harrison Bader had three home runs in his first two seasons (103 games played). This season, he has three home runs in the last 24 hours.

— Cody Jones (@CJonesScout) February 14, 2015

Sunday

From Wright State head coach Greg Lovelady, who benefitted from a grand slam by Ryan Fucci to beat Toledo Saturday:

Watch the monster GRAND SLAM by @ryanfucci to win the game in the bottom of the eighth here https://t.co/DFwPlERbWi

— Greg Lovelady (@CoachLovelady23) February 15, 2015

Drone interrupts Georgia Tech/St. Johns baesball game-does not end well for invader. @SZon2 @GTBaseball @GTAthletics http://t.co/LtU9P6YH9R

— justin reid (@jreidwsbsports) February 14, 2015

Cold weather banged several games Sunday. Some were moved to Saturday in advance, while some were just cancelled altogether.

Today's game against Davidson has been cancelled due to the cold weather. Villanova returns to action for Irish Alamo Classic on Friday.

— VUBaseball (@VUBaseball) February 15, 2015

New East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin shared his words of wisdom Sunday – a day after his Pirates were swept by No. 2 Virginia.

No one said it would be easy! Back to work today to get better! P.I.R.A.T.E.S.

— Cliff Godwin (@cgodwin23) February 15, 2015

ICYMI: Indiana clinched the Stanford series on this play in the 10th inning last night. http://t.co/aQ2HeCRchQ

— Indiana Baseball (@HoosierBaseball) February 15, 2015

From Michigan State pitching coach Skylar Meade:

National championship of bus drivers so far on 1st trip – elite level drivers, attitude…. High standard for next 4 months 4 all others

— Skylar Meade (@SkylarTMeade) February 15, 2015

IT'S A WALKOFF!! Jordan Qsar hits the game winning, two-run homer to right! WAVES WIN, 2-1!!

— Pepperdine Baseball (@PeppBaseball) February 15, 2015