Drew Van Orden’s strong gm-1 pitching sparked Duke to a series sweep of rival North Carolina.
When the dust settled from the final weekend of play in the month of March for the 2014 season, nearly half of the series (18 of 40) involving top-50 teams in the CB360 Composite National Rankings had been won by the underdogs (teams outside the top-50, or lower-ranked within the top-50).
CLICK HERE for midweek CB360 top-50 scoreboard page (March 24-27)
• Week-5 CB360 Top-50 Gameday Wrapup Pages: March 14-16 | March 10-13
• Week-4 CB360 Top-50 Gameday Wrapup Pages: March 7-9 | March 3-6
• Week-3 CB360 Top-50 Gameday Wrapup Pages: Feb. 28-March 2 | Feb. 24-27
• Second Week CB360 Top-50 Gameday Wrapup Pages: Feb. 21-23 | Feb. 17-20
• Opening-Week CB360 Top-50 Gameday Wrapup Pages: Feb. 16 | Feb. 15 | Feb. 14
Most notably, five such underdogs (two in the SEC, three ACC) completed three-game series sweeps over the final weekend of March:
• at (35) Florida … vs. (7) LSU
• at (43) Alabama … vs. (10) Ole Miss
• at Duke … vs. (21) North Carolina
• (37) Miami … at (24) NC State
• at Pittsburgh … vs. (31) Georgia Tech
In addition to the big weekends from Florida and Alabama, two other teams pulled off series upsets vs. CB360 top-10 teams, as Stanford took 2-of-3 from visiting (6) Oregon while Middle Tennessee State won its home series vs. (8) Rice.
Ten of the series upsets came vs. teams in the top half of the CB360 top-50, with the others (not mentioned above) including (each 2-games-to-1):
• at Wichita State … vs. (14) Cal State Fullerton
• Hawaii … at (16) UC Santa Barbara
• Arizona State … at (22) UCLA
• Missouri … at (23) Auburn
Finally, these seven series upsets rounded out the total of 18 from the weekend’s CB360 top-50 action (2-games-to-1, unless noted):
• at George Mason .. vs. (26) VCU (played only one game)
• at UAB … vs. (28) Florida International
• West Virginia … at (36) Baylor (limited to 2-gm series)
• at Georgia … vs. (38) Texas A&M
• Illinois State … at (41) Indiana State
• Northwestern (La.) State … at (44) Sam Houston State
• Kansas State … at (50) Creighton
The 40 weekend series involving CB360 top-50 teams included eight head-to-head matchups, three referenced above (Miami–NC State, Florida–LSU and Alabama–Ole Miss), along with two teams that swept their showdown series: (2) South Carolina vs. visiting (20) Tennessee, and (33) Indiana at (45) Ohio State. The series in College Park was limited to a pair of games, with (19) Clemson winning both vs. (25) Maryland.
Two of the more hotly-contested series included (5) Vanderbilt bouncing back from a Friday loss to visiting (15) Kentucky (the Commodores won the series) and (13) Texas winning on Fri. and Sun. to head home from (29) Texas Tech with the 2-1 series win.
In addition to the 3-0 weekends from the five underdogs (Florida, Alabama, Duke, Miami and Pitt), plus also already referenced South Carolina and Indiana, only six other teams completed sweeps (all favorites, obviously) in action involving the CB360 top-50:
• (1) Florida State … vs. Boston College (Kingston, RI)
• at (3) Virginia … vs. Virginia Tech
• at (9) Cal Poly … vs. UC Davis
• (27) Washington … at USC
• at (42) Pepperdine … vs. Portland
• (46) Liberty … at Presbyterian
… That means that 38 of the CB360 top-50 suffered at least one loss during the week. After crunching all the numbers, it looks like the higher-ranked teams won only 56% of the games during the weekend’s CB360 top-50 action (68-54) – that’s well below the average for CB360’s tracking of its top-50 over the years (average weekends are in the 65%-75% range). Two weekends ago, the higher-ranked teams won 68% of the weekend’s top-50 games (83-39) and took 28 of the 40 series for that weekend.
Two of the CB360 top-50 teams were not playing single-opponent series over the weekend, as (17) Louisville swept three home games (two vs. Xavier, one vs. Butler) while (29) Seton Hall won a game at Iona and split a pair at Central Connecticut State.
Full weekend results for the CB360 top-50 action from March 28-30, 2014, are included below. Time permitting, game linescores may be added, along with updated team won-loss records, postgame links and additional photos from key games.
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WEEKEND TOP-50 MATCHUPS (March 28-30, 2014)
(both in the CB360 Composite National Rankings top-50) upsets in italics
• at (2) South Carolina swept (20) Tennessee
gm-1 (Fri.-Sat.)– SC 3 … TN 2 (14 inn.)
gm-2 – SC 9 … TN 6
gm-3 – SC 8 … TN 0
• at (5) Vanderbilt won series vs. (15) Kentucky (2 to 1)
gm-1 –KY 4 … VAN 2
gm-2 – VAN 9 … KY 3
gm-3 – VAN 6 … KY 2
• at (35) Florida swept series vs. (7) LSU
gm-1 (Sat.) – FL 2 … LSU 1
gm-2 (Sat.) – FL 6 … LSU 2
gm-3 – FL 11 … LSU 7
• at (43) Alabama swept series vs. (10) Mississippi
gm-1 – AL 7 … OleMiss 6
gm-2 – AL 6 … OleMiss 5 (10 inn.)
gm-3 – AL 3 … OleMiss 1
• (13) Texas won series at (30) Texas Tech (2 to 1)
gm-1 – TX 11 … TT 1
gm-2 – TT 8 … TX 4
gm-3 – TX 3 … TT 2 (12 inn.)
• (19) Clemson swept 2-gm series at (25) Maryland
gm-1 – CLEM 3 … MD 1
gm-2 (Fri.) – CLEM 7 … MD 1
gm-3 – canc.
• (37) Miami swept series at (24) North Carolina State
gm-1 (Fri.-Sat.) – MIA 2 … NC-St. 1
gm-2 – MIA 2 … NC-St. 1
gm-3 – MIA 12 … NC-St. 5
• (33) Indiana swept series at (45) Ohio State
gm-1 – IU 6 … OSU 4
gm-2 (Sun.) – IU 8 … OSU 2
gm-3 (Sun.) – IU 7 … OSU 1
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OTHER WEEKEND TOP-50 GAMES (March 28-30, 2014)
(both in the CB360 Composite National Rankings top-50) upsets in italics
• (1) Florida State swept series vs. Boston College (Kingston, RI)
gm-1 – FSU 6 … BC 0
gm-2 –FSU 11 … BC 7
gm-3 – FSU 10 … BC 1
• at (3) Virginia swept series vs. Virginia Tech
gm-1 – UVa 2 … VT 1
gm-2 – UVa 9 … VT 2
gm-3 – UVa 7 … VT 4
• at (4) Louisiana-Lafayette won series vs. Western Kentucky (2 to 1)
gm-1 (Sat.) – WKU 14 … ULL 3
gm-2 (Sat.) – ULL 10 … WKU 9
gm-3 – ULL 7 … WKU 4
• at Stanford won series vs. (6) Oregon (2 to 1)
gm-1 (Fri.) – STAN 6 … ORE 3
gm-2 (Fri.) – STAN 2 … ORE 1 (11 inn.)
gm-3 (Sun.) – ORE 9 … STAN 2
• at Middle Tennessee won series vs. (8) Rice (2 to 1)
gm-1 – MTSU 3 … Rice 2
gm-2 – Rice 8 … MTSU 0
gm-3 – MTSU 8 … Rice 5
• at (9) Cal Poly swept series vs. UC Davis
gm-1 – CP 8 … UCD 0
gm-2 – CP 5 … UCD 3
gm-3 – CP 9 … UCD 1
• (11) Oregon State won series at Arizona (2 to 1)
gm-1 – OR-St. 11 … AZ 2
gm-2 – AZ 11 … OR-St. 2
gm-3 – OR_St. 11 … AZ 0
• at (12) Houston won series vs. Memphis (2 to 1)
gm-1 – MEM 2 … HOU 1
gm-2 – HOU 6 … MEM 3
gm-3 – HOU 6 … MEM 2
• at Wichita State won series vs. (14) Cal State Fullerton (2 to 1)
gm-1 – CSF 5 … WICH 1
gm-2 – WICH 3 … CSF 2
gm-3 – WICH 4 … CSF 2
• Hawaii won series at (16) UC Santa Barbara (2 to 1)
gm-1 – Hawaii 3 … UCSB 1
gm-2 – UCSB 8 … Hawaii 7
gm-3 – Hawaii 12 … UCSB 4
• (17) Louisville went 3-0 during home weekend
Fri.– LOU 8 … Xavier 1
Sat. – LOU 15 … Butler 1
Sun. – LOU 12 … Xavier 3
• at (18) Mississippi State won series vs. Arkansas
gm-1 (Sat.) – ARK 4 … Miss.-St. 0
gm-2 (Sat.) – Miss-St. 5 … ARK 1
gm-3 (Sun.) – Miss-St. 5 … ARK 1
• at Duke swept series vs. (21) North Carolina
gm-1 – Duke 3 … UNC 2
gm-2 – Duke 9 … UNC 8 (12 inn.)
gm-3 – Duke 6 … UNC 4
• Arizona State won series at (22) UCLA (2 to 1)
gm-1 – UCLA 7 … ASU 3
gm-2 – ASU 8 … UCLA 5
gm-3 – ASU 6 … UCLA 5 (10 inn.)
• Missouri won series at (23) Auburn (2 to 1)
gm-1 (Thur.) – MO 4 … AUB 3
gm-2 (Fri.) – MO 4 … AUB 3
gm-3 (Sat.) – AUB 7 … MO 3
• at George Mason won gm-1 vs. (26) VCU (gms 2 & 3 canc.)
gm-1 – GMU 6 … VCU 1
gm-2 – canc.
gm-3 – canc.
• (27) Washington swept series at USC
gm-1 – WA 8 … USC 2
gm-2 – WA 19 … USC 4
gm-3 – WA 8 … USC 3 (14 inn.)
• at UAB won series vs. (28) Florida International (2 to 1)
gm-1 – UAB 1 … FIU 0
gm-2 – UAB 1 … FIU 0
gm-3 – FIU 2 … UAB 0
• (29) Seton Hall went 2-1 during road weekend
Fri. – SHU 8 … at Iona 0
Sat. – Central Conn. St. 1 … SHU 0
Sat. – SHU 2 … CCSU 0
• at Pittsburgh swept series vs. (31) Georgia Tech
gm-1 – Pitt 4 … GT 3 (13 inn.)
gm-2 – Pitt 5 … GT 0
gm-3 – Pitt 4 … GT 2
• (32) UNLV won series at Nebraska (2 to 1)
gm-1 – UNLV 5 … NEB 2
gm-2 – UNLV 5 … NEB 4
gm-3 – NEB 5 … UNLV 3
• (34) Oklahoma won series at Kansas (2 to 1)
gm-1 – OU 2 … KU 1
gm-2 – OU 2 … KU 1
gm-3 – KU 4 … OU 3
• West Virginia swept 2-gm series vs. (36) Baylor (Charleston, WV)
gm-1 – WVU 8 … BAY 7
gm-2 (Sun.) – WVU 4 … BAY 1
gm-3 – canc.
• at Georgia won series vs. (38) Texas A&M (2 to 1)
gm-1 – UGa 3 … A&M 2
gm-2 – UGa 6 … A&M 1
gm-3 – A&M 9 … UGa 5
• at (39) Oklahoma State won series vs. TCU (2 to 1)
gm-1 – TCU 3 … OK-St. 1
gm-2 – OK-St. 2 … TCU 1
gm-3 – OK-St. 9 … TCU 4
• at (40) San Diego State won series vs. Fresno State (2 to 1)
gm-1 –SDSU 2 … FRES 1
gm-2 – FRES 6 … SDSU 4
gm-3 – SDSU 1 … FRES 0
• Illinois State won series at (41) Indiana State (2 to 1)
gm-1 – Ill.-St. 5 … Ind.-St. 1
gm-2 – Ind.-St. 9 … Ill.-St. 2
gm-3 –Ill.-St. 1 … Ind.-St. 1 (7 inn.)
• at (42) Pepperdine swept series vs. Portland
gm-1 – PEP 6 … PORT 0
gm-2 – PEP 1 … PORT 0
gm-3 – PEP 6 … PORT 1
• Northwestern (La.) State won series at (44) Sam Houston State (2 to 1)
gm-1 – NWLA 12 … SHSU 1
gm-2 – SHSU 9 … NWLA 4
gm-3 – NWLA 3 … SHSU 1
• (46) Liberty swept series at Presbyterian
gm-1 – LIB 5 … PRES 0
gm-2 – LIB 8 … PRES 0
gm-3 – LIB 8 … PRES 0
• (47) San Diego won series at San Francisco (2 to 1)
gm-1 – USD 15 … USF 9
gm-2 (Sun.) – USF 6 … USD 4
gm-3 (Sun.) – USD 7 … USF 5
• at (48) Mercer won series vs. North Florida (2 to 1)
gm-1 (Sat.) – UNF 6 … MER 3
gm-2 (Sun.) – MER 11 … UNF 4
gm-3 (Sun.) – MER 6 … UNF 3 (7 inn.)
• (49) New Mexico won series at Air Force (2 to 1)
gm-1 – UNM 13 … AFA 8
gm-2 – AFA 5 … UNM 0
gm-3 – UNM 5 … AFA 3
• Kansas State won series at (50) Creighton (2 to 1)
gm-1 – Jays 4 … K-St. 3
gm-2 –K-St. 8 … Jays 5
gm-3 – K-St. 8 … Jays 2