Texas Tech – boosted by its high standing in the computerized metrics (RPI, etc.) – remains atop CB360’s exclusive Composite National Rankings (CNR) Top–50, with Oregon State still in the No. 2 spot. Oregon State sits atop most of the human polls, but has slipped back in the overall CNR due to a lower strength of schedule/computer metics thus far this season.
(The CB360 Top–50 now features 15 different elements in the formula, tabulated after March 15 games. See full description, links to formula elements, etc., further down this page … )
Stanford – which is idle until March 23 – has climbed from No. 8 to No. 3 while Clemson (#6 to #4) keeps an Atlantic Coast Conference team near the top, as Florida State has dropped from 3rd to 11th (FSU lost a series at Wake Forest last weekend).
The Southeastern Conference currently has no top-4 teams in the CNR, but the league impressively holds down each spot from 5th-10th: Kentucky (up from #7), Ole Miss (dropped one spot from 5th), Auburn (jump from #11), Florida (slipped down from #4), Vanderbilt (up from #13) and Texas A&M (which moved from #12 to #10). Yet another SEC team, Arkansas, was 9th in the CNR a week ago but has dropped back a bit, to 12th.
Seven teams entered/returned to the CNR Top–50 this week: [38] Arizona, [40] Troy, [43] Tennessee Tech, [44] Louisiana Tech, [48] USC, [49] Baylor and [50] BYU. Arizona is back in the Top–50 after a one-week absence, while BYU was part of the CNR preseason Top–50. … The seven teams that have slipped outside the current Top–50 include: [33] Georgia Tech, [39] UC Irvine, [45] San Diego, [46] Missouri State, [47] Georgia State, [49] Houston and [50] Purdue.
The SEC remains above 10 teams in the CNR Top–50, with 11 (all but South Carolina, currently #52, and #58 Georgia, plus Tennessee). Early indications hint at a possible challenge for the Big Ten to earn a larger number of NCAA Tournament bids this season, as [16] Indiana and [31] Illinois are that league’s only current Top–50 teams. The Illini were not among the top-6 in the Big Ten preseason coaches poll … which opts not to list a full preseason poll (would be great to know where Illinois was forecasted, i.e. #7 or #13??).
CONFERENCE CALL – Here is the current breakdown, by conference (half alone, 25, are from the SEC, Pac-12 or ACC; 30 are from the SEC/Pac-12/ACC/Big 12. The total number of leagues represented in the top-50 has risen to 15 (was 13 in the preseason Top–50), despite the absence of no Big West Conference teams (the West Coast and Missouri Valley conferences also now are close to having no teams in the Top–50):
• 11 SEC teams (6 top-10; 7 top-16; 9 top-25) – (5) Kentucky, (6) Ole Miss, (7) Auburn, (8) Florida,(9) Vanderbilt, (10) Texas A&M, (12) Arkansas, (20) LSU, (25) Alabama, (27) Missouri & (36) Mississippi State
• 7 Pac-12 Conf. teams (2 top-4; 3 top-16; 4 top-25): – (2) Oregon State, (3) Stanford, (13) UCLA, (23) Oregon,(28) California, (38) Arizona & (49) USC
• 7 ACC teams (1 top-4; 2 top-16; 5 top-25) – (4) Clemson, (11) Florida State, (17) Louisville, (18) NC State, (22) Duke, (30) North Carolina & (41) Virginia
• 5 Big 12 Conf. teams (1 top-4; 2 top-16): – (1) Texas Tech, (15) TCU, (42) Oklahoma, (45) Texas & (49) Baylor
• 3 Conference USA teams (1 top-25) – (14) Southern Miss., (35) Florida Atlantic & (44) Louisiana Tech
• 3 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-25) – (21) East Carolina, (26) UCF & (32) Wichita State
• 3 Sun Belt Conf. teams – (34) Coastal Carolina, (37) South Alabama & (40) Troy
• 2 Mountain West Conf. teams – (19) UNLV & (47) Louisiana Tech
• 2 Atlantic Sun Conf. teams – (29) Stetson & (33) Florida Gulf Coast
• 2 Big Ten Conf. teams – (16) Indiana & (31) Illinois
• 1 each (3 teams) – Southland (#24 Sam Houston State), Big East (#39 St. John’s), Ohio Valley (#43 Tennessee Tech), Missouri Valley (#46 Dallas Baptist) and West Coast (#50 BYU)
AROUND THE HORN:
• Top-10 Regulars – Only four teams have been in the CNR Top–10 all season: Texas Tech, Oregon State, Kentucky and Florida.
• Quick Climbers – Clemson was #18 in the preseason CNR but now sits at #4 … Ole Miss similarly has climbed from #20 to #6 while Auburn’s strong start has boosted the Tigers from #36 in the preseason CNR to a current top-10 position (#7)
CB360’s CNR FORMULA currently includes the following 15 elements (note that some of the Boyds World computerized rankings, among other elements, also will be worked into the CNR over the next few weeks):
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 53 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (63 total teams)
• DIBaseball.com top-25
• Baseball America top-25 poll
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (top-30)
• Perfect Game rankings (25 teams)
• Official NCAA RPI (top-60 teams)
• Massey computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Warren Nolan ELO rankings (top-60 teams)
• Bennett Rank computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Round Table computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• DISportsNet computerized rankings (top-60 teams; preseason/no update)
• Preseason 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 … C-USA
AAC … MVC … Mt West … Sun Belt … WCC … Southland … A-Sun
See the below links (plus text below) for more about the CNR Top–50:
>> Recent CB360 Top–50: Week–4 | Week–3 | Week–2
>> CLICK HERE for CB360 Preseason Top–50 in-depth release
>> CB360 Top–50 Weekend Scoreboards: Week–4 | Week–3 | Week–2 | Week–1
… also will be posting Top–50 week–5 scoreboard
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COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS (CNR) CRITERIA: Teams receive points based on their standings in each poll/rating/projection (60 pts for #1; 59 for #2, etc.). For polls involving voting points (coaches and CB) and the various RPI-type ratings, the CNR adjusts to reward teams that have larger margins in the voting/point totals (whereas two teams with nearly the same voting-point total will be closer in the CNR allotment for that poll). Note that strength-of-schedule typically is factored into RPI formulations … thus the actual SOS numbers only are used early in the season (SOS are not used in the CNR when RPI already are in the mix). For the NCAA field projections, teams are awarded CNR points based on their respective seedings, “last in” and “last out,” etc.
The polls/ratings/projections are averaged, with 40 points typically then added to each total in order to yield the 100-point benchmark. Early in the season (projected SOS; and preseason conference coaches polls) and late in the season (final-10 games), a maximum bonus/penalty of 2.0 (SOS & conf. poll) or 0.5 points (final-10) is factored into the formula (in that case, 38.0, or 39.5, rather than 40, is added to the poll/rating/projection avg.).
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• CB360 Composite Top-50 #5 (March 15, 2018)
(rank) Team – voting pts (previous)
1. Texas Tech – 95.33 (1-2–3–#3 in 2018 preseason CNR)
2. Oregon State – 92.72 (2-1–1–2)
3. Stanford – 87.49 (8-9–8–11)
4. Clemson – 87.77 (6-11–17–18)
5. Kentucky – 87.70 (7-8–7–8)
6. Mississippi – 88.62 (5-14–18–20)
7. Auburn – 86.55 (10-21–29–36)
8. Florida – 89.70 (4-3–2–1)
9. Vanderbilt – 84.19 (13-5–10–12)
10. Texas A&M – 84.20 (12-10–13–13)
11. Florida State – 94.43 (3-4–3–4)
12. Arkansas – 86.62 (9-6–5–7)
13. UCLA – 85.78 (11-13–12–14)
14. Southern Mississippi – 75.96 (17-17–15–21)
15. TCU – 83.56 (14-7–6–5)
16. Indiana – 82.08 (15-15–25–35)
17. Louisville – 76.72 (16-12–11–10)
18. North Carolina State – 72.97 (19-22–22–24)
19. UNLV – 61.64 (25-49–x–x)
20. LSU – 70.32 (22-16–14–9)
21. East Carolina – 57.47 (31-24–40–x)
22. Duke – 57.73 (30-35–41–47)
23. Oregon – 58.83 (28-45–x–x)
24. Sam Houston State – 56.99 (32-28–30–30)
25. Alabama – 60.24 (26-27–x–x)
26. UCF (Central Florida) – 51.80 (40-44–37–32)
27. Missouri – 51.23 (44-50–48–x)
28. California – 51.52 (42-32–x–48)
29. Stetson – 55.93 (35-x–49–x)
30. North Carolina – 72.21 (20-20–9–6)
31. Illinois – 55.83 (36-x–x–x)
32. Wichita State –54.47 (37-46–x–x)
33. Florida Gulf Coast – 51.52 (42-x–x–x)
34. Coastal Carolina – 75.59 (18-34–39–48)
35. Florida Atlantic – 51.64 (41-x–x–x)
36. Mississippi State – 57.90 (29-37–32–19)
37. South Alabama – 60.14 (27-18–20–22)
38. Arizona – 53.45 (x–38–23–25)
39. St. John’s – 69.48 (23-23–33–43)
40. Troy – 51.96 (x–x–x–x)
41. Virginia – 62.21 (24-26–19–16)
42. Oklahoma – 47.28 (48-42–36–40)
43. Tennessee Tech – 49.96 (x–x–x–x)
44. Louisiana Tech – 48.60 (x–x–x–x)
45. Texas – 70.59 (21-19–16–17)
46. Dallas Baptist – 56.58 (34-33–24–27)
47. San Diego State – 52.22 (38-39–38–50)
48. USC – 46.43 (x–x–x–x)
49. Baylor – 45.90 (x–x–x–x)
50. BYU – 45.89 (x–x–x–45)
– next five: College of Charleston, South Carolina, Kent State, Georgia State & Houston
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–4:
33. Georgia Tech – 56.59 (33-47–x–42)
39. UC Irvine – 51.86 (39-x–x–x)
45. San Diego – 50.84 (45-25–42–38)
46. Missouri State – 49.55 (46-43–31–29)
47. Georgia State – 48.68 (47-x–x–x)
49. Houston – 46.96 (49-30–26–23)
50. Purdue – 46.93 (50-x–x–x)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–3:
29. South Carolina – 60.47 (29–28–26)
31. Miami – 57.39 (31–27–28)
36. Georgia – 54.56 (36–x–x)
38. Arizona – 52.41 (38–23–25) … now back in Top–50
40. Minnesota – 51.47 (40–x–x)
41. Connecticut – 50.96 (41–47–x)
48. Cal State Fullerton – 48.69 (48–21–15)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–2:
34. Long Beach State – 53.81 (34–31)
35. Louisiana-Lafayette – 52.90 (35–34)
43. West Virginia – 48.82 (43–33)
44. Oklahoma State – 48.33 (44–37)
45. Wake Forest – 47.77 (45–39)
46. Rice – 47.70 (46–46)
49. Stetson – 46.51 (49–x) … now back in Top–50
50. Michigan 46.34 (50–41)
• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–1:
42. Georgia Tech – 50.33
44. Nebraska – 49.16
45. BYU – 48.43 … now back in Top–50
48. California – 47.43 … now back in Top–50
> These nine teams were in final 2017 regular-season CNR top-50 but not in 2018 preseason top-50:
(20) South Florida
(32) Baylor
(34) LMU
(37) Louisiana Tech
(38 Maryland
(39) Southeastern Louisiana
(41) New Mexico
(42) Old Dominion
(49) Washington
> These 15 teams were in the 2017 CNR preseason top-50 but not in 2018 preseason top-50:
East Carolina [2017 CNR preseason #18]
UC Santa Barbara [23]
Washington [24]
Maryland [31]
Arizona State [34]
Tulane [36]
UNC Wilmington [37]
Florida Atlantic [38]
Gonzaga [39]
New Mexico [41]
USC [44]
Oregon [47]
Wright State [48]
Southeastern Louisiana [49]
Cal Poly [50]