LSU Narrowly Atop CB360 Preseason Composite National Rankings (2019)

February 14, 2019
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The CB360 Composite National Rankings (CNR) – a statistical formula created in 2009 and enhanced over the years by CollegeBaseball360 founder Pete LaFleur – are back for an 11th season in 2019, with the usual mixture of tradition-rich powers and emerging programs scattered through the preseason top-50.

>> CB360 Top–50 Opening Week Scoreboard (to be updated all weekend)

The LSU Tigers – for the first time in the 11-year history of CB360’s Composite National Rankings (CNR) – will be entering the season in the No. 1 position of the CNR Top–50, which utilizes an exclusive formula to slot the nation’s top teams on a 100-point scale. LSU, with 94.61 points, leads four other elite squads by less that a point: Oregon State (94.22), Vanderbilt (94.04), Texas Tech (93.84) and Florida (93.78) … in what likely is the closest 5-team cluster ever at the top of the preseason CNR (and surely one of the closest 5-team CNR logjams at any point in a season). The rest of the CNR preseason top-10 (6th-10th) includes: UCLA, North Carolina, Stanford, Louisville and Ole Miss.

(Scroll down for the full CNR preseason top-50, plus plenty of historical notes, some photos of 2019 teams/players and archived CNR preseason/final polls from 2011–18 … note that some additional photos may be added to this release … the customary CB360 Top-50 Opening Week Scoreboard also will be posted online and cross-linked here on this release).

Seven of the top-10 spots are occupied by Southeastern Conference teams (4) or Pac-12 Conference teams (3), plus two Atlantic Coast Conference teams and the Big 12’s Texas Tech. That forecasts possibly yet another SEC-vs-Pac-12 showdown in the College World Series championship round (and possibly a rare trio of Pac-12 teams among the eight-team field at the 2019 CWS).

LSU's Alex Box Stadium

Opening day at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium will feature the home team Tigers squad that enters the 2019 season No. 1 in multiple polls and sitting atop the CB360 Composite National Rankings … one year removed from a challenging 2018 season that required a late-season surge to cement LSU’s spot in the NCAA Tournament field. – photo courtesy LSU athletics

LSU – which was 9th in the 2018 preseason CNR, one year after entering the 2017 season in the No. 3 CNR position – has claimed its highest position in the preseason CNR since being No. 2 back in 2010 (behind Texas). That 2010 season ended up seeing none of the CNR preseason top-6 reach the College World Series (also Fullerton, UVa, Irvine & Rice, plus CNR preseason #8 Ga. Tech … with only CNR preseason #7 FSU reaching the 2010 CWS).

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This marks the eighth straight season that LSU has opened in the top-10 of  the preseason CNR, since being 19th heading into 2011. The Tigers now have been a top-5 preseason CNR team in five of the past seven years (also #4 in 2013, and #5 in both ’15 & ’16).

LSU is one of several perennial powers that made big jumps in the CNR, in relation to their position in the final 2018 regular-season CNR (mid-May). LSU was only #31 in that final 2018 CNR, before rallying to secure an NCAA Tournament bid (highlighted by reaching the SEC Tournament title game, as the #8 seed).

Vanderbilt was even lower (#35) in the final 2018 regular-season CNR and finished 6th in the SEC … but now the Commodores are the 2019 SEC favorite and have vaulted to No. 3 in CNR. Yet another SEC team, Mississippi State, has vaulted from #45 in the final 2018 regular-season CNR to #13 currently (after rallying all the way to the 2018 CWS, despite only finishing 9th in the SEC). Cal State Fullerton is another notable team that has climbed back into the upper part of the CNR (#21), after being 47th late in 2018 and needing some key wins down the stretch to reach the NCAAs.

Florida has been a top-5 CNR preseason team for each of the past five seasons (#1 in ’16 & ’18; #2 in ’17; #4 in ’15; and #5 in ’19). The Gators also own the most CWS appearances (6; in 2011, ’12, ’15–’18) spanning the previous eight seasons (2011–18), including an active streak of four straight trips to Omaha.

Expanding out to the preseason CNR top-16 (i.e. potential NCAA Regional No. 1 seeds/likely hosts), there are a whopping eight SEC teams – half of that projected Regional host group (also #11 Arkansas, #13 Mississippi State, #14 Georgia and #15 Auburn). The CNR preseason top-16 also includes three total ACC teams (with #12 FSU), plus the aforementioned three Pac-12 squads, Texas Tech (Big 12) and American Athletic Conference favorite East Carolina (at #16).

INSIDE THE NUMBERS – The preseason CNR formula includes 13 total ingredients, with the Baseball America and DI Baseball projected NCAA Tournament fields combining with their preseason top-25s (as one criteria but allowing for more teams in the data set). So, essentially there are 11 categories that involve a No. 1 position, although one is a small bonus for preseason conference coaches polls (and another small bonus is for projected strength of schedule).

LSU checked in at No. 1 among three of the CNR ingredients (USA Today coaches poll; Collegiate Baseball magazine poll; and Perfect Game rankings), while Vanderbilt also held the top spot in there of the metrics: DI Baseball rankings; Baseball America rankings; and the NCBWA writers poll. Oregon State occupies the lead position in the Massey computerized rankings, the Moore Power Rankings and the DI Sports Net rankings.

Among the top-5 teams in the CNR, Florida received the biggest bonus for projected strength of schedule. Preseason conference coaches polls have projected Vanderbilt and Texas Tech as league favorites (LSU 2nd; Florida 3rd; Oregon State 3rd).

(It should be noted that several of the CNR ingredients that utilize a points formula, rather than only a 1-2-3 ranking, are applied into the CNR formula using standard deviation. Thus a unanimous No. 1 in the coaches poll will have a greater CNR gap ahead of the No. 2 team, as opposed to if those teams received nearly the same voting tallies from the coaches. See more later in this release about CNR formula details).

>> Here is how the tightly-grouped top five CNR teams stack up in the preseason tabulation:
• Coaches Poll: (1) LSU..(2) Vandy..(3) Florida..(4) TxTech..(5) Ore. St.
• Writers Poll: (1) Vandy..(2) LSU..(3) TxTech..(5) Ore. St..(6) Florida
• DI Baseball: (1) Vandy..(2) LSU..(3) TxTech..(6) Florida..(8) Ore. St.
• Baseball America: (1) Vandy..(2) LSU..(4) Florida..(8) TxTech..(10) Ore. St.
• Perfect Game: (1) LSU..(2) Ore. St…(3) Vandy..(5) TxTech..(9) Florida
• Collegiate Baseball: (1) LSU..(2) Vandy..(4) TxTech..(6) Florida..(7) Ore. St.
• Massey: (1) Ore. St…(4) Florida..(6) TxTech..(11) Vandy..(13) LSU
• Moore: (1) Ore. St…(2) Florida..(4) TxTech..(5) LSU..(15) Vandy
• D1SN: (1) Ore. St…(2) TxTech..(3) Florida..(5) Vandy..(8) LSU

… A max. 1-point bonus is awarded for projected season strength-of-schedule (per Massey): Florida is rated having the 7th-hardest projected SOS, followed among the top-5 by (12) LSU, (13) Oregon State, (14) Vanderbilt and (26) Texas Tech. The projected conference finish, per the conf. coaches polls, likewise adds a max. 1-point bonus.

Oregon State 2018 CWS Champs

Oregon State has to replace several key pieces – including retired head coach Pat Casey – from its 2018 CWSchampionship team … but the Beavers once again sit among the top teams in the CB360 Top–50, at No. 2. – photo courtesy Oregon State

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>> Note that plenty of in-depth details are included below (including a full listing of the top-50) … but here’s a quick rundown of the balance of the top-50: [17] Baylor, [18] Texas, [19] Clemson [20] TCU, [21] CS Fullerton, [22] Coastal Carolina, [23] Southern Miss., [24] Minnesota, [25] NC State … [26] Duke, [27] Oklahoma State, [28] Texas A&M, [29] Arizona, [30] Missouri State …

… [31] Michigan, [32] Georgia Tech, [33] Washington, [34] UConn, [35] Houston, [36] UC Irvine, [37] Indiana, [38] South Carolina, [39] Stetson, [40] Dallas Baptist, [41] Wake Forest, [42] La. Tech, [43] Sam Houston St., [44] St. John’s, [45] Illinois, [46] San Diego State, [47] Kentucky, [48] Tennessee Tech, [49] Arizona State & [50] Florida Atlantic.

A full conference breakdown of the top-50 is included further down this release … but for quick reference, the 2019 CNR preseason top-50 includes 11 from the SEC…8 ACC…6 Pac-12…5 Big 12…4 Big Ten…3 AAC…3 C-USA…2 Big West…2 MVC…and one each from the Sun Belt, A-Sun, Southland, Big East, Mt. West and Ohio Valley.

• OLD RELIABLES – In the 10-year history of the CNR, there have been 15 teams in the preseason top-50 each of those seasons (2010–19):

Florida (avg. CNR preseason rank: 5.8 … #9–2–1–14–19–4–1–2–1–5 from ’10–’19)
LSU (6.4 … 2–19–10–4–6–5–5–3–9–1)
Vanderbilt (8.2 … 31–4–11–3–10–1–2–5–12–3)
Florida State (9.7 … 7–12–12–15–5–13–13–4–4–12)
TCU (10.1 … 11–3–13–12–22–3–11–1–5–20)
North Carolina (12.2 … 13–30–4–2–13–12–23–12–6–7)
CS Fullerton (13.3 … 3–8–19–23–1–16–16–11–15–21)
UCLA (13.5 … 25–1–16–5–11–6–9–43–13–6)
Louisville (14.4 … 19–27–28–16–14–10–4–7–10–9)
Oregon State (14.9 … 16–44–27–9–2–31–8–8–2–2)
South Carolina (16.0 … 20–9–2–7–12–11–29–6–26–38)
Texas (16.3 … 1–6–7–24–23–9–25–33–17–18)
Texas A&M (19.6 … 30–14–5–25–25–33–3–20–13–28)
Ole Miss (26.2 … 22–43–33–22–32–24–31–25–20–10)
Georgia Tech (27.3 … 8–23–9–18–35–39–39–28–42–32)

… Florida and LSU have been CNR preseason top-20 every year from 2010–19 (Gators top-10 every year but ’13 and ’14; LSU preseason top-10 all but 2011) … Vanderbilt has been top-12 in the preseason CNR every year since 2011 … with the exception of #22 in 2014 and #20 this season, TCU has been 13th or better in eight of the past 10 preseason CNRs … FSU has been top-15 preseason CNR every year (2010–19) … Fullerton has been a perennial top-25 preseason CNR team (each of the 10 seasons).

Vanderbilt

Sophomore utility player Austin Martin and his Vanderbilt teammates are part of a five-team logjam atop the CB360 preseason Composite National Rankings, with the Commodores No. 3 in the CNR and #1 in multiple national polls. – photo courtesy Vanderbilt

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>> Beyond the 15 teams highlighted above, there have been eight other teams that have been in the CNR preseason top-50 during nine of 10 seasons (2010–19), including three teams that missed the preseason CNR top-50 this season for the first time over the past 10 seasons (Miami, Rice and UVa):
… Arkansas (all but 2017; high of #1 in 2013)
Virginia (all but 2019; high of #2 in 2015)
Stanford (all but 2016; high of #3 in 2012)
Rice (all but 2019; high of #6 in 2010 & ’12)
Miami (all but 2019; high of #6 in 2016)
Clemson (all but 2016; high of #7 in 2011)
Coastal Carolina (all but 2015; high of #9 in 2017)
Arizona State (all but 2018; high of #10 in 2010 and ’11)

>> and four other teams that have been preseason CNR top-50
…in eight of the 10 seasons (2010–19):
Mississippi State (all since 2012; high of #4 in 2014)
N.C. State (all but 2010 and ’15; high of #8 in 2014)
Arizona (all but ’15 and ’16; high of #10 in 2017)
Oklahoma State (all but ’11 and ’13; high of #7 in 2015)

>> in terms of seven CNR preseason top-50 appearances from 2010–19, there are six teams in that group:
… UC Irvine (all but ’14-’17-’18; high of #5 in 2010)
Oklahoma (all but ’15, ’17 & ’19; high of #7 in 2017)
Oregon (all but ’10, ’18 & ’19; high of #8 in ’13)
Kentucky (all but ’11-’12-’17; high of #11 in 2013)
Southern Miss. (all but ’14-’15-’16; high of #21 in 2018)
Dallas Baptist (all but ’10-’11-’14; high of #27 in 2018)

>> CNR preseason top-50 in six of past 10 seasons (7 teams):
… Houston (2014–19; high of #8 in 2015)
East Carolina (10-12-13-14-16-19; high of #16 in 2019)
Sam Houston State (13-14-15-17-18-19; high of #30 in 2018)
San Diego (all but ’12-’16-’17-’19; high of #21 in 2010)
St. John’s (11-12-13-15-18-19; high of #24 in 2012)
Florida Atlantic (11-13-14-16-17-19; high of #31 in 2014)
Wichita State (2010–15; high of #32 in 2010)

>> CNR preseason top-50 in five of past 10 seasons (7 teams):
Texas Tech (2015–19; high of #3 in 2018)
California (11-12-16-17-18; high of #12 in 2016)
Auburn (11-13-16-18-19; high of #15 in 2019)
Louisiana Lafayette (2014–18; high of #15 in 2016)
Nebraska (10-14-15-17-18; high of #25 in 2015)
Missouri State (12-13-16-18-19; high of #26 in 2016)
College of Charleston (11-12-13-15-16; high of #26 in 2011)

>> CNR preseason top-50 in four of past 10 seasons (10 teams):
Indiana (14-16-18-19; high of #7 in 2014)
Georgia (10-12-13-19; high of #14 in 2019)
Baylor (2011–13 & ’19; high of #17 in 2019)
UC Santa Barbara (2014–17; high of #23 in 2017)
Alabama (10-11-14-15; high of #26 in 2014)
Long Beach State (10-16-17-18; high of #27 in 2017)
Michigan (2016–19; high of #27 in 2016)
Cal Poly (10-14-15-17; high go #27 in 2014)
UCF (11-12-15-18; high of #30 in 2013)
Tulane (11-13-16-17; high of #36 in 2017)

Minnesota

Sophomore All-America pitcher Max Meyer and his Minnesota teammates enter 2019 with their highest placement (24) in the 11-year history of the CB360 Composite National Rankings. The Gophers are CNR preseason top-50 for the first time since 2011. – photo courtesy Minnesota

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>> CNR preseason top-50 in three seasons (since 2000), 12 teams:
Kansas State (10+11+14; high of #18 in 2014)
USC (12+16+17; high if #20 in 2016)
Maryland (2015–17; high of #20 in 2015)
Minnesota (10+11+19; high of #24 in 2019)
Liberty (11+14+15; high of #29 in 2015)
New Mexico (13+14+17; high of #32 in 2013)
Fresno State (2010–12; high of #32 in 2011)
UNC Wilmington (14+16+17; high of #36 in 2014)
Kent State (11+13+15; high of #36 in 2013)
Pepperdine (10+13+15; high of #36 in 2010)
Illinois (15+16+19; high of #37 in 2015)
San Diego State (16+18+19; high of #46 in 2019)

>> CNR preseason top-50 in two seasons (since 2000), 10 teams: Duke (18+19), Wake Forest (18+19), Washington (17+19), Stetson (12+19), Gonzaga (10+17), Notre Dame (13+16), Missouri (10+16), Washington State (11+15), Virginia Tech (11+13) and Jacksonville (10+12).

>> The 111 programs that have appeared in the CNR preseason top-50 since 2010 include 32 with only one season in the preseason top-50: UConn, La. Tech & Tenn. Tech (all in 2019) … West Virginia, BYU & So. Alabama (each 2018) … Wright St. & Southeastern Louisiana (all 2017) … Iowa (2016) … Kevnnesaw St., Tenn. LMU & Ball St. (all 2015) … Western Carolina, Mercer, UNLV & North Florida (all 2014) … Elon (2013) … Ga. Southern, FIU, Troy, Texas St. & Purdue (all 2012) … UConn, Pitt & Hawaii (2011) … Ohio St., Kansas, Oral Roberts, Middle Tenn., FGCU & Boston College (all 2010).

• SEC AMONG TOP SPOTS: This marks the sixth time over the past eight seasons (all but Cal State Fullerton in 2014 and TCU in ’17) that a team from the Southeastern Conference has occupied the top spot in the CB360 preseason CNR top-50, by four different SEC Teams: Florida in 2012, ’16 and ’17; Arkansas ’13; Vanderbilt ’15; and LSU ’18. Since 2010, when Texas held the top spot, Florida is the only team that has been #1 in the CNR preseason top-50 more than once. UCLA sat atop the preseason CNR in 2011.

The 2016 preseason CNR remains the only time over the past 10 seasons (2010–19) that three teams from the same conference have occurred the top-3 spots: Florida, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M (all from the SEC, as was #5 LSU in that 2016 preseason CNR).

In a sampling of the 2010–19 CNR preseason top-50, it has been somewhat rare for even two teams from the same conference to be among the top-3. Spanning this 10-year span, there have been only four years with two of the top-3 teams in the CNR preseason top-50 from the same conference: 2012 (Florida & South Carolina), 2013 (Arkansas & Vanderbilt), 2017 (Florida & LSU); and 2019 (LSU & Vanderbilt). From 2011–19, Florida leads the way with being a CNR preseason top-3 in five different seasons, followed by Vanderbilt with four and three teams with three each (TCU, LSU & Oregon State). Cal State Fullerton and Virginia each have been top-3 in two CNR preseason rankings since 2010, with one each for Texas, UCLA, South Carolina, Stanford, Arkansas, North Carolina, Texas A&M and Texas Tech (one of four teams from Texas among the above group).

• CNR PRESEASON TOP-3 HISTORY: See listing below for how the CNR preseason top-3 have shaken out over the previous nine seasons. Note thatVirginia, in 2015, Florida (’17) & Oregon State (’18) are the only eventual CWS champions among the 27 teams on this list from 2010–18 … while five different CWS runner-up teams recently have come from the CNR preseason top-3, during the previous eight seasons alone (Florida ’11; South Carolina ’12; UVa ’14; Vanderbilt ’15; & LSU ’17). In two of the past four seasons, the preseason CNR top-3 accurately forecasted the College World Series finalists: UVa & Vandy in 2015; and Florida & LSU in ’17. Three of the past four champs (UVa ’15; Florida ’17; Oregon St. ’18) have been CNR preseason top–4 teams) … while, all told, six of the previous nine seasons of the CNR have included at least one of the CWS finalists among the CNR preseason top-3 (all but 2010, ’13 and ’16) … meaning it’s likely that at least one team from among the current top-3 (LSU, Oregon State, Vanderbilt) will be playing for the 2019 CWS title:

> CNR Preseason Top–3:
2010: [1] Texas … [2] LSU … [3] Cal State Fullerton
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] Virginia* … [3] TCU
2016: [1] Florida … [2] Vanderbilt … [3] Texas A&M
2017: [1] TCU … [2] Florida* … [3] LSU#
2018: [1] Florida … [2] Oregon State* … [3] Texas Tech
(2019 TBD: [1] LSU …. [2] Oregon State … [3] Vanderbilt)
* = won CWS title   #=CWS runner-up

UNC celebrates

North Carolina has been a model of consistency over the past couple seasons. The Tar Heels entered 2018 in the No. 6 spot of the CB360 Composite National Rankings Top-50 and ended up 7th in the final 2018 regular-season CNR, before reaching the 8-team College World Series. Now, UNC is back in that same range: No. 7 in the 2019 preseason CNR. – photo courtesy UNC

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• FROGS HOP SHORT: TCU was a CNR preseason top-5 team in four of nine seasons from 2010-18, but the Frogs check in at #20 in the 2019 preseason CNR. TCU’s average starting position in the CNR from 2010–19 is 10.1, bested by only the SEC trio of Florida (5.8), LSU (6.4) and Vanderbilt (8.2), plus Florida State (9.7).

TCU – which missed the 2018 NCAAs altogether – also saw its four-year College World Series streak end last season (the Frogs were a semifinalist, a.k.a. bracket finalist in 2015, ’16 and ’17). Back in 2010, TCU also was a CWS bracket finalist, losing to UCLA to end its historic run that season.

Even after missing the 2018 NCAAs, TCU’s haul of five CWS appearances during the past nine seasons (2010–18) trails only Florida (7) for the most Omaha trips during that span. Florida also owns the most CWS appearances (6; in 2011, ’12, ’15, ’16, ’17 & ’18) spanning the previous  eight seasons (2011–18), followed by four each for Texas and TCU, and three each for Arkansas, North Carolina, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Virginia. The nine teams mentioned in this paragraph have combined for exactly half of the CWS appearances (32 of 64) during the past eight seasons.

CB360’s CNR FORMULA for the 2019 preseason includes the following 13 elements:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 55 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (63 total teams)
DIBaseball.com preseason top-25, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (52 teams)
• Baseball America top-25 poll, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (56 teams)
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (preseason top-40)
• Perfect Game preseason rankings (40 total teams; teams 26–40)
• Massey preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore Power Rankings, preseason computerized (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 … AACC-USA Big West 
MVC … Sun Belt A-SunSouthlandBig East … Mt. WestOhio Valley

Note: scroll down near bottom of this page for complete 2019 preseason CB360 Top-50 – plus the final 2014, ’15, ’16, ’17 & ’18 CB360 Top-50 (mid-May, prior to postseason) and the preseason Top-50 for each of the previous nine seasons (2010–18).

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• PROJECTING THE POSTSEASON ELITE – Based on the preseason CNR, the following teams project to be NCAA tournament top-8 seeds (and, if form holds, 2019 CWS participants): LSU, Oregon State, Vanderbilt, Texas Tech, Florida, UCLA, North Carolina & Stanford. The CNR projects those eight teams plus the following eight as 2019 NCAA Regional No. 1 seeds/likely hosts (top-16 national seeds): Louisville, Ole Miss, Arkansas, Florida State, Mississippi State, Georgia, Auburn & East Carolina. The top-8 projected NCAA seeds/CWS participants include three SEC & three Pac-12 teams, plus one each from the Big 12 and ACC. The 16 CNR-projected NCAA Regional hosts/national seeds include eight SEC (half of the seeds), three ACC, three Pac-12, one Big 12 and one American Athletic.

> One year ago in 2018, these eight teams projected to be NCAA tournament seeds (and, if form held, 2018 CWS participants): Florida, Oregon State, Texas Tech, Florida State, TCU, North Carolina, Arkansas & Kentucky (all but FSU, TCU & Kentucky made it to the 2018 CWS). The CNR projected those eight teams plus the following eight as 2018 NCAA Regional No. 1 seeds/likely hosts: LSU, Louisville, Stanford, Vanderbilt, UCLA, Fullerton & Virginia (none of those eight made the 2018 CWS, but two near the top-16 were CWS participants: CNR preseason #17 Texas & #19 Mississippi State). The eight projected 2018 NCAA top-8 seeds/CWS participants included three SEC teams, two ACC, two Big 12 and one Pac-12. Based on the preseason CNR, the 16 projected 2018 NCAA Regional hosts included six SEC, four ACC, three Pac-12, two Big 12 and one Big West.

> Two years ago in 2017, these eight teams projected to be NCAA tournament seeds (and, if form held, 2017 CWS participants): TCU, Florida, LSU, Florida State, Vanderbilt, South Carolina, Louisville & Oregon State (all but Vandy and S.C. made it to the 2017 CWS). The CNR projected those eight teams plus the following eight as 2017 NCAA Regional No. 1 seeds/likely hosts: Coastal Carolina, Arizona, Cal State Fullerton, North Carolina, Clemson, NC State, Oklahoma State and Virginia (Fullerton made it on to the CWS, as did Texas A&M from outside the regional host group). The eight projected 2017 NCAA seeds/CWS participants included four SEC teams, two ACC, one Big 12 and one Pac-12. The 16 projected 2018 NCAA Regional hosts included six ACC, four SEC, two each from the Pac-12 and Big 12, plus one Big West and one Sun Belt.

Three years ago (per the preseason CNR), these eight projected to be 2016 NCAA tournament seedsand CWS participants: Florida, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Louisville, LSU, Miami, Virginia & Oregon St (only Florida and Miami made it to Omaha). The CNR projected those eight teams plus the following eight as 2016 NCAA Regional hosts: UCLA, Oklahoma St, TCU, Cal, Florida St, Oregon, La.-Lafayette and CS Fullerton (OK St. and TCU did one step better, making it to the ’16 CWS). … The eight projected 2016 NCAA seeds/CWS participants included four SEC teams, three ACC and one Pac-12. The 16 projected NCAA Regional hosts included four each from the SEC, ACC and Pac-12 (plus two Big 12, and one each from the Sun Belt and Big West).

And four years back, the 2015 preseason CNR proved to be incredibly accurate, as the preseason #1 and #2 (Vanderbilt and Virginia) both reached the CWS finals (won by UVa), while the CNR preseason #3 and #4 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, Fullerton joined the #1-#5 teams at the 2015 CWS (as did Miami, #18 in the preseason CNR, and Arkansas, which opened the ’15 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, five of the past eight teams that were preseason No. 1 in the CNR – UCLA (2011), Florida (’12), Arkansas (’13), Cal State Fullerton (’14) and TCU (’17) – failed to ultimately even reach the CWS for that season … Vanderbilt was a 2015 CWS participant (runner-up), after being the CNR preseason #1, while Florida similarly was the 2016 CNR preseason #1 and ended up reaching the CWS (as did the Gators in 2018, after being CNR preseason #1).

Here’s where the past nine CWS champions were ranked in the preseason CNR for that season (only three top-4 and four top-8, with an avg. rank of 10.4 – essentially, on average, projecting the eventual national champion a little off the fringe for even making the CWS for that season, although greatly skewed by CNR preseason #30 Coastal’s win title in 2016):
• [CNR preseason #20] South Carolina (2010)
• [9] South Carolina (2011)
• [14] Arizona (2012)
• [5] UCLA (2013)
• [10] Vanderbilt (2014)
• [2] Virginia (2015)
• [30] Coastal Carolina (2016)
• [2] Florida (2017)
• [2] Oregon State (2018)

… And here are the teams that have been CWS runner-up during the past nine seasons, preceded by where they ranked in the preseason CNR for that season. It’s interesting to note that four in a five-year span all were among the top-3 in the preseason CNR, before Arizona rose from outside the preseason top-50 to reach the 2016 CWS finals … followed by CNR preseason #3 LSU ending up as the CWS runner-up and then CNR preseason #7 Arkansas as the 2018 runner-up):
• [CNR preseason #25] UCLA (2010)
• [2] Florida (2011)
• [2] South Carolina (2012)
• [13] Mississippi State (2013)
• [3] Virginia (2014)
• [1] Vanderbilt (2015)
• [X] Arizona (2016)
• [3] LSU (2017)
• [7] Arkansas (2018)

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 3.2 per year, including only one of the CNR preseason top-8 that ended up in the 2010 CWS and only one again in 2014, with a high of five in 2015 before six in 2017, all but Vanderbilt & South Carolina):

2010 CWS – only one team: CNR preseason #7 Florida State
(did not reach CWS: 1–Texas, 2–LSU, 3–Fullerton, 4–Virginia, 5–UC Irvine, 6–Rice, 8–Georgia Tech)
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)
2016– two teams: [1] Florida & [6] Miami
… plus [10] OK St, [11] TCU, [30] Coastal, [35] Texas Tech, [45] UCSB & [X] Arizona
(did not reach CWS: 2–Vanderbilt, 3–Texas A&M, 4–Louisville, 5–LSU, 7–Virginia, 8–Oregon State)
2017 – six teams: [1] TCU, [2] Florida, [3] LSU, [4] Florida State, [7] Louisville & [8] Oregon State
… plus [11] CS Fullerton & [20] Texas A&M
(did not reach CWS: 5–Vanderbilt & 6–South Carolina)

2018 – five teams: [1] Florida, [2] Oregon State, [3] Texas Tech, [6] North Carolina & [7] Arkansas
… plus [17] Texas, [19] Mississippi State & [X] Washington
(did not reach CWS: [4] Florida State, [5] TCU & [8] Kentucky)

PREDICTABLY UNPREDICTABLE – Spanning the 2012-16 seasons, six different teams – Kent State (’12), Stony Brook (’12), Indiana (’13), Texas Tech (’14), UC Irvine (’14) and Arizona (’16) – reached the College World Series after not even being in the CB360 preseason top-50, followed by Washington in 2018 (for seven CWS teams in the past seven seasons that were non CNR preseason top-50).

• Teams outside the CNR preseason top-8 that ultimately reached the CWS later that season, during the past nine years (43 teams, or 4.8 per year, from 2010–18):
(–; not in CNR preseason top-50) Kent State, in 2012
(–) Stony Brook, in 2012
(–) Indiana, in 2013
(–) Texas Tech, in 2014
(–) UC Irvine, in 2014
(–) Arizona, in 2016
(–) Washington, in 2018
(CNR preseason #45) UC Santa Barbara, in 2016
(36) Arkansas, in 2015
(35) Texas Tech, in 2016
(32) Ole Miss, in 2014
(30) North Carolina, in 2011
(30 Coastal Carolina, in 2016
(28) Oklahoma, in 2010
(25) UCLA, in 2010
(24) California, in 2011
(23) Texas, in 2014
(22) TCU, in 2014
(20) South Carolina, in 2010
(20) Texas A&M, in 2017
(19) Mississippi State, in 2018
(18) Miami, in 2015
(17) Texas, in 2018
(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) Clemson, in 2010
(12) Florida State, in 2012
(11) TCU, in 2010
(11) TCU, in 2016
(11) CS Fullerton, in 2017
(10) Arizona State, in 2010
(10) North Carolina State, in 2013
(10) Vanderbilt, in 2014
(10) Oklahoma State, in 2016
(9) Florida, in 2010
(9) South Carolina, in 2011
(9) Oregon State, in 2013
>> teams listed above, by year: 7 in 2010 … 5 in 2011 … 5 in 2012 … 5 in 2013 … 7 in 2014 … 3 in 2015 … 6 in 2016 … 2 in 2017 … 3 in 2018 (avg. 4.8 per year; 5-plus every year from 2010–14, and again in ’16)

LATE-SEASON NCAA TOURNAMENT FORECASTS – The final CNR top-50 during the 2016 season (mid-May, prior to postseason) included 42 teams (27 of the top-28; 32 of the top-35) that ultimately earned berths in the 2016 NCAA Tournament – all except for: (23) North Carolina … (29) Michigan … (31) BYU … (36) California … (41) Oregon State … (42) Kent State … (43) Long Beach State … and (49) Creighton.

> The final CNR release during the 2015 season (mid-May, prior to postseason) included 38 teams that ultimately earned berths in the 2015 NCAAs – all except: (23) Nevada, (31) UNC, (32) North Florida, (33) Ohio St, (35) Irvine, (38) Ga Tech, (42) Southeastern Louisiana, (43) Michigan St, (45) So. Miss., (48) Nebraska, (49) So. Alabama & (49) Missouri. … That number (38) was down from the 42 teams, later replicated in 2016 from the final CNR top-50 release during the 2014 season (mid-May, prior to postseason) that went on to earn berths in the 2014 NCAAs – all except for: (26) Mercer, (31) West Virginia, (32) FIU, (37) USD, (38) UCF, (42) New Mexico, (44) UCSB & (47) Tennessee.

Baylor celebrate

One year removed from not being in the CB360 Composite National Rankings preseason top-50, Baylor stands No. 17 in the 2019 preseason CNR. The Bears look to build off their 2018 momentum and are picked second in the Big 12. – photo courtesy Baylor

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CONFERENCE CALL – Here is the breakdown, by conference, of the 2019 preseason CNR top-50 (19 alone are from the SEC or ACC) … 30 (60%) are from the SEC/ACC/Big 12/Pac-12 … and 40 of the 50 (80%) are from these seven leagues: SEC/ACC/B12/P12/BigTen/AAC/CUSA. The total number of leagues represented in the top-50 (15) is up from only 13 in the 2018 CNR preseason top-50 … for the second straight season, only 10 leagues have multiple top-50 teams (only six have three-plus):
• 11 SEC teams (2 top-4; 3 top-8; 8 top-16; 8 top-25) – (1) LSU…(3) Vanderbilt…(5) Florida…(10) Ole Miss…(11) Arkansas…(13) Mississippi State…(14) Georgia…(15) Auburn…(28) Texas A&M…(38) South Carolina & (47) Kentucky.
8 ACC teams (1 top-8; 3 top-16; 5 top-25) – (7) North Carolina…(9) Louisville…(12) Florida State…(19) Clemson…(25) NC State…(26) Duke…(32) Georgia Tech & (41) Wake Forest.
• 6 Pac-12 teams (1 top-4; 3 top-8): – (2) Oregon State…(6) UCLA…(8) Stanford…(29) Arizona…(33) Washington & (49) Arizona State.
• 5 Big 12 teams (1 top-4; 4 top-25): – (4) Texas Tech…(17) Baylor…(18) Texas…(20) TCU & (27) Oklahoma State.
• 4 Big Ten teams (1 top-25) – (24) Minnesota… (31) Michigan…(37) Indiana & (45) Illinois.
• 3 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-16)– (16) East Carolina…(34) Connecticut & (35) Houston.
• 3 Conference USA team (1 top-25) – (23) Southern Miss…(42) Louisiana Tech & (50) Florida Atlantic.
• 2 Big West teams (1 top-25) – (21) Cal State Fullerton & (36) UC Irvine.
• 2 Missouri Valley Conf. teams – (29) Missouri State & (40) Dallas Baptist
• 1 each (3 teams) Sun Belt (#22 Coastal Carolina) … Atlantic Sun (#39 Stetson) … Southland (#43 Sam Houston State) … Big East (#44 St. John’s) … Mountain West (#46 San Diego State) … and Ohio Valley (#48 Tennessee Tech).

… The SEC total in the 2019 CNR preseason top-50 climbed back up to 11 for the third time in the past five season (also 2015 & ’16), after being down at seven SEC teams in the 2017 CNR preseason top-50 (then 10 in ’18) … spanning those past five seasons (2015–19), SEC teams have combined for 50 spots in the CNR preseason top–50 (avg. of 10 per year) … The ACC is 2nd with 41 preseason CNR top-50 teams over the past fiver seasons, followed by: Pac-12 (31), Big 12 (24), Big Ten (18), Big West (16), American Athletic (12), Conf. USA (11), Missouri Valley (9), Sun Belt (8), WCC (6), Southland (5), Colonial (4), Mt. West (4), Big East (3), Atlantic Sun (2), Big South (2), Mid-American (2), and one each for the Horizon and Ohio Valley … it’s notable that there are no teams from the West Coast Conference, which typically has at least one team among the CNR Top–50 (i.e. San Diego, BYU, Pepperdine or Gonzaga).

> One year earlier, in 2018, here’s how the preseason CNR top-50 broke down by conference:
• 10 SEC teams (1 top-4; 3 top-8; 6 top-16; 8 top-25) – (1) Florida, (7) Arkansas, (8) Kentucky, (9) LSU, (12) Vanderbilt, (13) Texas A&M, (19) Mississippi State, (20) Ole Miss, (26) South Carolina & (36) Auburn
• 10 ACC teams (1 top-4; 2 top-8; 4 top-16; 6 top-25) – (4) Florida State, (6) North Carolina, (10) Louisville, (16) Virginia, (18) Clemson, (24) NC State, (28) Miami, (39) Wake Forest, (42) Georgia Tech & (47) Duke
• 6 Big 12 teams (1 top-4; 2 top-8; 3 top-25): – (3) Texas Tech, (5) TCU, (17) Texas, (33) West Virginia, (38) Oklahoma State  & (40) Oklahoma
• 5 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 3 top-16; 4 top-25): – (2) Oregon State, (11) Stanford, (14) UCLA, (25) Arizona & (45) California
• 3 Sun Belt Conf. teams – (22) South Alabama, (34) Louisiana-Lafayette & (49) Coastal Carolina
• 3 Big Ten teams – (35) Indiana, (41) Michigan & (44) Nebraska
• 2 Big West teams (1 top-16) – (15) Cal State Fullerton &
(31) Long Beach State
• 2 Conference USA teams (1 top-25) – (21) Southern Miss. & (46) Rice
• 2 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-25) – (23) Houston & (32) UCF
• 2 Missouri Valley Conf. teams – (27) Dallas Baptist & (29) Missouri State
• 2 West Coast Conf. teams – (38) San Diego & (45) BYU
• 1 each (3 teams) – Southland (#30 Sam Houston State), Big East (#43 St. John’s) and Mountain West (#50 San Diego State)
… The SEC total in the 2018 CNR preseason top-50 soared back up to 10, after being down at seven in 2017, following 11 in each of the prior two seasons (2015-16) for 39 total in the four-year span from 2015-18 … The ACC is 2nd with 33 preseason CNR teams over the past four seasons, followed by: Pac-12 (25), Big 12 (19), Big West (14), Big Ten (14), American Athletic (9), Conf. USA (8), Missouri Valley (7), Sun Belt (7), WCC (6), Colonial (4), Southland (4), Mt. West (3), Big South (2), Mid-American (2), Big East (2) and one each for the Atlantic Sun and Horizon

> Two years ago, in 2018, here’s how the preseason CNR top-50 broke down by conference:
• 9 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 2 top-16; 4 top-25): – (8) Oregon State, (10) Arizona, (22) Stanford, (24) Washington, (34) Arizona State, (43) UCLA, (44) USC, (45) California & (47) Oregon
• 8 ACC teams (2 top-8; 6 top-16; 7 top-25 ) – (4) Florida State, (7) Louisville, (12) North Carolina, (13) Clemson, (14) NC State, (16) Virginia, (19) Miami & (28) Georgia Tech
• 7 SEC teams (2 top-4; 4 top-8; 4 top-16; 6 top-25) – (2) Florida, (3) LSU, (5) Vanderbilt, (6) South Carolina, (20) Texas A&M, (25) Ole Miss & (32) Mississippi State
• 4 Big 12 teams (2 top-16; 3 top-25): – (1) TCU, (15) Oklahoma St., (21) Texas Tech & (33) Texas
• 4 Big West teams (1 top-16; 2 top-25) – (11) Cal State Fullerton, (23) UC Santa Barbara, (27) Long Beach St. & (50) Cal Poly
• 3 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-25) – (18) East Carolina, (30) Houston & (36) Tulane
• 3 Conference USA teams – (26) Rice, (38) Florida Atlantic & (42) Southern Miss.
• 3 Big Ten teams – (31) Maryland, (40) Michigan & (46) Nebraska
• 2 Sun Belt Conf. teams (1 top-16) – (9) Coastal Carolina & (17) Louisiana-Lafayette
• 2 Southland Conf. teams – (35) Sam Houston State & (49) Southeastern Louisiana
• 1 each (5 teams) – Missouri Valley (#29 Dallas Baptist) … Colonial (#37 UNC Wilmington) … West Coast (#39 Gonzaga) … Mountain West (#41 New Mexico) … Horizon (#48 Wright State)

> Three year back, in 2016, here’s how the preseason CNR top-50 broke down by conference:
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
4 Big West teams (1 top-16; 1 top-25) – (16) Fullerton, (44) UC Irvine, (45) 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 (3 teams) – Sun Belt (#15 Louisiana-Lafayette) … Big South (#30 Coastal Carolina) … Mountain West (#41 San Diego State)

> And four years ago, in 2015, here’s how the preseason CNR top-50 broke down by conference:
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 & (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 & (39) Ga. Tech
5 Pac-12 teams (1 top-8; 2 top-16; 4 top-25): – (6) UCLA, (15) ASU, (21) Oregon, (22) Stanford & (31) Oregon St.
4 Big 12 teams (2 top-8; 3 top-16; 4 top-25) – (3) TCU, (7) Oklahoma St., (9) Texas & (17) Texas Tech
4 Big West teams (1 top-16; 2 top-25) – (16) Fullerton, (25) UCSB, (28) Cal Poly & (41) UC Irvine
3 Big Ten teams (1 top-25 team) – (20) Maryland, (26) Nebraska & (37) Illinois
3 West Coast Conf. teams – (32) LMU, (45) Pepperdine & (48 ) San Diego
2 American Athletic Conf. teams (1 top-8) – (8) Houston & (38) UCF)
2 Mid-American Conf. teams – (42) Kent State & (46) Ball State
2 Missouri Valley teams – (43) Wichita State & (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)
_______________

Tennessee Tech

Tennessee Tech racked up a 53–12 record during its historic 2018 season, rising as high as 14th in the CB360 Composite National Rankings. Despite being picked to finish third in the Ohio Valley Conference this season, the Golden Eagles currently are the only OVC team in the CNR Composite National Rankings and are CNR preseason top-50 for the first time. – photo courtesy Tennessee Tech

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WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES – The following 13 teams find themselves in the CB360 2018 preseason top-50, after not being in the 2018 preseason top-50:

(14) Georgia
(16) East Carolina
(17) Baylor
(24) Minnesota
(33) Washington
(34) Connecticut*
(36) UC Irvine 
(39) Stetson 
(42) Louisiana Tech* 
(45) Illinois 
(48) Tennessee Tech* 
(49) Arizona State 
(50) Florida Atlantic
* = first time in CNR preseason top–50 (which started in 2010) …

>> One year earlier, these 13 teams found themselves in the CB360 2018 preseason top-50, after not being in the 2017 preseason top-50: (7) Arkansas, (8) Kentucky, (22) So. Alabama, (29) Missouri St., (32) UCF (33) WVU, (35) Indiana, (36) Auburn, (38) San Diego, (39) Wake Forest, (40) Oklahoma, (43) St. John’s, (45) BYU, (47) Duke & (50) San Diego St.

>> Two years ago, these 13 teams found themselves in the CB360 2017 preseason top-50, after not being in the 2016 preseason top-50: (10) Arizona, (13) Clemson, (18) East Carolina, (22) Stanford, (24) Washington, (35) Sam Houston,(39) Gonzaga, (41) New Mexico,(42) Southern Miss., (46) Nebraska, (48) Wright St., (49) SE Louisiana & (50) Cal Poly.

>> Three years back, these 17 teams (one-third of the total) cracked the 2016 CNR preseason top-50 after not being among the 2015 preseason top-50: (12) Cal, (19) NC St., (20) USC, (26) Missouri St., (27) Mich., (30) Coastal Carolina, (33) Notre Dame, (34) Okla., (36) Indiana, (40) Tulane, (41) San Diego St., (43) Missouri, (46) FAU, (47) Auburn, (48) Iowa, (49) Long Beach St. & (50) UNCW … and four years ago, 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, (30) Tenn., (32) LMU, (34) Charleston, (37) Illinois, (38), UCF, (40) St. John’s, (41) Irvine, (42) Kent St., (45) Pepperdine, (46) Ball St. & (50) Dallas Baptist.

… While these five teams jumped up 17 or more spots from the 2016 preseason top-50 to the 2017 preseason top-50:
South Carolina (opened 2016 at #29 in the CNR; started 2017 at #6)
UC Santa Barbara (#45 to #23)
Long Beach State (#49 to #27)
Coastal Carolina (#30 to #9)
Texas Tech (#38 to #21)

> Similarly, these seven teams made big leaps from the 2015 preseason top-50 to the 2016 preseason top-50: Texas A&M (opened 2015 at #33 in the CNR; then started 2016 at #3), La.-Lafayette (#44 to #15), Oregon St (#31 to #8), NC St (#41 to #19), Dallas Baptist (#50 to #28), Arkansas (#36 to #18) & Kentucky (#49 to #32) … and four years ago, 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 six teams, led by four Pac-12 powers, dropped the most from 2016 preseason to 2017 preseason (while remaining in the top-50 from one preseason to the next):
UCLA (#9 in 2016 preseason CNR; started 2017 at #43)
California (#12 to #45)
Oregon (#14 to #47)
USC (#20 to #44)
Texas A&M (#3 to #20)Texas Tech (#35 to #21)

> … Three years ago, these five teams dropped the most from 2015 preseason to 2016 preseason (while remaining in the top-50 from one preseason to the next): Arizona St. (#15 in 2015 preseason CNR; then started 2016 at #38), UCSB (#25 to #45), So. Carolina (#11 to #29), Texas Tech (#17 to #35) & Texas (#9 to #25) … and four years ago, these five teams had dropped 15-plus spots from the 2014 preseason top-50 to the 2015 preseason top-50: Oregon St. (#2 to #31), La.-Lafayette (#24 to #44), Fullerton (#1 to #16), Mississippi St. (#4 to #19) & San Diego (#33 to #48).

________________

SURGE, REFOCUS, REBUILD – The following eight teams were not in the final CNR top-50 release in 2018 (mid-May, prior to postseason) but are in the 2019 preseason top-50, with several notable programs (former CWS regulars/champs, etc.) included in this list:

(20) TCU
(32) Georgia Tech
(33) Washington
(36) UC Irvine
(41) Wake Forest
(43) Sam Houston State
(45) Illinois
(49) Arizona State

(each year from 2014–17, a total of 12 or 13 teams entered the preseason CNR top-50 after not being in the final regular-season CNR top-50 from the previous season … with that number dipping to only nine in 2018, and now only eight in 2019)

>> One year ago, these were those nine teams that were not in the final CNR top-50 release in 2017 (mid-May, prior to postseason) but were in the 2018 preseason top-50, with several very notable programs (former CWS champs, etc.) included in this list: (27) Dallas Baptist … (28) Miami … (34) Louisiana (Lafayette) … (37) Oklahoma State … (42) Georgia Tech … (46) Rice … (47) Duke … (48) California … and (49) Coastal Carolina.

> And two years ago, the following 10 teams were not in the final CNR top-50 release in 2016 but were in the 2017 preseason top-50: (22) Stanford … (30) Houston … (31) Maryland … (33) Texas … (35) Sam Houston State … (41) New Mexico … (43) UCLA … (44) USC … (47) Oregon … (50) Cal Poly.

> Going back three years, these 13 teams cracked the 2016 preseason CNR after not being in the final (mid-May) 2015 CNR top-50: (14) Oregon, (15) La.-Lafayette, (22) Mississippi St., (25) Texas, (27) Mich., (29) So. Carolina, (32) Kentucky, (34) Okla., (35) Texas Tech, (36) Indiana, (41) San Diego St., (49) Long Beach State, (50) UNCW … and four years back, 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.

… the above 40 teams (preseason CNR top-50 after not being in the final regular-season CNR top-50 the previous season) include mostly teams in the preseason range of 35-50 … these are the highest preseason rankings among the 40 teams listed above: (6) UCLA ’15, after missing the 2014 NCAAs …(12) UNC ’15 … (14) Ore. ’16 … (15) La.-Lafayette ’16 … (16) Fullerton ’15 … (20) TCU ’19 …(20) Maryland ’15 … (22) Stanford ’17 … (22) Miss. St. ’16 … (23) Kennesaw ’15 & (25) Texas ’16.

Fullerton

Cal State Fullerton battled throughout the 2018 season to climb above .500, before surging in the final weeks to win the Big West Conference and earn an NCAA Tournament berth. Now the Titans are back in more familiar territory: entering 2019 in the No. 21 position of the CB360 Composite National Rankings. – photo courtesy Cal State Fullerton

BIG LEAPS FORWARD – These teams made the biggest jump while staying within the CNR top-50, since late in the 2018 season to the 2019 preseason:

Vanderbilt (#35 to #3)
Mississippi State (#45 to #13)
LSU (#31 to #1)
Cal State Fullerton (#47 to #21)
Michigan (#50 to #31)
UCLA (#22 to #6)
Louisville (#24 to #9)
Baylor (#32 to #17)

• … And a year ago, these teams made the biggest jump while staying within the top-50, since late in the 2017 season to the 2018 preseason: UCLA (#40 to #14) … NC State (#48 to #24) … Ole Miss (#43 to #20) … So. Alabama (#44 to #22) … FSU (#26 to #4) … Sam Houston (#50 to #30) … Vanderbilt (#23 to #12) … Indiana (#46 to #35).

>> One year earlier, these teams made the biggest jump while staying within the top-50, since late in the 2016 season to the 2017 preseason: Oregon St. (#41 to #8) … ECU (#45 to #18) … Long Beach (#43 to #27) … UCSB (#37 to #23) … Washington (#38 to #24)

>> Going back three years, these teams made big jumps within the CNR top-50 (from end of 2015 regular season to 2016 preseason): Virginia (#34 to #7), NC St. (#41 to #19), Cal (#26 to #12) & Oregon St. (#21 to #8) … and four years ago, 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).

QUICK FADE: On the flip side, the following eight teams are not in the 2019 CB360 preseason top-50 but were in the final CNR top-50 late in the 2018 season (mid-May, prior to postseason):

[27] Oklahoma
[30] South Florida
[36] Troy
[38] Missouri
[42] Jacksonville 
[44] UCF
[46] Wichita State
[48] Ohio State 

• Similarly, the following nine teams were not in the 2018 CB360 preseason top-50 but were in the final CNR top-50 late in the 2017 season (mid-May, prior to postseason): (20) South Florida, (32) Baylor, (34) LMU, (37) La. Tech, (38 Maryland, (39) SE Louisiana, (41) New Mexico, (42) Old Dominion & (49) Washington.

>> Two years ago, the following 10 teams were not in the 2017 CB360 preseason top-50 but had been in the final CNR top-50 late in the 2016 season (mid-May, prior to postseason): (30) Minnesota, (31) BYU, (34) Bryant, (39) So. Alabama, (42) Kent St., (44) La. Tech,(46) Duke, (47) Wake Forest, (48) Ohio St. & (49) Creighton.

Three years backthere were 13 teams that were in the final 2015 regular-season CNR but not in the 2016 preseason top-50: (23) Nevada, (24) Radford, (30) Oral Roberts, (32) No. Florida, (33) Ohio St., (40) Bradley, (42) Southeastern Louisiana, (43) Mich. St., (44) East Carolina, (45) So. Miss., (46) So. Florida, (48) Neb. & (49) So. Ala.
… 
four years ago12 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) Wash., (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 five years back15 teams that were in the top-50 of the final 2013 reg.-season CNR 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.

• SLIDING BACK – … And these teams have made quick falls (while staying within the top-50) from late in 2018 to the 2019 preseason top-50:

Tennessee Tech (#14 to #48)
Kentucky (#18 to #47)
Stetson (#20 to #39)
N.C. State (#10 to #25)

• … And the prior year, these teams have made quick falls (while staying within the top-50) from late in 2017 to the 2018 preseason top-50: Wake Forest (#12 to #39) … Michigan (#22 to #41) … Long Beach (#15 to #31) … St. John’s (#28 to #43) … Oklahoma (#27 to #40) … Arizona (#14 to #25) … Auburn (#25 to #36) … Nebraska (#33 to #44) … Southern Miss. (#11 to #21) … Missouri St. (#19 to #29) … Clemson (#7 to #18).

>> Two years back, these teams made quick falls (while staying within the top-50) from late in 2016 to the 2017 preseason top-50: Southern Miss. (#12 to #42) … Miss. St. (#5 to #32) … Ole Miss (#7 to #25) … Miami (#3 to #19) … Texas A&M (#4 to #20) … Tulane (#20 to #36) … FAU (#22 to #38) … Texas Tech (#6 to #21)

> Again, looking at three years ago, these eight teams had the biggest plunge while still staying in the top-50 (from late 2015 to 2016 preseason: Illinois (#4 to #42), UCSB (#14 to #45), Iowa (#18 to #48), FAU (#46 to #20), Coll. of Charleston (#15 to #37), Dallas Baptist (#9 to #28), Missouri St. (#10 to #26) & Ariz. St. (#22 to #38) … and there years ago, the biggest drop-offs (from late 2014 to 2015 preseason): La.-Lafayette (#3 to #44), Ore. St. (#2 to #31), Cal Poly (#6 to #28), Pepperdine (#25 to #45), UC Irvine (#22 to #41) & Kentucky (#29 to #49).

HERE TODAY, GONE THE NEXT YEAR – Finally, these 13 teams (roughly one-fourth of the total) were in the 2018 CB360 preseason top-50 but are not in the 2019 preseason top-50 (all based on Composite National Rankings formula):

Virginia [#16 in 2018 preseason CNR]
South Alabama [22]
Miami [28]
Long Beach State [31]
UCF (Central Florida) [32]
West Virginia [33]
Louisiana (Lafayette) [34]
San Diego [38]
Oklahoma [40]
Nebraska [44]
BYU [45]
Rice [46]
California [48]

(sampling the past five years, on average there have been 14.6 teams that were part of the final regular-season top-50 one season but outside the top-50 when the next preseason CNR rolled around)

• … One year ago, even more teams than this year (15) were in the 2017 CB360 preseason top-50 but were not in the 2018 preseason top-50 (all based on Composite National Rankings formula): ECU [2017 CNR preseason #18] … UCSB [23] … Washington [24] … Maryland [31] … Arizona St. [34] … Tulane [36] … UNCW [37] … FAU [38] … Gonzaga [39] … New Mexico [41] … USC [44] … Oregon [47] … Wright St. [48] … Se
Louisiana [49] … Cal Poly [50]

>> Two years back, these 13 teams (one-fourth of the total) were in the 2016 CB360 preseason top-50 but were not in the 2017 preseason top-50: Arkansas [2016 CNR preseason #18] … Missouri St. [26] … Kentucky [32] … Notre Dame [33] … Oklahoma [34] … Indiana [36] …  Charleston [37] … San Diego St. [41] … Illinois [42] … Missouri [43] …  Irvine [44] … Auburn [47] … Iowa [48].

> Most notably, three years ago, there were even more teams (17; one-third of the total) that were in the 2015 CB360 preseason top-50 but not in the 2016 preseason top-50: Stanford (2015 CB360 preseason #22) … Kennesaw (23) … Neb. (26) … Clemson (27) … Cal Poly (28) … Liberty (29) … Tenn. (30) … LMU (32) … Alabama (35) … UCF (38) … St. John’s (40) … Kent St. (42) …Wichita (43) … Pepperdine (45) … Ball St. (46) … Sam Houston (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, up to the top-60 (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.).

CB360’s CNR FORMULA for the 2019 preseason includes the following 13 elements:
• National Coaches Poll (USA Today/ESPN; 55 total teams)
• National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll (63 total teams)
• DIBaseball.com preseason top-25, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (52 teams)
• Baseball America top-25 poll, in conjunction with projected NCAA Tournament field (56 teams)
• Collegiate Baseball magazine rankings (preseason top-40)
• Perfect Game preseason rankings (40 total teams; teams 26–40)
• Massey preseason computerized rankings (top-60 teams)
• Moore Power Rankings, preseason computerized (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 … AAC … C-USA … Big West 
MVC … Sun Belt … A-Sun … Southland … Big East … Mt. West … Ohio Valley

(keep scrolling down for CNR archive, some preseason and final regular-season, dating back to 2010)

CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2019
(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2018 CNR, at end of reg. season)  [2018 preseason CNR]
1. LSU – 89.50  (#31 in final 2017 top-50/end reg.-season)  [#9 in 2018 CNR preseason top-50]
2. Oregon State – 96.94  (3) [2]
3. Vanderbilt – 84.69  (35) [12]
4. Texas Tech – 94.74  (9) [3]
5. Florida – 97.79  (1) [1] 
6. UCLA – 81.87  (22) [14]
7. North Carolina – 92.45  (7) [6]
8. Stanford – 85.54 (2) [11]
9. Louisville – 85.59  (24) [10]
10. Mississippi – 75.93  (5) [20]
11. Arkansas – 90.05  (4) [7]
12. Florida State – 93.85  (12) [4]
13. Mississippi State – 76.80  (45) [19]
14. Georgia – 81.20 (6). [–]
15. Auburn – 56.48  (17) [36]
16. East Carolina – 79.55 (11). [–]
17. Baylor – 78.71 (32). [–]
18. Texas – 78.58  (21) [17]
19. Clemson – 78.56 (8) [18]
20. TCU – 93.10  (–) [5]
21. Cal State Fullerton – 80.40  (47) [15]
22. Coastal Carolina – 47.43  (16) [49]
23. Southern Mississippi – 74.73 (19) [21]
24. Minnesota – 69.82 (15). [–]
25. North Carolina State – 69.20  (10) [24]
26. Duke – 47.91  (13) [47]
27. Oklahoma State – 56.42  (29) [37]
28. Texas A&M – 83.14  (23) [13]
29. Arizona – 68.54 (40) [25]
30. Missouri State – 63.44  (41) [29]
31. Michigan 50.57  (50) [41]
32. Georgia Tech – 50.33  (–) [42]
33. Washington – 60.59 (–) [–]
34. Connecticut – 60.18 (34) [–]
35. Houston – 69.94  (37) [23]
36. UC Irvine – 56.42 (–) [–]
37. Indiana – 57.69  (26) [35]
38. South Carolina – 67.89  (25) [26]
39. Stetson – 55.27 (20) [–]
40. Dallas Baptist – 65.82  (28) [27]
41. Wake Forest – 54.76  (–) [39]
42. Louisiana Tech – 52.37 (43) [–]
43. Sam Houston State – 61.89 (–) [30]
44. St. John’s – 50.13  (33) [43]
45. Illinois – 51.33 (–) [–]
46. San Diego State – 47.35  (49) [50]
47. Kentucky – 89.90  (18) [8]
48. Tennessee Tech – 49.51 (14) [–]
49. Arizona State – 47.47 (–) [–]
50. Florida Atlantic – 47.29 (39) [–]

– next five: Miami, Oregon, UNC Wilmington, Louisiana (Lafayette) & Gonzaga

> These EIGHT teams were in final 2017 regular-season CNR top-50 but are not in 2018 preseason top-50:
[27] Oklahoma
[30] South Florida
[36] Troy
[38] Missouri
[42] Jacksonville 
[44] UCF
[46] Wichita State
[48] Ohio State 

> And these 13 teams were in the 2018 CNR preseason top-50 but are not in 2019 preseason top-50:
16. Virginia
22. South Alabama 
28. Miami
31. Long Beach State
32. UCF (Central Florida) 
33. West Virginia 
34. Louisiana (Lafayette)
38. San Diego 
40. Oklahoma 
44. Nebraska 
45. BYU 
46. Rice
48. California

_______________________________

CB360 Composite Top-50 National Rankings #12 (final reg.-season; mid-May, 2018)
(rank) Team – voting pts  (prev. weeks/most recent first)
1.Florida – 98.13  (2-1-1-1-1-7-8-4-3-2-1)
2. Stanford – 95.80 (1-2-2-2-2-3-3-8-9-8-#11 in preseason CNR))
3. Oregon State – 91.80  (6-5-8-7-5-1-2-2-1-1-2)
4. Arkansas – 94.40  (3-4-3-5-7-4-12-9-6-5-7)
5. Mississippi – 91.74  (4-6-5-4-3-2-6-5-14-18-20)
6. Georgia – 82.59 (13-12-13-12-21-34-x-x-36–x–x)
7. North Carolina – 84.35  (7-10-12-21-22-23-30-20-20-9-6)
8. Clemson – 78.25 (9-18-6-8-11-12-4-6-11-17-18)
9. Texas Tech – 95.30  (5-3-4-3-4-6-1-1-2-3-3)
10. North Carolina State – 88.26  (10-7-7-11-10-10-18-19-22-22-24)
11. East Carolina – 85.11 (14-9-9-9-15-16-21-31-24-40-x)
12. Florida State – 77.98  (11-19-10-6-6-9-11-3-4-3-4)
13. Duke – 79.21  (20-16-22-19-23-24-22-30-35-41-47)
14. Tennessee Tech – 72.81 (18-22-25-28-33-40-43-x-x-x-x)
15. Minnesota – 63.68 (22-30-43-49-47-x-x-x-40-x-x)
16. Coastal Carolina – 79.76  (17-15-17-16-17-22-22-34-18-34-39-48)
17. Auburn – 70.11  (19-25-21-10-8-5-7-10-21-29-36)
18. Kentucky – 84.04  (15-11-11-13-9-14-5-7-8-7-8)
19. Southern Mississippi – 71.89 (16-24-20-15-13-15-14-17-17-15-21)
20. Stetson – 55.05 (29-37-44-31-30-30-29-35-x-49-x)
21. Texas – 74.12  (24-20-28-40-36-38-45-21-19-16-17)
22. UCLA – 78.55  (8-17-16-22-16-13-13-11-13-12-14)
23. Texas A&M – 85.90  (12-8-14-17-12-11-10-12-10-13-13)
24. Louisville – 65.48  (30-29-30-24-19-21-17-16-12-11-10)
25. South Carolina (35–x-x-x-x-x-x-x-29–28–26)
26. Indiana – 81.41  (21-13-15-14-20-20-16-15-15-25-35)
27. Oklahoma – 73.84 (31-21-19-26-42-x-42-48-42-36-40)
28. Dallas Baptist – 63.16  (43-31-32-36-x-x-46-34-33-24-27)
29. Oklahoma State – 49.80  (25-45-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-44-37)
30. South Florida – 62.62 (26-32-41-35-37-44-x–x–x–x–x)
31. LSU – 72.47 (44-23-24-25-24-19-20-22-16-14-9)
32. Baylor (34–x-x-x-40-37-49-x-x-x-x)
33. St. John’s – 53.66  (39-39-x-x-x-x-39-23-23-33-43)
34. Connecticut – 62.23 (28-33-45-x-x-x-x-x-41-47-x)
35. Vanderbilt – 80.64  (23-14-18-23-14-8-9-13-5-10-12)
36. Troy – 52.96 (37-41-38-37-39-42-40-x–x–x–x)
37. Houston (41-x-x-x–x-x-x-49-30–26–23)
38. Missouri – 59.68 (27-35-26-18-29-26-27-44-50-48-x)
39. Florida Atlantic – 68.38 (40-26-27-32-35-31-35-41-x-x-x)
40. Arizona – 67.73 (45-27-31-48-x-x-x-x-38-23-25)
41. Missouri State (x-x-29-27-46-x-x-46-43–31-29)
42. Jacksonville – 48.55 (32-50-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
43. Louisiana Tech – 49.51 (42-48-39-42-34-35-44-x-x-x-x)
44. UCF (Central Florida) – 49.11  (38-49-50-x-44-29-26-40-44-37-32)
45. Mississippi State (47-x-x-x-x-x-36-29-37-32-19)
46. Wichita State –67.48 (33-28-23-20-18-25-32-37-46-x-x)
47. Cal State Fullerton (x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-48–21–15)
48. Ohio State – 52.16 (50-42-49-47-41-32-x–x–x–x–x)
49. San Diego State (36–x-x-34-26-x-47-38-39-38-50)
50. Michigan 51.92  (49-43-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-50-41)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–11:
46. Sam Houston State (46-x-33-29-32-18-24-32-28-30-30)
48. Northeastern (48-x-46-x-50-49-x–x–x–x–x)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–10:
34. Illinois – 59.86 (34-34-30-25-27-31-36-x-x-x)
36. UNLV – 55.32 (36-37-33-28-17-19-25-49-x-x)
38. South Alabama – 53.84  (38-48-x-x-47-37-27-18-20-22)
40. Nevada – 53.51 (40-x-44-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
44. College of Charleston – 51.45 (44-47-43-31-36-x–x–x–x–x)
46. Creighton – 49.77 (46-36-38-38-48-x–x–x–x–x)
47. Georgia Tech – 49.54 (47-40-x-x-x-x-33-47-x-42)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–9:
29. Missouri State – 60.95  (29-27-46-x-x-46-43–31-29)
33. Sam Houston State – 58.76 (33-29-32-18-24-32-28-30-30)
35. Alabama – 57.44 (35-45-45-33-25-26-27-x-x)
42. Florida Gulf Coast – 52.41 (42-41-x-x-33-42-x-x-x)
46. Northeastern – 49.93 (46-x-50-49-x–x–x–x–x)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–8:
34. San Diego State – 57.02  (34-26-x-47-38-39-38-50)
39. Mercer – 55.57 (39-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
44. Nevada – 53.46 (44-x-x-x-x-x-x-x)
46. Oregon – 52.72 (46-49-41-23-28-45-x-x)
50. California – 49.22 (450-8-39-28-42-32-x-48)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–7:
27. TCU – 66.23  (27-28-15-14-7-6-5)
40. Baylor – 53.46 (40-37-49-x-x-x-x)
43. Indiana State – 51.24 (43-43-x–x–x–x–x)
44. UCF – 51.11  (44-29-26-40-44-37-32)) … has returned to current top-50
50. Northeastern – 47.47 (50-49-x–x–x–x–x)) … has returned to current top-50

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–6:
45. Hawaii – 50.22 (45-x–x–x–x–x)
46. Virginia – 49.80  (46-41-24-26-19-16)
47. South Alabama – 49.71  (47-37-27-18-20-22)) … has returned to current top-50
50. Southeastern Louisiana – 47.52 (50-x–x–x–x–x)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–5:
33. Florida Gulf Coast – 51.52 (33-42-x-x-x)) … has returned to current top-50
36. Mississippi State – 57.90  (36-29-37-32-19)
38. Arizona – 53.45 (38-x–38-23-25)) … has returned to current top-50
39. St. John’s – 69.48  (39-23-23-33-43)
42. Oklahoma – 47.28  (42-48-42-36-40) … has returned to current top-50
46. Dallas Baptist – 56.58  (46-34-33-24-27)) … has returned to current top-50
47. San Diego State – 52.22  (47-38-39-38-50)
48. USC – 46.43 (48-x-x-x-x)
50. BYU – 45.89 (50-x-x-x-45)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–4:
33. Georgia Tech – 56.59 (33-47–x–42)  … has returned to current top-50
39. UC Irvine – 51.86 (39-x–x–x)
45. San Diego – 50.84  (45-25–42–38)
46. Missouri State – 49.55  (46-43–31–29) … has returned to current top-50
47. Georgia State – 48.68 (47-x–x–x)
49. Houston – 46.96  (49-30–26–23)
50. Purdue – 46.93 (50-x–x–x)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–3:
29. South Carolina – 60.47  (29–28–26)
31. Miami – 57.39  (31–27–28)
36. Georgia – 54.56 (36–x–x) … has returned to current top-50
38. Arizona – 52.41 (38–23–25)
40. Minnesota – 51.47 (40–x–x) … has returned to current top-50
41. Connecticut – 50.96 (41–47–x)  … has returned to current top-50
48. Cal State Fullerton – 48.69  (48–21–15)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–2:
34. Long Beach State – 53.81  (34–31)
35. Louisiana-Lafayette – 52.90 (35–34)
43. West Virginia – 48.82  (43–33)
44. Oklahoma State – 48.33  (44–37)
45. Wake Forest – 47.77  (45–39)
46. Rice – 47.70  (46–46)
49. Stetson – 46.51 (49–x) … has returned to current top-50
50. Michigan 46.34  (50–41)

• Dropped out Of CNR Top–50 after week–1:
42. Georgia Tech – 50.33
44. Nebraska – 49.16
45. BYU – 48.43
48. California – 47.43
_______________________________

CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2018
(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2017 CNR, at end of reg. season)  [2017 preseason CNR]
1. Florida – 97.79  (#8 in final 2017 top-50/ed reg.-season) [#2 in 2017 CNR preseason top-50] – 2018 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
2. Oregon State – 96.94  (1) [8] – 2018 CWS Champion
3. Texas Tech – 94.74  (4) [21] – 2018 CWS Participant
4. Florida State – 93.85  (26) [4]
5. TCU – 93.10  (5) [1]
6. North Carolina – 92.45  (2) [12] – 2018 CWS Participant
7. Arkansas – 90.05  (16) [–] – 2018 CWS Runner-Up
8. Kentucky – 89.90  (6) [–]
9. LSU – 89.50  (13) [3]
10. Louisville – 85.59  (3) [7]
11. Stanford – 85.54 (10) [22]
12. Vanderbilt – 84.69  (23) [5]
13. Texas A&M – 83.14  (18) [20]
14. UCLA – 81.87  (40) [43]
15. Cal State Fullerton – 80.40  (21) [11]
16. Virginia – 78.78  (9) [16]
17. Texas – 78.58  (24) [33] – 2018 CWS Participant
18. Clemson – 78.56 (7) [13]
19. Mississippi State – 76.80  (17) [32] – 2018 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
20. Mississippi – 75.93  (43) [25]
21. Southern Mississippi – 74.73 (11) [42]
22. South Alabama – 70.54  (44) [–]
23. Houston – 69.94  (31) [30]
24. North Carolina State – 69.20  (48) [14]
25. Arizona – 68.54 (14) [10]
26. South Carolina – 67.89  (30) [6]
27. Dallas Baptist – 65.82  (x) [29]
28. Miami – 65.78  (x) [19]
29. Missouri State – 63.44  (19) [–]
30. Sam Houston State – 61.89 (50) [35]
31. Long Beach State – 60.17  (15) [27]
32. UCF (Central Florida) – 60.08  (29) [–]
33. West Virginia – 59.84  (35) [–]
34. Louisiana-Lafayette – 58.82 (x) [17]
35. Indiana – 57.69  (46) [–]
36. Auburn – 56.48  (25) [–]
37. Oklahoma State – 56.42  (x) [15]
38. San Diego – 55.70  (47) [–]
39. Wake Forest – 53.88  (12) [–]
40. Oklahoma – 51.53  (27) [–]
41. Michigan 50.57  (22) [40]
42. Georgia Tech – 50.33  (x) [28]
43. St. John’s – 50.13  (28) [–]
44. Nebraska – 49.16 (33) [46]
45. BYU – 48.43  (36) [–]
46. Rice – 48.29  (x) [26]
47. Duke – 47.91  (x) [–]
48. California – 47.43  (x) [45]
48. Coastal Carolina – 47.43  (x) [9]
50. San Diego State – 47.35  (45) [–]
(note: Washington reached the 2018 CWS despite not being a 2018 CNR preseason top-50 team)

– next five: Winthrop, Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Louisiana Tech and Washington

> These EIGHT teams were in final 2018 regular-season CNR top-50 but not in 2019 preseason top-50:
[27] Oklahoma
[30] South Florida
[36] Troy
[38] Missouri
[42] Jacksonville 
[44] UCF (Central Florida)
[46] Wichita State
[48] Ohio State

> These 13 teams were in the 2018 CNR preseason top-50 but not in 2019 preseason top-50:
Virginia [#16 in 2018 preseason CNR]
South Alabama [22]
Miami [28]
Long Beach State [31]
UCF (Central Florida) [32]
West Virginia [33]
Louisiana (Lafayette) [34]
San Diego [38]
Oklahoma [40]
Nebraska [44]
BYU [45]
Rice [46]
California [48]

_______________________________

CB360 Composite Top-50 National Rankings #13 (final reg.-season; mid-May, 2017)
(rank) Team – voting pts  (prev. weeks/most recent first)
1. Oregon State – 98.35 (1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 5 … 5 … 5 … #8 preseason)
2. North Carolina – 96.47 (2 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 3 … 7 … 9 … 13 … 7 … 8 … 12)
3. Louisville – 95.58 (3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 5 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 4 … 7)
4. Texas Tech – 93.65 (5 … 6 … 4 … 4 … 4 … 2 … 2 … 4 … 6 … 10 … 16 … 21)
5.  TCU – 91.46 (7 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 7 … 8 … 14 … 5 … 1 … 1 … 1 …1)
6. Kentucky – 90.07 (4 … 5 … 8 … 9 … 8 … 12 … 19 … 43 … – … – … – … –)
7. Clemson – 88.98 (6 … 4 … 5 … 6 … 5 … 5 … 8 … 17 … 12 … 16 … 19 … 13)
8. Florida – 88.65 (10 … 12 … 10 … 13 … 18 … 12 … 23 … 28 … 14 … 16 … 4 … 2 … 2)
9. Virginia – 87.88 (8 … 8 … 12 … 8 … 17 … 21 … 16 … 11 … 7 … 9 … 10 … 16)
10. Stanford – 84.53 (11 … 17 … 36 … 24 … 33 … 25 … 25 … 22 … 15 … 17 … 22 … 22)
11. Southern Mississippi – 83.64 (15 … 19 … 16 … 16 … 16 … 22 … 20 … 42 … 49 … 35 … 44 … 42)
12. Wake Forest – 82.40 (9 … 11 … 11 … 9 … 10 … 11 … 11 … 16 … 23 … 33 … 42 … – … – … –)
13. LSU – 82.32 (12 … 13 … 11 … 13 … 18 … 13 … 10 … 8 … 8 … 3 … 3 … 3)
14. Arizona – 81.45 (18 … 9 .. 7 … 7 … 6 … 9 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 6 … 7 … 10)
15. Long Beach State – 80.65 (16 … 18 … 18 … 17 … 25 … 32 … – … – … – … – … 38 … 27)
16. Arkansas – 80.11 (17 … 10 … 10 .. 9 … 14 … 15 … 17 … 26 … 37 … 23 … 25 … 39 … –)
17. Mississippi State – 77.82 (20 … 15 … 17 … 20 … 30 … 48 … – … – … – … 39 … 34 … 32)
18. Texas A&M – 76.41 (14 … 27 … 23 … 28 … 34 … 47 … 46 … 16 … 9 … 12 … 14 … 20)
19. Missouri State – 75.11 (22 … 20 … 34 … 29 … 37 … 45 … 37 … 28 … 21 … 37 … 49 … –)
20. South Florida – 72.45 (23 … 28 … 24 … 22 … 27 … 20 … 18 … 27 … 31 … 46 … – … –)
21. Cal State Fullerton – 71.90 (24 … 22 … 15 … 10 … 14 … 15 … 4 … 13 … 17 … 15 … 13 … 11)
22. Michigan – 70.49 (19 … 14 … 14 … 23 … 20 … 29 … 24 … 19 … 30 … 43 … – … 40)
23. Vanderbilt – 68.54 (26 … 26 … 29 … 21 … 23 … 26 … 29 … 25 … 22 … 14 … 6 … 5)
24. Texas – 66.21 (21 … 35 … 37 … 34 … 43 … 38 … – … 34 … 46 … 19 … 28 … 33)
25. Auburn – 65.67 (13 … 16 … 21 … 26 … 24 … 28 … 30 … – … – … – … – … –)
26. Florida State – 65.22 (31 … 31 … 33 … 32 … 22 … 18 … 17 … 6 … 3 … 8 … 9 … 4)
27. Oklahoma – 63.82 (37 … 42 … 30 … 12 … 9 … 14 … 21 … 30 … 24 … 27 … 48 … –)
28. St. John’s – 63.07 (25 … 23 … 22 … 25 … 13 … 10 … 11 … 10 … 11 … 20 … – … –)
29. Central Florida (UCF) – 63.05 (32 … 30 … 27 … 38 … 29 … 41 … 42 … 36 … 45 … 33 … – … –)
30. South Carolina – 61.94 (30 … 29 … 26 … 15 … 10 … 6 … 6 … 18 … 18 … 13 … 11 … 6)
31. Houston – 61.91 (33 … 24 … 20 … 19 … 21 … 11 … 22 … 29 … 26 … 28 … 25 … 30)
32. Baylor – 61.70 (29 … 34 … 35 … 35 … 31 … 19 … 9 … 7 … 10 … 31 … – … –)
33. Nebraska – 58.70 (– … – … – … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 42…46)
34. Loyola Marymount – 58.56 (43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
35. West Virginia – 58.53 (28 … 25 … 19 … 30 … 28 … 34 … 38 … – … – … – … – … –)
36. BYU – 58.49 (34 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
37. Louisiana Tech – 58.32 (38 … 41 … 39 … – … – … 44 … 40 … 21 … 20 … 34 … 46 … –)
38. Maryland – 57.06 (27 … 21 … 38 … 42 … 35 … – … – … – … – … – … 45 … 31)
39. Southeastern Louisiana – 56.76 (42 … – … – … – … 39 … – … 31 … 31 … 47 … – … – … –)
40. UCLA – 56.37  (46 … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … 40 … 35 … 43)
41. New Mexico – 54.80 (40 … 39 … 42 … 39 … 26 … 30 … 35 … 24 … 28 … 49 … 32 … 41)
42. Old Dominion – 54.78 (39 … 40 … 49 … 45 … 40 … 35 … – … – … – … – … – … –)
44. Mississippi – 54.46 (35 … 44 … 41 … 44 … 48 … 27 … 15 … 20 … 19 … 11 … 12 … 25)
44. South Alabama – 53.19 (44 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … 50 … – … 41 … –)
45. San Diego State – 51.10 (– … 46 … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
46. Indiana – 50.92 (50 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
47. San Diego – 49.81 (47 … 36 … 25 … 31 … 32 … 43 … 36 … 32 … 44 … – … – … –)
48. North Carolina State – 48.16 (– … – … 47 … – … – … – … – … – … 39 … 18 … 15 … 14)
49. Washington – 47.15 (41 … 48 … 40 … 47 … – … – .. 43 … 50 … 33 … 23 … 21 … 24)
50. Sam Houston State – 46.69 (– … – … 48 … 41 … 49 … – … 47 … – … – … – … 43 … 35)

> next five: McNeese State, Mercer, Gonzaga, Binghamton & Utah

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-12:
[36] McNeese State – 57.50 (36 … 32 … 28 … 33 … 36 … 40 … 48 … 49 … – … – … – … –)
[45] Florida Atlantic – 50.87 (45 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … 31…38)
[48] Utah – 48.88 (48 … 38 … – … – … – … – … – … 41 … 38 … 45 … – … –)
[49] Charlotte – 48.77 (49 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 47 … 41 … – … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-11:
[33] Mercer – 59.39 (33 … 31 … 37 … 44 … 49 … 34 … – … – … – … – … –)
[37] Louisiana-Lafayette – 55.42 (37 … – … – … – … – … 49 … 35 … 29 … 22 … 18 … 17)
[43] UCLA – 51.44 (43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … 40 … 35 … 43) … now back in top–50
[45] Oklahoma State – 50.87 (45 … – … 49 … 38 … 33 … 27 … 39 … 36 … 21 … 17 … 15)
[46] San Diego State – 50.51 (46 … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –) … now back in top–50
[47] Nebraska – 49.39 (47 … – … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 42 … 46) … now back in top–50
[49] Gonzaga – 48.86 (49 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … 39)
[50] Charlotte – 47.93 (50 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 47 … 41 … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-10:
[32] Oregon – 64.03 (32 … 27 … 41 … 36 … 41 … 38 … – … – … – … 47)
[44] Minnesota – 51.06 (44 … 46 … 47 … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
[45] Missouri – 68.14 (45 … – … – … 24 … 13 … 26 … 37 … 47 … – … –)
[46] Coastal Carolina (46 … – … – … – … – … 44 … 35 … 29 … 23 … 9)
[47] North Carolina State (47 … – … – … – … – … – … 39 … 18 … 15 … 14) … now back in top–50
[48] Sam Houston State – 52.53 (48 … 41 … 49 … – … 47 … – … – … – … 43 … 35) … now back in top–50
[50] Tennessee Tech – (50 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-9:
[36] Connecticut – 56.02 (36 … 46 … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
[40] Florida Gulf Coast – 54.40 (40 … 19 … 7 … 12 … 15 … 43 … – … – … –)
[43] Nebraska – 51.54 (43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 42…46) … has returned to current top–50
[48] Wright State – 49.57 (48 … 42 … 42 … 44 … – … – … – … 40 … 48)
[49] Okla. St. – 49.25 (49 … 38 … 33 … 27 … 39 … 36 … 21 … 17 … 15) … later returned to top–50
[50] Michigan State – 48.03 (50 … – … 31 … 33 … 40 … 32 … 42 … 47 … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-8:
[39] Southeastern Louisiana – 54.68 (39 … – … 31 … 31 … 47 … – … – … –) … now back in top–50
[45] Georgia Tech – 49.73 (45 … – … – … – … 34 … 30 … 24 … 28)
[50] Binghamton – 47.59 (50 … 46 … 39 … 45 … 48  … – … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-7:
[24] Missouri – 68.14 (24 … 13 … 26 … 37 … 47 … – … –) … later returned to top–50
[31] Michigan St. – 61.08 (31 … 33 … 40 … 32 … 42 … 47 … –) … later returned to top–50
[37] East Carolina – 55.75 (37 … 45 … 12 … 14 … 24 … 26 … 18)
[39] Kent State – 55.24 (39 … 50 … 46 … – … 48 … – … –)
[44] Louisiana Tech – 52.87 (44 … 40 … 21 … 20 … 34 … 46 … –) … has returned to current top–50
[50] Tennessee – 49.58 (50 … 32 … 23 … 25 … 38 … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-6:
[31] Southeastern Louisiana – 61.22 (31 … 31 … 47 … – … – … –) … now back in top–50
[43] Washington – 55.49 (43 … 50 … 33 … 23 … 21 … 24) … has returned to current top–50
[47] Sam Houston St. – 53.67 (47 … – … – … – … 43…35) … now back in top–50
[49] Louisiana-Lafayette – 52.48 (49 … 35 … 29 … 22 … 18 … 17) … later returned to top–50

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-5:
[34] Texas (34 … 46 … 19 … 28 … 33) … has returned to current top–50
[41] Utah (41 … 38 … 45 … – … –) … later returned to top–50
[44] Coastal Carolina (44 … 35 … 29 … 23 … 9) … later returned to top–50
[47] Charlotte (47 … 41 … – … – … –) … later returned to top–50
[48] Dallas Baptist (48 … 27 … 26 … 29 … 29)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-4:
[34] Georgia Tech (34 … 30 … 24 … 28) … later returned to top–50
[39] North Carolina State (39 … 18 … 15 … 14) … later returned to top–50
[40] Kansas State (40 … 50 … – … –)
[50] South Alabama (50 … – … 41 … –) … now back in top–50

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-3:
[32] UC Santa Barbara (32 … 30 … 23)
[36] Miami (36 … 20 … 19)
[39] Mississippi St. (39 … 34 … 32) … has returned to current top–50
[40] UCLA  (40 … 35 … 43) … has returned to current top–50
[41] Virginia Tech (41 … – … –)
[44] Arizona State (44 … 37 … 34)
[48] Kent State (48 … – … –)

• Dropped Out of 2017 Top–50 After Week-2:
[27] Rice (27…#26 preseason)
[31] Florida Atlantic (31…38) … later returned to top–50
[33] UNC Wilmington (33…37)
[36] USC (36…44)
[38] Long Beach State (38…27) … has returned to current top–50
[40] Wright State (40…48) … later returned to top–50
[41] South Alabama (41…–) … now back in top–50
[42] Nebraska (42…46) … has returned to current top–50
[43] Sam Houston State (43…35) … now back in top–50
[45] Maryland (45…31) … has returned to current top–50
[50] Pepperdine (50…–)

Dropped Out of 2017 CNR Top–50 After Opening Week:
[36] Tulane
[39] Gonzaga … later returned to top–50
[40] Michigan … later returned to top–50
[45] California
[47] Oregon … later returned to top–50
[49] Southeastern Louisiana … now back in top–50
[50] Cal Poly

_____________________________

CB360 Preseason Composite Top-50 Rankings for 2017
(rank) Team – voting pts  (final 2016 CNR, at end of reg. season)  [2016 preseason CNR]
1. TCU – 98.96  (#11 in final 2016 top-50/end reg.-season) [#11 in 2016 preseason top-50] … 2017 CWS Participant (bracket finalist)
2. Florida – 97.63  (1) [1] … 2017 CWS Champion
3. LSU – 94.56  (10) [5] … 2017 CWS Runner-Up
4. Florida State – 92.79  (14) [13] … 2017 CWS Participant 
5. Vanderbilt – 91.72  (8) [2]
6. South Carolina – 90.83  (9) [29]
7. Louisville – 90.74  (2) [4] … 2017 CWS Participant 
8. Oregon State – 89.27  (41) [8] … 2017 CWS Participant (bracket finalist)
9. Coastal Carolina – 86.07  (16) [30]
10. Arizona – 85.58 (21) [X]
11. Cal State Fullerton – 85.00  (18) [16] … 2017 CWS Participant
12. North Carolina – 83.40  (23) [23]
13. Clemson – 83.16 (17) [X]
14. North Carolina State – 82.79  (13) [19]
15. Oklahoma State – 80.38  (19) [10]
16. Virginia – 80.12  (15) [7]
17. Louisiana-Lafayette – 80.01 (26) [15]
18. East Carolina – 79.55 (45) [X]
19. Miami – 78.12  (3) [6]
20. Texas A&M – 77.29  (4) [3] … 2017 CWS Participant
21. Texas Tech – 76.47  (6) [35]
22. Stanford – 75.28 (–) [X]
23. UC Santa Barbara – 73.09  (37) [45]
24. Washington – 71.95 (38) [X]
25. Mississippi – 71.16  (7) [31]
26. Rice – 70.25  (25) [21]
27. Long Beach State – 67.75  (43) [49]
28. Georgia Tech – 62.91  (24) [39]
29. Dallas Baptist – 62.44  (27) [28]
30. Houston – 62.03  (–) [17]
31. Maryland – 61.70  (–) [24]
32. Mississippi State – 60.10  (5) [22]
33. Texas – 57.05  (–) [25]
34. Arizona State – 56.62  (28) [38]
35. Sam Houston State – 54.89 (–) [X]
36. Tulane – 54.87  (20) [40]
37. UNC Wilmington – 53.22  (35) [50]
38. Florida Atlantic – 51.87  (22) [46]
39. Gonzaga – 51.35 (32) [X]
40. Michigan 50.25  (29) [27]
41. New Mexico – 50.23 (–) [X]
42. Southern Mississippi – 49.93 (12) [X]
43. UCLA – 49.65  (–) [9]
44. USC – 49.35  (–) [20]
45. California – 48.90  (36) [12]
46. Nebraska – 47.80 (50) [X]
47. Oregon – 47.32  (–) [14]
48. Wright State – 46.45 (40) [X]
49. Southeastern Louisiana (–) 45.22 (33) [X]
50. Cal Poly – 45.06 (–) [X]

– next five: Arkansas, South Alabama, Louisiana Tech, Missouri State & Oklahoma

> These teams were in final 2016 regular-season CNR top-50 but not in 2017 preseason top-50:
(30) Minnesota
(31) BYU
(34) Bryant
(39) South Alabama
(42) Kent State
(44) Louisiana Tech
(46) Duke
(47) Wake Forest
(48) Ohio State
(49) Creighton

> These teams were in the 2016 CNR preseason top-50 but not in 2017 preseason top-50:
(8) Arkansas
(26) Missouri State
(32) Kentucky
(33) Notre Dame
(34) Oklahoma
(36) Indiana
(37) College of Charleston
(41) San Diego State
(42) Illinois
(43) Missouri
(44) UC Irvine
(47) Auburn
(48) Iowa

_____________________________

2016 CB360 Composite National Rankings – End of Regular Season (May 18, 2016)
(rank), team – CNR pts (prev. weeks rank … preseason)
(1) Florida – 98.71  (1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 2 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … 1 … #1 preseason)
(2) Louisville – 97.97  (2 … 4 … 2 … 3 … 3 … 3 … 5 … 8 … 3 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 4)
(3) Miami – 97.20  (3 … 3 … 4 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 8 … 9 … 10 … 12 … 10 … 5 … 6)
(4) Texas A&M – 95.03  (4 … 2 … 3 … 4 … 7 … 8 … 1 … 3 … 4 … 3 … 3 … 4 … 3)
(5) Mississippi State – 94.40  (7 … 8 … 9 … 13 … 11 … 13 … 14 … 14 … 13 … 20 … 19 … 29 … 22)
(6) Texas Tech – 92.97  (5 … 9 … 10 … 7 … 10 … 20 … 25 … 40 … 41 … 35 … 31 … 36 … 35)
(7) Mississippi – 91.16  (10 … 10 … 11 … 14 … 8 … 10 … 10 … 6 … 5 … 9 … 13 … 19 … 31)
(8) Vanderbilt – 91.00  (8 … 6 … 8 … 5 … 6 … 4 … 3 … 5 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 2 … 2)
(9) South Carolina – 90.24  (6 … 5 … 5 … 6 … 4 … 6 … 4 … 11 … 15 … 19 … 16 … 30 … 29)
(10) LSU – 89.10  (13 … 17 … 14 … 12 … 19 … 18…  17 … 13 … 11 … 10 … 9 … 6 … 5)
(11) TCU – 87.45  (9 … 12 … 7 … 8 … 9 … 5 … 7 … 4 … 7 … 7 … 6 … 10 … 11)
(12) So. Mississippi – 83.66  (15 … 15 … 15 … 22 … 16 … 24 … 24 … 27 … 29 … 43 … 37 … 41 … –)
(13) North Carolina St – 83.45  (12 … 11 … 12 … 11 … 15 … 25 … 26 … 19 … 18 … 15 … 18…20…19)
(14) Florida State – 83.13  (11 … 7 … 6 … 9 … 5 … 7 … 9 … 10 … 9 … 13 … 12 … 9 … 13)
(15) Virginia – 81.31  (19 … 18 … 29 … 42 … – … 38 … 31 … 24 … 25 … 16 … 15 … 7 … 7)
(16) Coastal Carolina – 79.73  (17 … 19 … 13 … 16 … 24 … 30 … 44 … 48 … 46 … 36 … 22…28…30)
(17) Clemson – 78.20  (23 … 34 … 32 … 26 … 20 … 16 … 19 … 12 … 14 … 21 … – … – … –)
(18) Cal St Fullerton – 77.31  (26 … 36 … 38 … 33 … 41 … 41 … – … 35 … 23 … 32 … 21 … 22 … 16)
(19) Oklahoma St – 77.03  (14 … 14 … 19 … 30 … 40 … 19 … 16 … 21 … 26 … 30 … 30 … 24 … 10)
(20) Tulane – 75.71  (18 … 27 … 24 … 50 … 33 … 34 … 32 … 42 … 44 … 39 … 35 … 34 … 40)
(21) Arizona – 73.29  (16 … 30 … 18 … 44 … 49 … 39 … 23 … 29 … 27 … 48 … – … 42 … –)
(22) Florida Atlantic – 72.27  (27 … 25 … 27 … 18 … 22 … 14 … 20 … 22 … 19 … 23 … 23 … 25 … 46)
(23) North Carolina – 71.82  (24 … 20 … 15 … 15 … 12 … 9 … 6 … 2 … 6 … 6 … 7 … 15 … 23)
(24) Georgia Tech – 70.71  (22 … 22 … 35 … 32 … 26 … 22 … 15 … 23 … 31 … 17 … 20 … 23 … 39)
(25) Rice – 69.96  (20 … 23 … 20 … 20 … 27 … 32 … 40 … – … – … – … 49 … 27 … 21)
(26) Louisiana-Lafayette – 67.11  (34 … 29 … 22 … 23 … 30 … 36 … – … 49 … 35 … 27 …28…11…15)
(27) Dallas Baptist – 64.40  (37 … 41 … 36 … 45 … – … – … – … 34 … 40 … 28 … 42 … 26 … 28)
(28) Arizona State – 63.94 (42 … 42 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 32 … – … – … 44 … 38)
(29) Michigan – 62.90  (21 … 26 … 21 … 25 … 39 … 21 … 22 … 30 … 30 … 25 … 26 … 18 … 27)
(30) Minnesota – 62.59  (35 … 21 … 25 … 31 … 42 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(31) BYU – 62.21  (39 … 28 … 28 … 21 … 21 … 17 … 18 … 17 … 16 … 41 … 40 … – … –)
(32) Gonzaga – 62.17  (45 … 45 … 47 … 39 … 34 … 44 …  – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(33) Southeastern Louisiana – 61.70  (30 … 39 … 41 … 38 … 36 … 42 … 41 … 44 … 50 …–…–…–…–)
(34) Bryant – 61.40  (36 … 35 … 33 … 43 … 50 … 48 … 50 … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(35) UNC Wilmington– 61.03  (28 … 33 … 31 … 28 … 45 … – … – … 45 … 34 … 39 … 48 … 50)
(36) California – 60.60  (41 … 37 … 30 … 17 … 17 … 12 … 11 … 16 … 12 … 11 … 14 … 17 … 12)
(37) UC Santa Barbara – 60.50  (29 … 13 … 16 … 10 … 13 … 11 … 12 … 18 … 24…29…34…38…45)
(38) Washington – 59.70  (25 … 31 … 40 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(39) South Alabama – 57.88  (32 … 32 … 26 … 27 … 18 … 23 … 35 … 37 … 43 … 45 … 38 … 46 … –)
(40) Wright State – 55.75  (43 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(41) Oregon State – 55.69  (31 … 16 … 17 … 19 … 14 … 15 … 13 … 7 … 8 … 4 … 5 … 12 … 8)
(42) Kent State – 54.62  (44 … – … – … – … – … – … – … 46 … – … – … – … – … –)
(43) Long Beach State – 53.82  (49 … 43 … x … 46 … 43 … 37 … 27 … 33 … 38 … 40 … 48 … – … 49)
(44) Louisiana Tech – 53.15  (– … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(45) East Carolina – 53.14  (38 … 40 … 37 … 34 … 35 … 29 … 38 … 43 … 36 … 26 … 24 … 49 … –)
(46) Duke – 52.19  (– … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(47) Wake Forest – 51.84  (47 … 47 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(48) Ohio State – 51.27  (– … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(49) Creighton – 49.87  (33 … 24 … 34 … 40 … 37 … 46 … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(50) Nebraska – 49.48  (– … – … – … – … – … – … 43 … – … – … – … – … – … –)

Next Five – Stanford, Michigan State, Alabama, Southeast Missouri State and Kentucky

> Dropped Out of 2016 CNR Top–50 After Week–13:
(40) Michigan State  (38 … 45 … 29 … 25 … 28 … 21 … 25 … 17 … 38 … 45 … – … –)
(46) Kentucky  (48 … 39 … 24 … 23 … 26 … 33 … 38 … 49 … – … – … 40 … 32)
(48) Stanford  (49 … x … 41 … 31 … 33 … 37 …. 32 … 34 … 37 … 29 … 33 … –)
(50) UNC Greensboro  (46 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–12:
(44) Southeast Missouri State – 50.45  (42 … 49 … – … – …  – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(46) Lamar – 52.60 (43 … 47 … 32 … 45 … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(50) New Mexico – 56.84  (44 … 35 … 38 … 49 … – … – … – … 50 … 41 … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–11:
(49) Missouri State  (36 … 28 … 31 … 28 … 15 … 22 … 22 … 25 … 21 … 26)
(50) Cal Poly  (– … – … – …  – … – … – … – … 47 … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–10:
(37) St. Mary’s – 56.17  (47 … – … – … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(46) Long Beach State  (43 … 37 … 27 … 33 … 38 … 40 … 48 … – … 49)  (has returned to current top–50)
(48) Notre Dame  (– … – …  – … – … – … – … – … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–9:
(29) College of Charleston – 63.72  (27 … 30 … 41 … 33 … 44 … 44 … 37 … 37)
(44) Old Dominion – 52.66  (50 … 47 … 50 … – … – … – … – … –)
(46) Tennessee – 51.94  (47 … 42 … 39 … 37 … 46 … – … – … –)
(48) Houston – 51.40  ( 40 … 29 … 28 … 39 … 31 … 27 … 13 … 17)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–8:
(35) Nebraska – 56.62  (43 … – … – … – … – … – … –)
(38) Virginia – 55.77  (31 … 24 … 25 … 16 … 15 … 7 … 7)  (has returned to current top–50)
(43) Fresno State – 54.84  (– … – … – … 33 … 43 … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–7:
(34) Arkansas – 61.90  (26 … 20 … 14 … 11 … 14 … 18)
(36) UCLA – 61.33  (20 … 28 … 18 … 17 … 16 … 9)
(39) Alabama – 53.93  (36 … 47 … 24 … 32 … 43 … –)
(45) UNC Wilmington– 52.26  (– … 45 … 34 … 39 … 48 … 50)  (has returned to current top–50)
(46) Cal State Northridge – 50.46  (47 … 48 … – … – … – … –)
(48) USC – 48.99  (45 … – … – 33 … 31 … 20)
(49) Texas – 48.76  (– …  49 … 36 … 32 … 25)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–6:
(31) Oregon – 71.22  (21 … 8 … 8 … 8 … 14)
(34) Dallas Baptist – 55.06  (40 … 28 … 42 … 26 … 28)  (has returned to current top–50)
(35) Cal State Fullerton – 69.04  (23 … 32 … 21 … 22 … 16)  (has returned to current top–50)
(49) Louisiana-Lafayette – 57.02  (35 … 27 … 28 … 11 … 15)  (has returned to current top–50)
(46) Kent State – 49.33  (– … – … – … – … –)  (has returned to current top–50)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–5:
(32) Arizona State – 61.92  (– … – … 44 … 38)  (has returned to current top–50)
(42) Boston College – 54.29  (– … – … – … –)
(45) UNC Wilmington – 48.71  (34 … 39 … 48 … 50)  (has returned to current top–50)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–4:
(33) Fresno State – 59.77  (43 … – … –)
(42) Cal Poly – 53.91  (47 … – … –)
(47) Missouri – 51.11  (46 … 50 … 43)
(49) Texas – 48.04  (36 … 32 … 25)
(50) New Mexico – 46.70  (41 … – … –)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–3:
(33) USC – 57.60  (31 … 20)
(49) Rice – 49.30  (27 … 21)  (has returned to current top–50)
(50) Oklahoma – 47.97  (45 … 34)

> Dropped Out of CNR 2016 Top–50 After Week–2:
(35) Maryland
(39) Indiana
(40) Kentucky
(42) Arizona  (has returned to current top–50)
(44) Arizona State  (has returned to current top–50)
(47) Notre Dame

> Dropped Out of Top–50 2016 After Week–1:
(41) San Diego State
(42) Illinois
(44) UC Irvine
(47) Auburn
(48) Iowa
(49) Long Beach State  (has returned to current top–50)

_____________________________

> 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 pre. top-50] … 2016 CWS participant
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] … 2016 CWS participant
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] … 2016 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
11. TCU – 87.83  (3) [3] … 2016 CWS Semifinalist (bracket final)
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) [–] … 2016 CWS Champion
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] … 2016 CWS participant
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] … 2016 CWS participant
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  (–) [–]
Note: 2016 CWS runner-up Arizona was not in CNR preseason top-50

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

_____________________________

• 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 & Ohio State.

_____________________________

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. Arizona
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

_____________________________

2010 Preseason College Baseball 2010 Composite National Rankings (CNR)
courtesy of CollegeBaseball360.com (#1; Feb. 19, 2010)
1. Texas – 98.50
2. LSU – 96.11
3. Cal State Fullerton – 95.14
4. Virginia – 94.04
5. UC Irvine – 89.68
6. Rice – 89.33
7. Florida State – 88.89 – CWS participant
8. Georgia Tech – 88.17
9. Florida – 87.94 – CWS participant
10. Arizona State – 87.66 – CWS participant
11. TCU – 80.50 – CWS semifinalist (bracket finalist)
12. Clemson – 80.16 – CWS participant
13. North Carolina – 79.57
14. Miami (FL) – 79.34
15. Arkansas – 78.17
16. Oregon State – 77.90
17. East Carolina – 76.51
18. Coastal Carolina – 76.43
19. Louisville – 76.05
20. South Carolina – 72.92 – CWS champion
21. San Diego – 72.83
22. Mississippi – 72.68
23. Georgia – 68.34
24. Ohio State – 63.79
25. UCLA – 63.43 – CWS runner-up
26. Southern Mississippi – 61.94
27. Kansas – 56.78
28. Oklahoma – 54.04 – CWS semifinalist (bracket finalist)
29. Stanford – 53.75
30. Texas A&M – 52.96
31. Vanderbilt – 50.75
32. Wichita State – 49.83
33. Minnesota – 48.92
34. Alabama – 44.37
35. Pepperdine – 44.36
36. Kansas State – 42.79
37. Long Beach State – 39.54
38. Kentucky – 38.79
39. Missouri – 38.73
40. Cal Poly – 38.02
41. Arizona – 37.97
42. Oklahoma State – 37.88
43. Nebraska – 37.44
44. Oral Roberts – 37.27
44. Gonzaga – 37.27
46. Middle Tennessee – 37.20
47. Fresno State – 37.14
48. Florida Gulf Coast – 37.08
Boston College – 37.08
50. Jacksonville – 37.02

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