March 21, 2011

 

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll

 

Florida sits atop CBI Composite Poll for fifth straight week

Top three spots are unanimous, with Vanderbilt second and Virginia third

 

For the fifth straight week, the Florida Gators are No. 1 in the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll.

 

The Gators put together a strong 4-0 week, beating No. 5 Florida State on Tuesday before sweeping a three-game SEC set at No. 7 LSU. It was their first sweep of the Tigers in Baton Rouge. Florida is first in all four national polls.

 

Vanderbilt holds second after a 3-1 week. The Commodores defeated Purdue on Tuesday before taking two of three at home from Mississippi State. Vanderbilt is No. 2 in all four polls.

 

Virginia rose three spots to third. The Cavaliers went 3-1, with a win over James Madison on Wednesday prior to taking two of three at home from No. 5 Florida State. Virginia is third in all four polls.

 

Texas climbed four places to No. 4. The Longhorns were 4-0 at home, with a victory over Texas State and a three-game Big 12 sweep of Kansas State. Texas is fourth in one poll, fifth in two and sixth in the other.

 

South Carolina holds steady in fifth. The Gamecocks had a 3-2 week, losing to Furman on Tuesday, winning against Wofford on Wednesday before taking two of three from Georgia. South Carolina is fourth in two polls, sixth in one and seventh in the other.

 

Texas A&M elevated four spots to No. 8, while North Carolina also jumped four places to No. 13.

 

Georgia Tech returned to the poll this week at No. 12.

 

There are five teams from the SEC, including four of the top 10. There are also five from the ACC. There are three Big 12 teams and three Pac-10 squads, two from the Big West and single entries from the Mountain West and WAC.

 

About the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll

The CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll weighs the four primary national polls, thereby providing the most accurate national ranking. In case of ties in the composite ranking, the team with a higher individual ranking will come first.

 

CBI Composite Poll (3/21/11) BA CB NCBWA U/E Composite Last rank
1 Florida (18-2) 1 1 1 1 4 1
2 Vanderbilt (19-2) 2 2 2 2 8 2
3 Virginia (19-2) 3 3 3 3 12 6
4 Texas (15-5) 5 4 5 6 20 8
5 South Carolina (14-4) 4 7 6 4 21 5
6 Arizona State (15-4) 6 5 4 8 23 9
7 Florida State (16-4) 7 8 7 5 27 4
8 Texas A&M (15-5) 8 6 9 9 32 12
9 Oklahoma (17-5) 9 10 8 7 34 3
10 LSU (16-4) 11 9 10 10 40 7
11 TCU (12-7) 14 13 11 14 52 10
12 Georgia Tech (17-4) 17 12 17 15 61 NR
13 North Carolina (18-3) 18 19 13 12 62 17
14 UC Irvine (14-2) 26 11 15 11 63 15
15 Arizona (15-5) 15 17 16 16 64 11
16 Cal State Fullerton (11-7) 13 16 19 18 66 16
17 Clemson (10-7) 19 15 14 19 67 14
18 Fresno State (14-2) 10 20 21 17 68 20
19 Arkansas (15-4) 26 22 12 13 73 13
20 Stanford (6-5) 12 18 20 23 73 18

 

BA-Baseball America poll; CB-Collegiate Baseball poll; NCBWA-National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll; U/E-USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll; Composite-Sum of rankings; Last rank-Last week's composite ranking

 

Why a composite poll? CBI felt that four national polls was enough. Plus, each week you find discrepancies that make it tough to gauge where a team really is. This week's example: UC Irvine is No. 11 in two polls, unranked in another.

 

March 14: 1. Florida, 2. Vanderbilt 3. Oklahoma 4. Florida St. 5. S. Carolina

March 7: 1. Florida, t2. Oklahoma, t2. Vanderbilt 4. S. Carolina, 5. Florida St.

Feb. 28: 1. Florida, 2. Vanderbilt, 3. Oklahoma, 4. South Carolina, 5. UCLA

Feb. 21: 1. Florida, 2. UCLA, 3. Vanderbilt, 4. TCU, 5. Oklahoma

Preseason Poll: 1. TCU, 2. UCLA, 3. Florida, 4. Vanderbilt, 5. Oklahoma

 

(photo by Jimmy Jones)