March 19, 2012

 

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll

 

Florida stays unanimous No. 1 in CBI Composite Poll

Stanford still second, Arkansas up to third, Kentucky climbs 11 spots to No. 8

 

After going 4-0 this past week and setting a school record with a 17-game win streak, Florida remains a unanimous No. 1 in the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll.

 

The Gators defeated sixth-ranked Florida State on Tuesday before opening SEC play with a three-game home sweep of Vanderbilt. Florida is first in all four polls.

 

Stanford was idle this past week for exams. The Cardinal is second in three polls and third in the other.

 

Arkansas picked up five wins at home, stretching its win streak to nine and rising two places to No. 3. The Razorbacks took two from Gonzaga before sweeping Alabama to open their SEC slate. Arkansas is third in three polls and fourth in the other.

 

Florida State went 2-1 and bumped up two spots to fourth. The Seminoles rebounded from their loss at Florida to take the first two games of the ACC home series with Virginia. Florida State is fourth in two polls, fifth in one poll and sixth in the other.

 

North Carolina had a 3-2 week and dropped one place to No. 5. The Tar Heels won at UNC Greensboro on Tuesday and fell at home to Gardner-Webb on Wednesday before taking two of three at Maryland in ACC action. UNC is fourth in one poll, fifth in two polls and seventh in the other.

 

Kentucky made a huge jump in this week's poll. The only remaining undefeated team in Division I rose from No. 19 to No. 8 after wins over Wright State and Murray State before an SEC series sweep of third-ranked South Carolina. The Wildcats have won a school-record 21 straight games.

 

The Gamecocks fell from third to sixth after the sweep at Kentucky.

 

Oklahoma and California both fell out of the poll, while Oregon State returned at No. 17 and NC State made its debut at No. 18.

 

This week's poll includes seven SEC teams and five from both the ACC and Pac-12. There single entries from the Big 12, Big West and Conference USA.

 

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 (3/19/12) BA CB NCBWA U/E Composite Last rank
1 Florida (19-1) 1 1 1 1 4 1
2 Stanford (13-2) 2 3 2 2 9 2
3 Arkansas (19-2) 3 4 3 3 13 5
4 Florida State (16-2) 6 5 4 4 19 6
5 North Carolina (16-4) 4 7 5 5 21 4
6 South Carolina (15-4) 8 6 6 8 28 3
7 Rice (15-6) 9 10 9 7 35 7
8 Kentucky (21-0) 16 2 13 6 37 19
9 Miami (Fla.) (16-4) 12 9 7 9 37 11
10 Arizona (16-4) 5 14 10 11 40 9
11 Texas A&M (16-5) 10 13 8 10 41 8
12 LSU (16-4) 11 8 12 13 44 13
13 UCLA (15-4) 7 16 11 12 46 12
14 Cal State Fullerton (12-7) 13 12 14 15 54 10
15 Georgia Tech (14-6) 15 20 15 14 64 16
16 Georgia (15-6) 18 23 17 17 75 18
17 Oregon State (14-5) 19 25 16 16 76 NR
18 NC State (15-3) 20 11 26 20 77 NR
19 Oregon (13-5) 24 17 22 18 81 15
20 Ole Miss (15-5) 17 26 20 19 82 14
* Arizona State (12-7) 14 18 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

 

* The American Baseball Coaches Association has ruled Arizona State ineligible for votes this season because of the school's NCAA postseason ban.

 

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: Kentucky is No. 2 in one poll, No. 16 in another.

 

March 12: 1. Florida, 2. Stanford 3. South Carolina, 4. North Carolina, 5. Arkansas

March 5: 1. Florida, 2. Stanford 3. South Carolina, 4. Rice, 5. Texas A&M

Feb. 27: 1. Florida, 2. Stanford 3. South Carolina, 4. Rice, 5. Texas A&M

Feb. 20: 1. Florida, 2. South Carolina, 3. Stanford, 4. Texas A&M, 5. Arkansas

Preseason Poll: 1. Florida, 2. South Carolina, 3. Stanford, 4. UNC, 5. Texas A&M

 

(photo by Jimmy Jones)