March 17, 2014

 

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll

 

Florida State Returns to No. 1 in CBI Composite Poll

South Carolina drops to second, Virginia stays in third, Vandy remains fourth

 

After a 5-0 week, including a three-game sweep of sixth-ranked NC State, Florida State returned to No. 1 in the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll.

 

CBI uses five rankings in its composite poll: Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball, National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Perfect Game and USA Today Coaches Poll.

 

The Seminoles won a pair of midweek games at UCF 11-10 and 18-1. FSU won three at home from NC State, taking a 6-1 victory on Friday before sweeping a Saturday doubleheader 8-2 and 9-8. The Seminoles were first in three polls and second in the other two.

 

South Carolina had a 3-1 week and dropped one spot to second. The Gamecocks blanked Furman before taking two of three at home from Ole Miss. South Carolina is first in two polls and second in the other three.

 

Virginia went 4-0 and stayed in third. The Cavaliers thumped James Madison before sweeping a three-game home set from Boston College. Virginia was third in three polls, fourth in one poll and fifth in the other.

 

Vanderbilt had a 3-1 week to remain in fourth. The Commodores defeated Eastern Illinois before taking two of three at home from LSU. Vanderbilt was third in two polls, fourth in one poll, fifth in one poll and sixth in the other.

 

Oregon State went 4-0 and held onto fifth. The Beavers edged Ohio State before winning three at Utah to kick off Pac-12 play. OSU was fourth in three polls and fifth in the other two.

 

UCLA returned to the poll at No. 18, while Mississippi State re-entered at No. 20. Miami (Fla.) and Kentucky dropped out of the poll.

 

The CBI Composite Poll contains six teams from the SEC and five from the ACC. There are three from the Pac-12, two from the Big West, and single entries from the American, Big 12, Conference USA and Sun Belt.

 

About the CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll

The CollegeBaseballInsider.com Composite Poll weighs the five 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 (3/17/14) BA CB NCBWA PG US Composite Last rank
1 Florida State (17-2) 2 2 1 1 1 7 2
2 South Carolina (18-1) 1 1 2 2 2 8 1
3 Virginia (14-3) 3 4 3 3 5 18 3
4 Vanderbilt (18-3) 6 3 5 4 3 21 4
5 Oregon State (18-3) 4 5 4 5 4 22 5
6 Louisiana-Lafayette (17-2) 5 6 8 7 8 34 9
7 LSU (17-4) 8 7 6 11 6 38 7
8 Cal Poly (17-3) 7 10 10 6 11 44 11
9 Oregon (14-5) 12 8 9 8 7 44 10
10 Louisville (15-4) 14 9 7 10 9 49 12
11 NC State (14-5) 10 11 11 9 10 51 6
12 Cal State Fullerton (10-7) 9 13 12 13 13 60 8
13 North Carolina (14-5) 17 12 13 12 12 66 14
14 Rice (15-6) 11 21 16 15 15 78 18
15 Tennessee (17-2) 18 14 21 16 16 85 19
16 Clemson (12-6) 13 26 17 14 18 88 16
17 Ole Miss (17-4) 20 16 15 24 14 89 15
18 UCLA (12-7) 22 23 14 18 17 94 NR
19 Texas (15-6) 15 19 19 22 20 95 13
20 Mississippi State (15-8) 21 24 18 17 19 99 NR

 

BA-Baseball America poll; CB-Collegiate Baseball poll; NCBWA-National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll; PG-Perfect Game poll; US-USA Today Coaches poll; Composite-Sum of rankings; Last rank-Last week's composite ranking

 

Why a composite poll? CBI felt that five 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: Clemson is No. 14 in one poll, No. 26 in another.

 

March 10: 1. South Carolina, 2. FSU, 3. Virginia, 4. Vanderbilt, 5. Oregon State

March 3: 1. FSU, 2. Virginia, 3. South Carolina, 4. CSFullerton, No. 5 Vanderbilt

Feb. 24: 1. Florida State, 2. Virginia, 3. South Carolina, 4. LSU, 5. Vanderbilt

Feb. 17: 1. CSFullerton, 2. Oregon State, 3. Virginia, 4. Florida State, 5. MSU

Preseason Poll: 1. CSFullerton, 2. Oregon State, 3. Virginia, 4. MSU, 5. FSU

 

(photo by Mike Olivella)