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Oct. 8, 2009 – note: this week's updated Composite National Rankings now include the official NCAA RPI (giving the formula seven core factors, plus possibly bonus for conference preseason poll) and the recently-updated Albyn Jones Ratings (which had been two weeks out-of-dat).
CNR WEEK-7 UPDATE (10/8/09) – CollegeSoccer360 introduced Composite National Rankings (CNR) in 2008 and has brought this aggregate poll concept back for 2009. The 2009 formula now has been expanded to include seven different cor criteria (each weighted equally): the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, the Soccer America (SA) rankings, the Soccer Times (ST) coaches poll, the top-50 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), the Albyn Jones statistical-based ratings (AJ), the Massey Ratings (stat-based) and the official NCAA RPI. Preseason conference polls also now are being used (in some instances) for the CNR formula. The composite rankings are housed on their own page here at CS360 (also posted on the CS360 blog) and gradually will include even more factors, such as official NCAA Tournament selection criteria.
In the latest update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings (based on polls/ratings entering the week), the top-four teams remain unchanged while Florida State (now #4) and UCLA (#5) swapped spots and two others moved up one position in the top-10 (#7 South Carolina and #8 Notre Dame). Two teams – Virginia Tech (#47 to #9) and LSU (#19 to #10) – vaulted into the top-10, while Wake Forest slipped from 10th to 11th and Florida (#7 to #23) tumbled well outside the top-10.
Teams that made the biggest CNR jumps from the previous week included 10-spot jumps from UConn (not #15), UCF (#18), Purdue (#21) and Dayton (339), while BYU improved from #22 to #14 and Georgia moved back closer to the top-10 (#18 to #12). Four teams – #32 Mississippi, #35 Penn State, #41 Memphis and #48 UAB– have returned to the CNR, while #50 Loyola Marymount is in the 2009 CNR top-50 for the first time.
In addition to Florida (#7 to #23), five oher teams dropped double-digit spots in the CNR (following last week's games): Virginia (#16 to #33), California (#11 to #26), Ohio State (#14 to #29),
The current CNR top-10 includes four teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC-FSU-BC-WFU) and two each from the Pacific-10 (Stanford, UCLA) and Southeastern conferences (FL, SC), plus the West Coast Conference's Portland and the BIG EAST's Notre Dame. Projecting out hypothetical #1 seeds for the NCAAs (16 total teams) based on this week's CNR, there would be five ACC (also UVa), three Pac-10 (also Cal), two SEC, two WCC (also SCU), two Big Ten (MSU, OSU) and two BIG EAST (also Rutgers).
Notes on CS360's updated Composite National Rankings formula (created by Pete LaFleur) – The CNR for CollegeSoccer360.com now closely resembles the composite rankings on CS360's sister site, CollegeBaseball360.com. The CNR currently consists of an average of six polls/ratings (plus potential inclusion of preseason conference polls, see below): the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, Soccer America (SA), the Soccer Times coaches poll (ST), the top-25 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), and two statistical ratings: from Albyn Jones (AJ) and Massey Ratings (MAS). The points total listed below are scaled to a 100-point format, for simplicity's sake.
Here are links to the six primary ingredients in the CNR:
• NSCAA coaches poll
• Soccer America rankings (requires subscription; released on Mondays)
• Soccer Times coaches poll
• Top Drawer Soccer projected NCAA Tournament field
• Albyn Jones statistical rankings (as of Sept. 20)
• Massey statistical rankings
In the raw formula, a #1-ranked team in any of the six polls/ratings typically receives 60 points, the #2 team gets 59, etc. The Soccer America poll is the most basic in this regard, as it has a top-25 and no "also receiving votes" teams. When two or more teams are tied for one spot, they receive an equal share of the combined points for those spots. Thus, two teams tied for 25th are considered in "25.5th" place (34.5 pts each), while three teams tied for 25th each are considered as 26th-place (34 pts).
Within the CNR formula, teams in the Top Drawer Soccer projection for the NCAA Tournament receive points if they are among the TDS #1-#50 spots (as spots 51-64 typically are projected automatic qualifiers that likely would not earn at-large bids). The same cutoff is used for the Albyn Jones and Massey (#1-#50). In the end, each team can receive a maximum of 60 CNR points from each of the six polls/ratings. That total then is divided by six and 40 is added to yield the final score on a convenient 100-point scale.
The CNR also now includes a "bonus boost" feature that – at times – will factor in preseason conference polls. If team-A was projected to finish higher in its conference than team-B, and if team-B is higher than team-A in the CNR, it's possible that team-A could "bump" one spot ahead of team-B. In order for the bonus-boost to be factored into the CNR, team-A must be within a certain range of team-B in the CNR (2.0 pts for a 1-spot difference in the conference poll; 3.5 pts for 2-spot diff.; 4.5 pts for 3-spot; 5.0 pts for 4-spot). The conference-poll ingredient will be phased out in a couple weeks, but for now it helps reward top teams that have played a tough non-conference schedule.
Here's an example of a conference-poll bonus-boost for this week: South Carolina has 87.49 pts in the CNR while Florida has 84.33. The Gators were picked to win their division in the SEC, a full three spots ahead of South Carolina's projected finish (4th). Per the CNR formula, if Florida is within 4.5 pts of S.C. (which it is, 84.33 to 87.49), then the Gators can bump ahead. There actually are seven such bumps this week, also: Michigan St. over Ohio St., Texas A&M over Kansas, Washington over Arizona St., Illinois over Purdue, Missouri over Colorado, and Duke over Virginia Tech.
One final note: three are four polls/ratings that include voting points (NSCAA and Soccer Times) or "rating points" (AJ and Massey). The CNR also takes these "points" into consideration when rating the teams. Essentially, a team's ranking-spot AND its point total receive equal value in the CNR formula – thus allowing for the "voting/point margin" to play a role in comparing the teams. A perfect example showing the value of this criteria can be seen in this week's NSCAA poll, with UNC narrowly holding the top spot (814 voting points, to Stanford's 803). Based solely on ranking-spot in the NSCAA poll, UNC would receive 60 points for the CNR and Stanford 59 ... but, after using the CNR formula, UNC received 59.97 and Stanford 59.18. By comparison, two weeks earlier UNC was a unanimous #1 in the NSCAA poll (825 pts) and Portland was the #2 team (789) – in the CNR, the Tar Heels would have received the max. 60 points and the Pilots 58.54 (compared to Stanford's 59.18 this week).
The numbers below in parentheses indicate each team's spot in the six polls/ratings, along with the voting or rating points (separated by the slash).
D-1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#7; 9/29/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
2. North Carolina ... 99.09 (NSCAA-1/814...SA-2...ST-2/385...TDS-2...AJ-2/2169...MAS-2/2.184)
3. Portland ... 96.25 (NSCAA-4/729...SA-3...ST-4/352...TDS-4...AJ-3/2091...MAS-3/2.101)
4. UCLA ... 94.83 (NSCAA-3/744...SA-4...ST-3/360...TDS-6...AJ-4/2069...MAS-6/1.983)
5. Florida State ... 94.05 (NSCAA-5/701...SA-5...ST-5/342...TDS-3...AJ-5/1961...MAS-4/2.035)
6. Boston College ... 92.09 (NSCAA-6/619...SA-6...ST-6/309...TDS-5...AJ-7/1917...MAS-5/2.024)
7. Florida ... 84.33 (NSCAA-7/594...SA-15...ST-8/273...TDS-11...AJ-12/1827...MAS-16/1.602)
8. So. Carolina ... 87.49 (NSCAA-8/550...SA-7...ST-7/279...TDS-15...AJ-11/1835...MAS-7/1.888)
9. Notre Dame ... 85.07 (NSCAA-10/510...SA-8...ST-10/231...TDS-8...AJ-6/1958...MAS-26/1.526)
10. Wake Forest..84.02 (NSCAA-9/511...SA-18...ST-9/245...TDS-12...AJ-10/1852...MAS-10/1.659)
12. Santa Clara..78.98 (NCAAA-11/433..SA-11..ST-13/179..TDS-28..AJ-18/1784...MAS-17/1.601)
13. Michigan St. .. 74.97 (NSCAA-20/185..SA-9..ST-16/144..TDS-10..AJ-49/1675..MAS-29/1.513)
14. Ohio St. ... 78.15 (NSCAA-15/326...SA-16...ST-18/104..TDS-17...AJ-21/1765...MAS-14/1.631)
15. Rutgers ... 77.15 (NSCAA-13/372...SA-13...ST-12/185...TDS-16...AJ-35/1721...MAS-27/1.524)
16. Virginia ... 75.47 (NSCAA-18/233...SA-23...ST-11/208...TDS-9...AJ-22/1763...MAS-42/1.427)
17. USC ... 74.49 (ST-31/40...SA-10...ST-30/31...TDS-7...AJ-15/1797...MAS-12/1.641)
18. Georgia ... 74.06 (NSCAA-22/111...SA-21...ST-22/88...TDS-23...AJ-19/1783...MAS-18/1.593)
19. Louisiana St..73.17 (NSCAA-23/108..SA-20..ST-17/106..TDS-19..AJ-43/1706..MAS-15/1.617)
20. Texas A&M ... 70.18 (NSCAA-16/275...ST-15/147...TDS-21...AJ-8/1880...MAS-30/1.507)
22. BYU ... 72.96 (NSCAA-29/46...SA-24...ST-20/96...TDS-14...AJ-17/1784...MAS-31/1.501)
23. St.John's ... 72.64 (NSCAA-17/250...SA-12...ST-23/62...TDS-40...AJ-24/1761...MAS-20/1.584)
24. Maryland ... 68.95 (NSCAA-24/91...SA-22...ST-27/35...TDS-34...AJ-32/1732...MAS-22/1.565)
25. UConn ... 67.64 (NSCAA-30/42...SA-17...ST-31/19...TDS-29...AJ-36/1721...MAS-32/1.475)
26. Washington ... 64.25 (NSCAA-37/13...ST-35/8...TDS-25...AJ-13/1818...MAS-19/1.586)
27. Arizona State ... 66.07 (NSCAA-19/189...ST-28t/33...TDS-18...AJ-31/1736...MAS-21/1.572)
28. Central Florida ... 66.06 (NSCAA-21/139...ST-25t/42...TDS-27...AJ-27/1754...MAS-13/1.640)
29. Oregon ... 67.04 (NSCAA-43/4...SA-14...ST-28t/33...AJ-20/1774...MAS-8/1.709)
30. Illinois ... 61.35 (NSCAA-35/23...ST-24/56...TDS-31...AJ-26/1754...MAS-33/1.471)
32. Washington State ... 61.54 (NSCAA-26/85...ST-25t/42...AJ-16/1785...MAS-9/1.692)
33. Oregon State ... 59.51 (NSCAA 38/11...ST-36t/6 ...TDS-39...AJ-41/1708...MAS-11/1.643)
34. San Diego ... 59.03 (NSCAA-25/90...T-34/14...TDS-35...AJ-25/1759...MAS-47/1.382)
35. Oklahoma State ... 57.68 (NCAAA-32/38...ST-36t/6...TDS-20...AJ-39/1714)
36. William & Mary ... 52.84 (NSCAA-34/28...TDS-42...AJ-40/1709...MAS-34/1.462)
37. West Virginia ... 52.83 (ST-33/16...TDS-22...AJ-47/1684)
38. Charlotte ... 52.76 (NSCAA-28/51...TDS-41...AJ-42/1707...MAS-40/1.435)
39. Marquette ... 51.79 (TDS-36...AJ-23/1761...MAS-35/1.461)
41. Indiana ... 51.55 (NSCAA-33/30...ST-38/4...AJ-30/1742)
42. Georgetown ... 51.03 (NSCAA-42/5...TDS-26...AJ-48/1680)
43. Villanova ... 49.97 (NSCAA 36/22...AJ-44/1703...MAS-28/1523)
44. Missouri ... 47.43 (ST-39/3...TDS-36)
45. Colorado ... 49.48 (ST-40/2...AJ-34/1721...MAS-37/1.447)
46. Duke ... 46.49 (TDS-33 ... AJ-50/1656...MAS)
47. Virginia Tech ... 47.33 (NSCAA-39t/10...AJ-38/1717...MAS-2/1.538)
48. Denver ... 46.84 (NSCAA-39t/10...AJ-46/1691...MAS-13/1.381)
49. Dayton ... 45.17 (TDS-30)
50. Pepperdine ... 44.61 (AJ-45/1698...MAS-41/1.430)
* * * * *
Oct. 3, 2009 – note: this week's updated Composite National Rankings were delayed due to waiting for an update to the Albyn Jones ratings. As it turns out, the AJ ratings have not been updated since the Sept. 20 games (thus this week's CNR includes the outdated Albyn Jones numbers, which will slightly skew the CNR standings).
CNR WEEK-6 UPDATE (9/30/09) – CollegeSoccer360 introduced Composite National Rankings (CNR) in 2008 and has brought this aggregate poll concept back for 2009. The 2009 formula now has been expanded to include six different criteria (each weighted equally): the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, the Soccer America (SA) rankings, the Soccer Times (ST) coaches poll, the top-50 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), the Albyn Jones statistical-based ratings (AJ) and the Massey Ratings (stat-based). Preseason conference polls also now are being used (in some instances) for the CNR formula. The composite rankings are housed on their own page here at CS360 (also posted on the CS360 blog) and gradually will include even more factors, such as official NCAA RPI and NCAA Tournament selection criteria.
In the latest update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings, the top-six teams (and #9 Notre Dame) remain unchanged while Wake Forest dropped two spots (#8 to #10) and two SEC teams moved into the top-10: #7 Florida (a top-10 team earlier this season) and #8 South Carolina. California (#7 to #11) and Virginia (#10 to #15) both have slipped out of the top-10.
Teams that made the biggest CNR jumps from the previous week included: USC (#33 to #17), Ohio State (#25 to #14), Arizona State (#36 to #27), Oregon (#37 to #29), Michigan State (#20 to #13) and Washington State (#38 to #32). Three teams – #19 LSU, #40 Minnesota and #45 Missouri – have returned to the CNR, while #46 Virginia Tech is in the CNR top-50 for the first time.
Seven teams dropped six spots or more this week in the CNR: Indiana (#23 to #41), Oklahoma State (#19 to #35), Purdue (#22 to #31), Texas A&M (#12 to #20), Georgetown (#35 to #42), UCF (#21 to #28) and West Virginia (#31 to #37).
The current CNR top-10 includes four teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC-FSU-BC-WFU) and two each from the Pacific-10 (Stanford, UCLA) and Southeastern conferences (FL, SC), plus the West Coast Conference's Portland and the BIG EAST's Notre Dame. Projecting out hypothetical #1 seeds for the NCAAs (16 total teams) based on this week's CNR, there would be five ACC (also UVa), three Pac-10 (also Cal), two SEC, two WCC (also SCU), two Big Ten (MSU, OSU) and two BIG EAST (also Rutgers).
Notes on CS360's updated Composite National Rankings formula (created by Pete LaFleur) – The CNR for CollegeSoccer360.com now closely resembles the composite rankings on CS360's sister site, CollegeBaseball360.com. The CNR currently consists of an average of six polls/ratings (plus potential inclusion of preseason conference polls, see below): the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, Soccer America (SA), the Soccer Times coaches poll (ST), the top-25 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), and two statistical ratings: from Albyn Jones (AJ) and Massey Ratings (MAS). The points total listed below are scaled to a 100-point format, for simplicity's sake.
Here are links to the six primary ingredients in the CNR:
• NSCAA coaches poll
• Soccer America rankings (requires subscription; released on Mondays)
• Soccer Times coaches poll
• Top Drawer Soccer projected NCAA Tournament field
• Albyn Jones statistical rankings (as of Sept. 20)
• Massey statistical rankings
In the raw formula, a #1-ranked team in any of the six polls/ratings typically receives 60 points, the #2 team gets 59, etc. The Soccer America poll is the most basic in this regard, as it has a top-25 and no "also receiving votes" teams. When two or more teams are tied for one spot, they receive an equal share of the combined points for those spots. Thus, two teams tied for 25th are considered in "25.5th" place (34.5 pts each), while three teams tied for 25th each are considered as 26th-place (34 pts).
Within the CNR formula, teams in the Top Drawer Soccer projection for the NCAA Tournament receive points if they are among the TDS #1-#50 spots (as spots 51-64 typically are projected automatic qualifiers that likely would not earn at-large bids). The same cutoff is used for the Albyn Jones and Massey (#1-#50). In the end, each team can receive a maximum of 60 CNR points from each of the six polls/ratings. That total then is divided by six and 40 is added to yield the final score on a convenient 100-point scale.
The CNR also now includes a "bonus boost" feature that – at times – will factor in preseason conference polls. If team-A was projected to finish higher in its conference than team-B, and if team-B is higher than team-A in the CNR, it's possible that team-A could "bump" one spot ahead of team-B. In order for the bonus-boost to be factored into the CNR, team-A must be within a certain range of team-B in the CNR (2.0 pts for a 1-spot difference in the conference poll; 3.5 pts for 2-spot diff.; 4.5 pts for 3-spot; 5.0 pts for 4-spot). The conference-poll ingredient will be phased out in a couple weeks, but for now it helps reward top teams that have played a tough non-conference schedule.
Here's an example of a conference-poll bonus-boost for this week: South Carolina has 87.49 pts in the CNR while Florida has 84.33. The Gators were picked to win their division in the SEC, a full three spots ahead of South Carolina's projected finish (4th). Per the CNR formula, if Florida is within 4.5 pts of S.C. (which it is, 84.33 to 87.49), then the Gators can bump ahead. There actually are seven such bumps this week, also: Michigan St. over Ohio St., Texas A&M over Kansas, Washington over Arizona St., Illinois over Purdue, Missouri over Colorado, and Duke over Virginia Tech.
One final note: three are four polls/ratings that include voting points (NSCAA and Soccer Times) or "rating points" (AJ and Massey). The CNR also takes these "points" into consideration when rating the teams. Essentially, a team's ranking-spot AND its point total receive equal value in the CNR formula – thus allowing for the "voting/point margin" to play a role in comparing the teams. A perfect example showing the value of this criteria can be seen in this week's NSCAA poll, with UNC narrowly holding the top spot (814 voting points, to Stanford's 803). Based solely on ranking-spot in the NSCAA poll, UNC would receive 60 points for the CNR and Stanford 59 ... but, after using the CNR formula, UNC received 59.97 and Stanford 59.18. By comparison, two weeks earlier UNC was a unanimous #1 in the NSCAA poll (825 pts) and Portland was the #2 team (789) – in the CNR, the Tar Heels would have received the max. 60 points and the Pilots 58.54 (compared to Stanford's 59.18 this week).
The numbers below in parentheses indicate each team's spot in the six polls/ratings, along with the voting or rating points (separated by the slash).
D-1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#7; 9/29/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
2. North Carolina ... 99.09 (NSCAA-1/814...SA-2...ST-2/385...TDS-2...AJ-2/2169...MAS-2/2.184)
3. Portland ... 96.25 (NSCAA-4/729...SA-3...ST-4/352...TDS-4...AJ-3/2091...MAS-3/2.101)
4. UCLA ... 94.83 (NSCAA-3/744...SA-4...ST-3/360...TDS-6...AJ-4/2069...MAS-6/1.983)
5. Florida State ... 94.05 (NSCAA-5/701...SA-5...ST-5/342...TDS-3...AJ-5/1961...MAS-4/2.035)
6. Boston College ... 92.09 (NSCAA-6/619...SA-6...ST-6/309...TDS-5...AJ-7/1917...MAS-5/2.024)
7. Florida ... 84.33 (NSCAA-7/594...SA-15...ST-8/273...TDS-11...AJ-12/1827...MAS-16/1.602)
8. So. Carolina ... 87.49 (NSCAA-8/550...SA-7...ST-7/279...TDS-15...AJ-11/1835...MAS-7/1.888)
9. Notre Dame ... 85.07 (NSCAA-10/510...SA-8...ST-10/231...TDS-8...AJ-6/1958...MAS-26/1.526)
10. Wake Forest..84.02 (NSCAA-9/511...SA-18...ST-9/245...TDS-12...AJ-10/1852...MAS-10/1.659)
12. Santa Clara..78.98 (NCAAA-11/433..SA-11..ST-13/179..TDS-28..AJ-18/1784...MAS-17/1.601)
13. Michigan St. .. 74.97 (NSCAA-20/185..SA-9..ST-16/144..TDS-10..AJ-49/1675..MAS-29/1.513)
14. Ohio St. ... 78.15 (NSCAA-15/326...SA-16...ST-18/104..TDS-17...AJ-21/1765...MAS-14/1.631)
15. Rutgers ... 77.15 (NSCAA-13/372...SA-13...ST-12/185...TDS-16...AJ-35/1721...MAS-27/1.524)
16. Virginia ... 75.47 (NSCAA-18/233...SA-23...ST-11/208...TDS-9...AJ-22/1763...MAS-42/1.427)
17. USC ... 74.49 (ST-31/40...SA-10...ST-30/31...TDS-7...AJ-15/1797...MAS-12/1.641)
18. Georgia ... 74.06 (NSCAA-22/111...SA-21...ST-22/88...TDS-23...AJ-19/1783...MAS-18/1.593)
19. Louisiana St..73.17 (NSCAA-23/108..SA-20..ST-17/106..TDS-19..AJ-43/1706..MAS-15/1.617)
20. Texas A&M ... 70.18 (NSCAA-16/275...ST-15/147...TDS-21...AJ-8/1880...MAS-30/1.507)
22. BYU ... 72.96 (NSCAA-29/46...SA-24...ST-20/96...TDS-14...AJ-17/1784...MAS-31/1.501)
23. St.John's ... 72.64 (NSCAA-17/250...SA-12...ST-23/62...TDS-40...AJ-24/1761...MAS-20/1.584)
24. Maryland ... 68.95 (NSCAA-24/91...SA-22...ST-27/35...TDS-34...AJ-32/1732...MAS-22/1.565)
25. UConn ... 67.64 (NSCAA-30/42...SA-17...ST-31/19...TDS-29...AJ-36/1721...MAS-32/1.475)
26. Washington ... 64.25 (NSCAA-37/13...ST-35/8...TDS-25...AJ-13/1818...MAS-19/1.586)
27. Arizona State ... 66.07 (NSCAA-19/189...ST-28t/33...TDS-18...AJ-31/1736...MAS-21/1.572)
28. Central Florida ... 66.06 (NSCAA-21/139...ST-25t/42...TDS-27...AJ-27/1754...MAS-13/1.640)
29. Oregon ... 67.04 (NSCAA-43/4...SA-14...ST-28t/33...AJ-20/1774...MAS-8/1.709)
30. Illinois ... 61.35 (NSCAA-35/23...ST-24/56...TDS-31...AJ-26/1754...MAS-33/1.471)
32. Washington State ... 61.54 (NSCAA-26/85...ST-25t/42...AJ-16/1785...MAS-9/1.692)
33. Oregon State ... 59.51 (NSCAA 38/11...ST-36t/6 ...TDS-39...AJ-41/1708...MAS-11/1.643)
34. San Diego ... 59.03 (NSCAA-25/90...T-34/14...TDS-35...AJ-25/1759...MAS-47/1.382)
35. Oklahoma State ... 57.68 (NCAAA-32/38...ST-36t/6...TDS-20...AJ-39/1714)
36. William & Mary ... 52.84 (NSCAA-34/28...TDS-42...AJ-40/1709...MAS-34/1.462)
37. West Virginia ... 52.83 (ST-33/16...TDS-22...AJ-47/1684)
38. Charlotte ... 52.76 (NSCAA-28/51...TDS-41...AJ-42/1707...MAS-40/1.435)
39. Marquette ... 51.79 (TDS-36...AJ-23/1761...MAS-35/1.461)
41. Indiana ... 51.55 (NSCAA-33/30...ST-38/4...AJ-30/1742)
42. Georgetown ... 51.03 (NSCAA-42/5...TDS-26...AJ-48/1680)
43. Villanova ... 49.97 (NSCAA 36/22...AJ-44/1703...MAS-28/1523)
44. Missouri ... 47.43 (ST-39/3...TDS-36)
45. Colorado ... 49.48 (ST-40/2...AJ-34/1721...MAS-37/1.447)
46. Duke ... 46.49 (TDS-33 ... AJ-50/1656...MAS)
47. Virginia Tech ... 47.33 (NSCAA-39t/10...AJ-38/1717...MAS-2/1.538)
48. Denver ... 46.84 (NSCAA-39t/10...AJ-46/1691...MAS-13/1.381)
49. Dayton ... 45.17 (TDS-30)
50. Pepperdine ... 44.61 (AJ-45/1698...MAS-41/1.430)
* * * * *
PARTIAL UPDATE (9/30/09) – CS360 is close to releasing updated Composite National Rankings (waiting on Albyn Jones new ratings). The CNR now will include six different "ingredients" (each factoring eually): the NSCAA and Soccer Times coaches polls, the Soccer America rankings, the Top Drawer Soccer projected NCAA Tournament field, and the statistical ratings by Albyn Jones and Massey. The CNR order listed below takes into account last week's Albyn Jones numbers, but its likely to be fairly accurate even when the new AJ ratings are factored into the CNR.
Based on these current rankings, three teams (LSU, Minnesota and Missouri) look to be returning to the CNR while Virginia Tech may be a newcomer to the Composite National Rankings (again, updated CNR won't be official until the new AJ ratings are factored into the formula). The four teams that may be dropping out of the CNR top-50 include: Penn State, Auburn, Nebraska and Long Beach State.
Here's the current CNR top-50, pending the addition of the updated Albyn Jones ratings (final update will be posted as soon as possible):
1-Stanford; 2-UNC; 3-Portland; 4-UCLA; 5-Florida St.; 6-BC; 7-So. Carolina; 8-Notre Dame; 9-Florida; 10-Wake Forest ...
11-Cal.; 12-Santa Clara; 13-Ohio St.; 14-Rutgers; 15-Virginia; 16-Michigan St.; 17-USC; 18-Georgia; 19-Kansas; 20-BYU ...
21-St. John's; 22-Texas A&M; 23-Maryland; 24-LSU; 25-UConn; 26-Arizona St.; 27-UCF; 28-Washington; 29-Oregon; 30-Purdue ...
31-Washington St.; 32-Illinois; 33-Oregon St.; 34-San Diego; 35-Oklahoma St.; 36-William & Mary; 37-West Virginia; 38-Charlotte; 39-Marquette; 40-Minnesota ...
41-Indiana; 42-Georgetown; 43-Villanova; 44-Colorado; 45-Missouri; 46-Va. Tech; 47-Denver; 48-Duke; 49-Dayton; 50-Pepperdine
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sept. 23, 2009 – note: this week's updated Composite National Rankings were delayed a bit due to creating the new formula (also, the new Albyn Jones ratings were posted just as CS360 was about to post the new CNR – so, after another delay, the numbers have been "recrunched" and this CNR is totally up-to-date with the five national polls/ratings now factored into the formula)
WEEK-5 UPDATE – CS360'S UPDATED FORMULA FOR THE CNR (9/23/09) – CollegeSoccer360 introduced Composite National Rankings (CNR) in 2008 and has brought this aggregate poll concept back for 2009. Now that the Albyn Jones statistical ratings have begun, the 2009 formula has been expanded to include five different criteria (each weighted equally): the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, the Soccer America (SA) rankings, the Soccer Times coaches poll (ST), the top-50 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), and the Albyn Jones statistical-based ratings (AJ). The composite rankings again will be housed on their own page here at CS360 (also posted on the CS360 blog) and gradually will include even more factors, such as official NCAA RPI, other power rankings (i.e. Massey, if available), NCAA Tournament selection criteria, preseason conference polls, etc.
In the latest update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings, Stanford has unseated North Carolina in the #1 spot – with a near-maximum 99.87 points on the CNR 100-point scale – followed by UNC at 99.1. Portland (#2 last week), UCLA and Florida State occupy spots 3-5, with Boston College, California, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Virginia rounding out the top-10. UCLA (previously #5) moved up two spots, BC dropped down two and FSU bumped up a spot, while WFU and UVa flipped positions. Notre Dame – boosted by a #6 spot in the Albyn Jones – moved up from #11 to #9 in this week's CNR, while Florida dropped out of the top-10 (#9 to #13).
Teams that made the biggest CNR jumps from the previous week include: Kansas (#28 to #16), Ohio State (#35 to #25), Washington (#35 to #29) and Texas A&M (#18 to #12) – while #28 Oregon State is the most noteworthy newcomer to the CNR. Eight teams dropped five spots or more this week in the CNR: Denver (#28 to #46), West Virginia (#21 to #31), Colorado (#33 to #43), USC (#24 to #33), San Diego (#23 to #32), Purdue (#14 to #22), Georgetown (#28 to #35) and Penn State (#34 to #39).
The current CNR top-10 includes five teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC-FSU-BC-WFU-UVa) and three from the Pacific-10 (Stanford, UCLA, Cal), plus the West Coast Conference's Portland and the BIG EAST's Notre Dame. Projecting out hypothetical #1 seeds for the NCAAs (16 total teams) based on this week's CNR, there would be five ACC, three Pac-10, three from the Southeastern Conference (SC-FL-GA), two WCC (also SCU), two Big-12 (A&M-KU) and ND form the BIG EAST.
Notes on CS360's updated Composite National Rankings formula (created by Pete LaFleur) – The CNR for CollegeSoccer360.com now closely resembles the composite rankings on CS360's sister site, CollegeBaseball360.com. The CNR currently consists of an average of five polls/ratings: the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA) coaches poll, Soccer America (SA), the Soccer Times coaches poll (ST), the top-25 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS), and the Albyn Jones ratings (AJ). The points total listed below are scaled to a 100-point format, for simplicity's sake.
In the raw formula, a #1-ranked team in any of the five polls/ratings typically receives 60 points, the #2 team gets 59, etc. The Soccer America poll is the most basic in this regard, as it has a top-25 and no "also receiving votes" teams." When two or more teams are tied for one spot, they receive an equal share of the combined points for those spots. Thus, two teams tied for 25th are considered in "25.5th" place, while three teams tied for 25th each are considered as 26th-place (as is the case this week in the SA poll, which has three teams in the #25 spot – they each are considered "#26" and then receive 35 pts for the CNR).
Within the CNR formula, teams in the Top Drawer Soccer projection for the NCAA Tournament receive points if they are among the TDS #1-#50 spots (as spots 51-64 typically are projected automatic qualifiers that likely would not earn at-large bids). The same cutoff is used for the Albyn Jones (#1-#50). In the end, each team can receive a maximum of 60 CNR points from each of the five polls/ratings. That total then is divided by five and 40 is added to yield the final score on a convenient 100-point scale.
One final note: three are three polls/ratings that include voting points (NSCAA and Soccer Times) or "rating points" (AJ). The CNR also takes these "points" into consideration when rating the teams. Essentially, a team's ranking-spot AND its point total receive equal value in the CNR formula – thus allowing for the "voting/point margin" to play a role in comparing the teams. A perfect example showing the value of this criteria can be seen in this week's NSCAA poll, with UNC narrowly holding the top spot (809 voting points, to Stanford's 808). Based solely on ranking-spot in the NSCAA poll, UNC would receive 60 points for the CNR and Stanford 59 ... but, after using the CNR formula, UNC received 59.97 and Stanford 59.45. By comparison, a week earlier UNC was a unanimous #1 in the NSCAA poll (825 pts) and Portland was the #2 team (789) – in the CNR, the Tar Heels would have received the max. 60 points and the Pilots 58.54 (nearly a full point below Stanford's CNR value this week from the NSCAA poll).
The numbers below in parentheses indicate each team's spot in the five polls/ratings, along with the voting or rating points (separated by the slash).
D-1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#6; 9/22/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
2. North Carolina ... 99.11 (NSCAA-1/809...SA-2...ST-2/387...TDS-2...AJ-2/2169)
3. Portland ... 96.12 (NSCAA-4/729...SA-4...ST-4/343...TDS-4...AJ-3/2091)
4. UCLA ... 95.30 (NSCAA-3/732...SA-5...ST-3/349...TDS-7...AJ-4/2069)
5. Florida State ... 93.75 (NSCAA-5/702...SA-6...ST-5/340...TDS-5...AJ-5/1961)
6. Boston College ... 93.57 (NSCAA-6/649...SA-3...ST-6/331...TDS-3...AJ-7/1917)
7. California ... 89.80 (NSCAA-8/562...SA-7...ST-7/294...TDS-9...AJ-9/1869)
8. Wake Forest ... 87.22 (NSCAA-7/575...SA-17...ST-9/247...TDS-8...AJ-10/1852)
9. Notre Dame ... 86.32 (NSCAA-14/404...SA-12...ST-14/190...TDS-11...AJ-6/1958)
10. Virginia ... 85.61 (NSCAA-11/463...SA-14...ST-8/276...TDS-6...AJ-22/1763)
11. South Carolina ... 84.02 (NSCAA-12/438...SA-11...ST-13/196...TDS-18...AJ-11/1835)
12. Texas A&M ... 83.99 (NSCAA-13/425...SA-21...ST-10/227...TDS-14...AJ-8/1880)
13. Florida ... 82.69 (NSCAA-10/501...SA-24...ST-11/207...TDS-15...AJ-12/1827)
14. Santa Clara ... 82.06 (NCAAA-9/502...SA-10...ST-12/203...TDS-27...AJ-18/1784)
15. Georgia ... 81.32 (NSCAA-16/338...SA-8...ST-15/148...TDS-20...AJ-14/1812)
16. Kansas ... 77.83 (NSCAA 20/171...SA-18...ST-17/129...TDS-23...AJ-14/1812)
17. Rutgers ... 77.24 (NSCAA-17/329...SA-20...ST-16/142,...TDS-16...AJ-35/1721)
18. Maryland ... 77.00 (NSCAA-18/305...SA-9...ST-19/111...TDS-26...AJ-32/1732)
19. Oklahoma State ... 76.38 (NCAAA-26t/28...ST-31/18...TDS-12...AJ-39/1714)
20. Michigan State ... 73.10 (NSCAA-26t/28...SA-13...ST-24/45...TDS-13...AJ-49/1675)
21. Central Florida ... 72.94 (NSCAA-22/136...SA-25t...ST-20/74...TDS-24...AJ-27/1754)
22. Purdue ... 72.15 (NSCAA-15/347...SA-25t...ST-18/123...TDS-36...AJ-33/1722)
23. Indiana ... 71.98 (NSCAA-19/220...SA-19...ST-28/27...TDS-31...AJ-30/1742)
24. Connecticut ... 71.56 (NSCAA-25/35...SA-16...ST-23/50...TDS-28...AJ-36/1721)
25. Ohio State ... 70.90 (NSCAA-21/147...SA-25t...ST-26t/31...TDS-33...AJ-21/1765)
26. St. John's ... 69.56 (NSCAA-23/111...SA-15...ST-38/5...TDS-40...AJ-24/1761)
27. BYU ... 65.96 (NSCAA-33/16...ST-25/32...TDS-17...AJ-17/1784)
28. Oregon State ... 64.97 (NSCAA 39t/3...SA-22...ST-41t/1...TDS-32...AJ-41/1708)
29. Washington ... 63.85 (NSCAA-34/14...ST-34/11...TDS-25...AJ-13/1818)
30. Illinois ... 63.45 (NSCAA-30/24...ST-21/69...TDS-29...AJ-26/1754)
31. West Virginia ... 61.88 (NSCAA-35t/4...ST-22/66...TDS-19...AJ-47/1684)
32. San Diego ... 61.83 (NSCAA-24/39...ST-24...ST-29/21...TDS-35...AJ-15/1792)
33. USC ... 61.77 (ST-35/9...TDS-10...AJ-36/1719)
34. Marquette ... 61.65 (NCSAA-32/18...ST-33/12...TDS-30...AJ-28/1746
35. Georgetown ... 59.84 (NSCAA-29/24...ST-39/3...TDS-21 ...AJ-48/1680)
36. Arizona State ... 58.85 (NSCAA-31/23...ST-31/17...TDS-41...AJ-25/1749
37. Oregon ... 58.82 (SA-23...ST-32/15...AJ-38/1715)
38. Washington State ... 57.66 (NSCAA-28/25...ST-26/31...AJ-26/1748)
39. Penn State ... 57.45 (ST-36t/8...TDS-22...AJ-35/1720)
40. Charlotte ... 51.52 (NSCAA-35t/4...TDS-42...AJ-42/1707)
42. Auburn ... 48.60 (ST-40/2...TDS-38)
43. Colorado ... 48.23 (ST-41t/1...AJ-34/1721)
44. Nebraska ... 48.05 (NSCAA-42t/1...TDS-39)
45. Pepperdine ... 47.34 (NSCAA-35t/4...AJ-45/1698)
46. Denver ... 47.18 (NSCAA-35t/4...SA-24...AJ-46/1691)
47. Villanova ... 47.03 (NSCAA 41/2...AJ-44/1703)
48. Duke ... 46.61 (ST-36t ... AJ-50/1656)
* * * * * *
WEEK-4 UPDATE (9/15/09) – CollegeSoccer360 introduced composite national rankings in 2008 and here is a look at updated composite rankings for the 2009 season. This composite sampling is a simple formula, taking into acount four polls/rankings and crediting 25 points for a #1 ranking, 24 for #2, etc. (for a convenient 100-point scale). The four polls used are from the National Soccer Coaches Association (NSCAA), Soccer America (SA), the Soccer Times coaches poll (ST) and the top-25 in the Top Drawer Soccer NCAA field projection (TDS). The composite rankings again will be housed on their own page here at CS360 (also posted on the CS360 blog) and gradually will include more factors, such as RPI, power rankings (Albyn Jones and Massey), NCAA Tournament selection criteria, preseason conference polls, etc.
There now are a total of 36 teams ranked among the top-25 in at least one of the four polls mentioned above, led by six from three different leagues: the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC, BC, FSU, UVa, Wake and Maryland), the BIG EAST (ND, Rutgers, WVU, St. John's, Georgetown and UConn) and the Big Ten (Purdue, Michigan State, Indiana, Illinois, Penn State and Ohio State), plus five from the Pacific-10 (Stanford, UCLA, Cal, USC and Washington), four Big 12 teams (A&M, OK St., KU, CU), ), and three each from the Southeastern Conference (Florida, South Carolina and Georgia) and the West Coast Conference (Portland, Santa Clara and San Diego).
All but three of the 36 teams in the current CNR are affiliated with one of the seven conferences noted above. The final three teams include Central Florida (Conference USA), BYU (Mountain West) and Denver (Sunbelt).
The CNR's current top-1 again includes half of those teams coming from the ACC (#1 UNC, #4 BC, #6 FSU, #8 UVa and #10 WFU), plus three from the Pac-10 and one each from the WCC and SEC. Projecting the 16 top seeds for the NCAAs (based on the current CNR), there would be five from the ACC, three Pac-10, two WCC, two SEC, two Big Ten, and one each from the BIG EAST and Big 12.
In the latest update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings, North Carolina remains a near-unanimous #1 (99 pts) while Boston College (now #4) and UCLA (#5) each moved up two spots, with Florida State dropping down from #4 to #6. Two teams entered the top-10: #7 California (up from #11) and #9 Florida (previously #14), with Notre Dame (#7 to #11) and Purdue (#9 to #14) dropping into the second-10 (after both lost to Stanford and Santa Clara).
In addition to Florida, the noteworthy surges in the CS360 CNR came from: South Carolina (#23 to #12), Goergia (#20 to #13), San Diego (#28 to #23) and Georgetown (#33 to #28).
Another chunk of teams (7) that were ranked in the previous week's CNR have dropped out of the polls: Auburn (#28), William & Mary (30), Minnesota (32), UAB (33), Missouri (35), Pittsburgh (35) and Vanderbilt (35). Other teams that suffered the biggest drops (but remain in the CNR) include: Kansas (#16 to #28), West Virginia (#12 to #21) and Purdue (#9 to #14)
Six teams have joined/rejoined the Composite National Rankings: Santa Clara (#15), Central Florida (20), St. John's (25), Connecticut (28), Denver (28) and Ohio State (35). UCF and DU are the only teams making their first CNR appearance of the season.
Despite the season being only one month old, there have been nearly 60 different teams (55) that have been ranked already in at least one of the four top-25 polls.
D-1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#5; 9/15/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
1. North Carolina 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, ST-1, TDS-2)
2. Portland 95 (NSCAA-2, SA-3, ST-3, TDS-1)
3. Stanford 94 (NSCAA-3, SA-2, ST-2, TDS-3)
4. Boston College 84 (NSCAA-6, SA-4, ST-6, TDS-4)
5. UCLA 83 (NSCAA-4, SA-5, ST-4, TDS-8)
6. Florida State 82 (NSCAA-5, SA-6, ST-5, TDS-6)
7. California 71 (NSCAA-9, SA-7, ST-7, TDS-10)
8. Virginia 63 (NSCAA-10, SA-16, ST-8, TDS-7)
9. Florida 61 (NSCAA-7, SA-14, ST-9, TDS-13)
10. Wake Forest 57 (NSCAA-8, SA-20, ST-10, TDS-9)
11. Notre Dame 51 (NSCAA-14, SA-13, ST-12, TDS-14)
12. South Carolina 44 (NSCAA-13, SA-12, ST-15, TDS-20)
13. Georgia 42 (NSCAA-15, SA-8, ST-18, TDS-21)
14. Purdue 41 (NSCAA-11, SA-15, ST-11)
15. Santa Clara 40 (NSCAA-12, SA-10, ST-16)
16. Michigan State 33 (SA-11, ST-23, TDS-11)
17. Rutgers 32 (NSCAA-16, SA-23, ST-17, TDS-16)
18. Texas A&M 31 (NSCAA-17, ST-13, TDS-17)
19. Oklahoma State 28 (NSCAA-24, ST-21, TDS-5)
20. Central Florida 27 (NSCAA-19, SA-17, ST-19, TDS-22)
21. West Virginia 24 (SA-25, ST-14, TDS-15)
22. Maryland 23 (NSCAA-20, SA-9)
23. San Diego 15 (NSCAA-18, SA-21, ST-24)
24. USC 14 (TDS-12)
25. Indiana 8 (NSCAA-22, SA-22)
25. St. John's 8 (SA-18)
25. BYU 8 (TDS-18)
28. Kansas 7 (SA-25, ST-22, TDS-24)
28. Denver 7 (NSCAA-21, SA-24)
28. Connecticut 7 (SA-19)
28. Georgetown 7 (TDS-19)
32. Illinois 6 (ST-20)
33. Colorado 4 (NSCAA-23, ST-25)
34. Penn State 3 (TDS-23)
35. Washington 1 (TDS-25)
35. Ohio State 1 (NSCAA-25)
* * * * * * *
REVOLVING DOOR – FEATURING 53 TEAMS SO FAR IN '09 – CONTINUES IN NATIONAL POLLS (9/8/09) – As we look at the third in-season update for the CNR, the 2009 season thus far can be summed up in one number: 53. That's how many different teams have cycled through the four national polls this season (including 48 in the past two weeks alone!).
In the Sep. 8 update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings, North Carolina remains a near-unanimous #1 (99 pts) while Florida State (#4), Boston College (#7) and Virginia (#9) all moved up a spot, along with UCLA bumping up from #9 to #6. Two teams entered the top-10: #8 Wake Forest (up from #13) and #9 Purdue (previously #15), with West Virginia (#7 to #12) and Florida (#5 to #14) dropping into the second-10.
In addition to Purdue, the noteworthy surges in the CS360 CNR came from: Kansas (#35 to #16), Rutgers (#23 to #13), California (#18 to #11) and Georgia (#27 to #20).
A boatload of teams (12) that were ranked in the previous week's CNR have dropped out of the polls: San Diego (#21), Utah (22), Texas (26), St. John's (27), DePaul (30), Miami (33), Santa Clara (33), Colorado College (350, Dayton (35), Duke (38), Memphis (38) and Washington State (38). Other teams that suffered the biggest drops (but remain in the CNR) include: Missouri (#25 to #34), Penn State (#12 to #20), USC (#20 to #27) and Colorado (#16 to #23).
Following a second straight week of numerous upsets, eight more teams have joined/rejoined the Composite National Rankings: Indiana (#22), South Carolina (23), Maryland (26), Washington (back in, at #29), William & Mary (29), UAB (32), Pittsburgh (34) and Vanderbilt (34).
Despite the season being only three weeks old, there have been more than 50 teams (53) that have been ranked already in at least one of the four top-25 polls. Those teams include the 48 mentioned above, plus LSU, James Madison, Connecticut, Tennessee and Richmond.
D-1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#4; 9/8/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
1. North Carolina 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, ST-1, TDS-2)
2. Portland 95 (NSCAA-2, SA-3, ST-3, TDS-1)
3. Stanford 94 (NSCAA-3, SA-2, ST-2, TDS-3)
4. Florida State 88 (NSCAA-4, SA-4, ST-4, TDS-4)
5. UCLA 78 (NSCAA-6, SA-6, ST-5, TDS-9)
6. Boston College 78 (NSCAA-10, SA-5, ST-6, TDS-5)
7. Notre Dame 77 (NSCAA-5, SA-7, ST-7, TDS-8)
8. Wake Forest 71 (NSCAA-8, SA-10, ST-9, TDS-6)
9. Purdue 63 (NSCAA-7, SA-8, ST-8, TDS-18)
9. Virginia 63 (NSCAA-9, SA-16, ST-9, TDS-7)
11. California 55 (NSCAA-16, SA-9, ST-11, TDS-13)
12. West Virginia 54 (NSCAA-12, SA-15, ST-12, TDS-11)
13. Rutgers 49 (NSCAA-17, SA-11, ST-15, TDS-12)
14. Florida 43 (NSCAA-14, SA-14, ST-17, TDS-16)
15. Texas A&M 41 (NSCAA-13, SA-21, ST-14, TDS-15)
16. Kansas 34 (NSCAA-22, SA-13, ST-16, TDS-19)
16. Illinois 34 (NSCAA-11, ST-20, SA-13)
18. Oklahoma State 25 (NSCAA-19, ST-24, TDS-10)
19. Michigan State 23 (SA-19, ST-22, TDS-14)
20. Penn State 21 (NSCAA-24, SA-23, ST-19, TDS-17)
22. Indiana 20 (NSCAA-25, SA-12, ST-21)
23. South Carolina 12 (NSCAA-18, SA-25, ST-23)
23. Colorado 12 (NSCAA-20, ST-20)
25. BYU 11 (ST-18, TDS-23)
26. Maryland 8 (SA-18)
27. USC 6 (TDS-20)
28. Auburn 5 (TDS-21)
29. Washington 4 (TDS-22)
29. William & Mary 4 (SA-22)
32. UAB 2 (SA-24)
32. Georgetown 2 (TDS-24)
34. Missouri 1 (TDS-25)
34. Pittsburgh 1 (SA-25)
34. Vanderbilt 1 (SA-25)
* * * * * * *
PLENTY OF POLL MOVEMENT (9/1/09) – After a full weekend of games in late-August, there were a total of 40 teams ranked among the top-25 in at least one of the four polls. In this second in-season update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings (CNR), North Carolina remains a near-unanimous #1 (99 pts) while Florida moved up from #8 to #6 and two teams entered the top-10: Boston College (#11 to #8) and West Virginia (#14 to #7). UCLA (#6 to #9) remains in the top-10, while Texas A&M (#7 to #11) and Penn State (#9 to #12) dropped to the second tier.
In addition to WVU, the most noteworthy jumps in the CS360 Composite National Rankings were turned in by: Wake Forest (#21 to #13), Michigan State (#21 to #16), Oklahoma State (#23 to #18) and BYU (#29 to #24).
Four teams that had been ranked in the 30s of the previous CNR have dropped out of the polls: Connecticut (30 in the previous week's CNR), Tennessee (31), Washington (32) and Richmond (33). Teams that suffered the biggest drop (but still in the CNR) include: Duke (#13 to #38), Missouri (#15 to #25), Washington State (#28 to #38), Minnesota (#20 to #29), Santa Clara (#24 to #33) and USC (#12 to #20).
Following a big week of upsets, a whopping nine teams joined the Composite National Rankings in early-Sept.: Purdue (15), Utah (22), St. John's (27), DePaul (30), Georgetown (30), Miami, FL (33), Colorado College (35), Dayton (35) and Kansas (35).
Div. 1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#3; 9/1/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
1. North Carolina 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, ST-1, TDS-2)
2. Portland 94 (NSCAA-3, SA-3, ST-3, TDS-1)
3. Stanford 93 (NSCAA-4, SA-2, ST-2, TDS-3)
4. Notre Dame 90 (NSCAA-2, SA-4, ST-4, TDS-4)
5. Florida State 84 (NSCAA-5, SA-5, ST-5, TDS-5)
6. Florida 79 (NSCAA-6, SA-7, ST-6, TDS-6)
7. West Virginia 69 (NSCAA-7, SA-9, ST-9, TDS-10)
8. Boston College 68 (NSCAA-16, SA-6, ST-7, TDS-7)
9. UCLA 67 (NSCAA-9, SA-8, ST-8, TDS-12)
10. Virginia 66 (NSCAA-8, SA-11, ST-11, TDS-8)
12. Penn State 56 (NSCAA-13, SA-10, ST-12, TDS-13)
13. Wake Forest 47 (NSCAA-17, SA-17, ST-14, TDS-9)
14. Illinois 38 (NSCAA-11, ST-13, SA-16)
15. Purdue 37 (NSCAA-14, SA-12, ST-15)
16. Michigan State 24 (SA-15, ST-25, TDS-14)
16. Colorado 24 (NSCAA-15, ST-17, SA-22)
18. California 23 (SA-14, ST-16, TDS-25)
18. Oklahoma State 23 (NSCAA-20, ST-20, TDS-15)
20. USC 22 (NSCAA-12, TDS-18)
21. San Diego 21 (NSCAA-12, ST-19)
22. Utah 20 (NSCAA-21, SA-19, ST-18)
23. Rutgers 15 (NSCAA-23, ST-21, TDS-19)
24. BYU 14 (SA-25, ST-22, TDS-17)
25. Missouri 12 (NSCAA-23, SA-21, ST-24, TDS-24)
26. Texas 11 (NSCAA-25, TDS-16)
27. Georgia 9 (NSCAA-18, SA-25)
27. St. John's 9 (NSCAA-25, SA-18)
29. Minnesota 7 (NSCAA-19)
30. DePaul 6 (SA-20)
30. Georgetown 6 (TDS-20)
32. Auburn 5 (TDS-21)
33. Miami (FL) 4 (TDS-22)
33. Santa Clara 4 (NSCAA-22)
35. Colorado College 3 (SA-23)
35. Dayton 3 (TDS-23)
35. Kansas 3 (ST-23)
38. Duke 2 (NSCAA-24)
38. Memphis 2 (SA-24)
38. Washington State 2 (NSCAA-24)
*****
CS360 COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS UPDATE #2 (8/24/09) – Folllowing the first week of the regular season, there are a total of 35 teams ranked among the top-25 in at least one of the four polls mentioned above, led by six each from the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC, FSU, UVa, BC, Duke and Wake) and the Pacific-10 Conference (Stanford, UCLA, USC, Cal, Wash. St. and Washington). The big 12 has five teams among those listed below (A&M, OK St., Missouri, Texas, CU), while four Southeastern Conference teams are in the top-25 (Florida, Georgia, Tenn., Auburn).
In this first in-season update of the CS360 Composite National Rankings (CNR), North Carolina remains a near-unanimous #1 (99 pts) while Portland moved up from #3 to #2 (flipped with Stanford), with Notre Dame (#4) and Florida State (#5) also moving up one spot while UCLA dropped from #4 to #6. The top-10 includes nine of the same teams, with Penn State moving up from #11 to #9 while USC slipped from #10 to #12.
The most noteworthy jumps in the CS360 Composite National Rankings include: Colorado (#26 to #16), Santa Clara (#30 to #24) and California (#23 to #18). Teams that suffered the biggest drop: Oklahoma State (#14 to #23), Texas (#18 to #26) and BYU (#25 to #29). LSU and James Madison both dropped out, replaced by the teams that beat them last week (Memphis and Richmond, respectively).
Div. 1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#2; Aug. 25, 2009)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
1. North Carolina 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, TDS-2, ST-1)
2. Portland 94 (NSCAA-3, SA-3, TDS-1, ST-3)
3. Stanford 93 (NSCAA-4, SA-2, TDS-3, ST-2)
4. Notre Dame 89 (NSCAA-2, SA-4, TDS-5, ST-4)
5. Florida State 82 (NSCAA-5, SA-6, TDS-6, ST-5)
6. UCLA 77 (NSCAA-9, SA-7, TDS-4, ST-7)
7. Texas A&M 76 (NSCAA-6, SA-9, TDS-7, ST-6)
8. Florida 71 (NSCAA-7, SA-10, TDS-8, ST-8)
9. Penn State 69 (NSCAA-8, SA-5, TDS-13, ST-9)
10. Virginia 58 (NSCAA-10, SA-14, TDS-10, ST-12)
11. Boston College 56 (NSCAA-20, SA-8, TDS-9, ST-11)
12. USC 52 (NSCAA-12, SA-15, TDS-11, ST-14)
13. Duke 45 (NSCAA-11, SA-12, ST-10)
14. West Virginia 42 (NSCAA-14, SA-17, TDS-14, ST-17)
15. Missouri 38 (NSCAA-22, SA-11, TDS-20, ST-13)
16. Colorado 32 (NSCAA-18, SA-13, ST-15)
17. Illinois 30 (NSCAA-13, SA-20, TDS-22, ST-19)
18. California 25 (SA-16, TDS-21, ST-16)
19. Rutgers 21 (NSCAA-23, SA-22, TDS-17, ST-21)
20. Minnesota 19 (NSCAA-17, SA-24, ST-18)
21. Wake Forest 18 (TDS-12, ST-22)
21. Michigan State 18 (SA-18, TDS-16)
23. Oklahoma State 17 (NSCAA-21, TDS-18, ST-22)
24. Santa Clara 16 (NSCAA-19, SA-23, ST-20)
25. San Diego 13 (NSCAA-15, ST-24)
25. Texas 13 (NSCAA-25, TDS-15, ST-25)
27. Georgia 10 (NSCAA-16)
28. Washington State 9 (NSCAA-24, SA-19)
29. BYU 7 (TDS-19)
30. Connecticut 5 (SA-21)
31. Tennessee 3 (TDS-23)
32. Washington 2 (TDS-24)
33. Auburn 1 (TDS-25)
33. Richmond 1 (SA-25)
33. Memphis 1 (SA-25)
****
2009 PRESEASON COMPOSITE NATIONAL RANKINGS
There are a total of 35 teams ranked among the top-25 in at least one of the four polls mentioned above, led by six each from the Atlantic Coast Conference (UNC, FSU, UVa, BC, Duke and Wake) and the Pacific-10 Conference (Stanford, UCLA, USC, Cal, Wash. St. and Washington). Two other leagues have five teams among those listed below: the Big 12 (A&M, OK St., Missouri, Texas, CU) and the Southeastern (Florida, Georgia, Tenn., Auburn, LSU).
It will be interesting to take a look back at these composite rankings when the NCAA seeds are announced in early Nov. (and also at the end of the NCAAs).
Div. 1 Women's Soccer Composite National Rankings (#1; 8/21/09)
(compiled by CollegeSoccer360.com)
1. North Carolina 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, TDS-2, ST-1)
2. Stanford 95 (NSCAA-2, SA-2, TDS-3, ST-2)
3. Portland 90 (NSCAA-4, SA-4, TDS-1, ST-5)
4. UCLA 89 (NSCAA-5, SA-3, TDS-4, ST-3)
5. Notre Dame 87 (NSCAA-3, SA-5, TDS-5, ST-4)
6. Florida State 79 (NSCAA-6, SA-7, TDS-6, ST-6)
7. Texas A&M 74 (NSCAA-7, SA-9, TDS-7, ST-7)
8. Virginia 66 (NSCAA-9, SA-11, TDS-10, ST-8)
9. Florida 66 (NSCAA-10, SA-10, TDS-8, ST-10)
10. USC 64 (NSCAA-8, SA-12, TDS-11, ST-9)
12. West Virginia 46 (NSCAA-14, SA-16, TDS-14, ST-14)
13. Boston College 42 (NSCAA-23, SA-18, TDS-9, ST-12)
14. Oklahoma State 38 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, TDS-2, ST-1)
15. Duke 37 (NSCAA-16, SA-14, ST-11)
16. San Diego 31 (NSCAA-13, SA-15, ST-19)
17. Missouri 31 (NSCAA-24, SA-13, TDS-20, ST-16)
18. Texas 31 (NSCAA-15, TDS-15, ST-17)
19. Rutgers 25 (NSCAA-20, SA-21, TDS-17, ST-21)
20. Illinois 20 (NSCAA-17, SA-23, TDS-22, ST-22)
22. Minnesota 15 (NSCAA-19, ST-18)
23. California 15 (SA-19, TDS-21, ST-23)
24. Wake Forest 14 (TDS-12)
25. BYU 14 (NSCAA-25, TDS-19, ST-20)
26. Colorado 99 (NSCAA-1, SA-1, TDS-2, ST-1)
27. Washington State 9 (NSCAA-2, SA-2, TDS-3, ST-2)
28. Georgia 8 (NSCAA-18)
29. Connecticut 6 (SA-20)
30. Santa Clara 4 (NSCAA-22)
31. Tennessee 3 (TDS-23)
32. Washington 2 (TDS-24)
33. James Madison 1 (SA-25)
33. Auburn 1 (TDS-25)
33. Louisiana State 1 (ST-25)
* * *
College Soccer 360
2008 Composite National Rankings
The link included above provides a PDF spreadsheet for 2008 composite rankings, utilizing eight different polls/ratings (linked below). For the composite rankings, a team listed #1 by any of these eight polls/ratings was given a score of 64, the #2 team a score of 63 and so on (#64 team, score of 1). The RPI, Massey, Albyn Jones and Top Drawer Soccer lists all go to (at least) 64, while Soccer America lists only 25 teams and the other three (NSCAA, ST, SB) typically list 30-40 total teams that received votes.
These initial CS360 Composite Rankings are simply a weighted average of the eight polls/rankings, with some skewing natural to occur (since all do not go 1-64).
(note that all of these links and data used for Composite is for games through Nov. 2, the next update will take into effect all games through Nov. 9).
Albyn Jones College Soccer Ratings
NSCAA Rankings (National Soccer Coaches Association of America)
Soccer America (top-25 rankings)