Best of all: Texas tops combined standings
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The school that dominated headlines this offseason also usually does pretty well for itself in the postseason.
Texas has won two College World Series and one national football title in the past decade; the Longhorns also reached the Final Four in 2003. Thus, it should come as no surprise that when we measured which schools had the most combined success in football, men's basketball and baseball since the start of the BCS era, Texas was the clear-cut winner.
Last month, we measured the top combined football-basketball programs since the start of the 1998-99 school year. Florida led those rankings and was followed in order by Ohio State and Texas. But once we added baseball to the mix, Texas moved to the top by a commanding margin.
Texas accumulated 48 baseball points, more than any other school in the nation. Texas finished with a total of 112 points in all three sports, giving the Longhorns a 16.5-point edge over every other school.
No wonder the eyes of every conference commissioner were upon Texas this summer. Texas shook up the college sports landscape this summer by considering a switch to the Pac-10 along with five other Big 12 schools in a move that likely would have killed the Big 12. Texas instead chose to remain in the Big 12, which soon will drop to 10 schools following Nebraska's move to the Big Ten and Colorado's defection to the Pac-10.
Florida was second in our rankings at 95.5 points, while LSU was third with 81. Ohio State (71.5) and Oklahoma (71) rounded out the top five.
How did we come up with our formula?
The scoring system
FOOTBALL
Share of national title: 10 points
BCS championship game loser: 7 points
Top-4 ranking: 5 points
Nos. 5-8: 3 points
Nos. 9-16: 2 points
Nos. 17-25: 1 point
Unranked team with bowl bid: 0.5 points
BASKETBALL
National title: 10 points
Runner-up: 7 points
Final Four: 5 points
Elite Eight: 3 points
Sweet 16: 2 points
Round of 32: 1 point
First-round loss: 0.5 points
BASEBALL
National title: 10 points
Runner-up: 7 points
Third or fourth in CWS: 5 points
5th through 8th in CWS: 3 points
Super Regional loss: 2 points
Second place in regional: 1 point
Regional appearance: 0.5 points
We awarded football teams 10 points for a national title, seven points for a loss in the BCS championship game, five points for a top-four finish in the coaches' poll that didn't include an appearance in the title game, three points for finishing fifth through eighth in the coaches' poll, two points for finishing ninth through 16th and one point for finishing 17th through 25th. Teams that played in a bowl but didn't appear in the final rankings received half a point.
We did have a couple of exceptions to the scoring system. USC and LSU each received 10 points for their football national titles in 2003, and Alabama received two points for finishing 11th in the AP rankings in 2002, when probation prevented the Crimson Tide from appearing in the coaches' poll.
In basketball, schools received 10 points for a national title, seven points for a loss in the NCAA tournament final, five points for an NCAA semifinal loss, three points for a regional final loss, two points for a Sweet 16 loss, one point for a second-round loss and a half-point for a first-round loss.
Our baseball formula awarded 10 points for a College World Series title, seven points for a loss in the CWS final, five points for finishing third or fourth in the CWS, three points each for the other four teams in the CWS, two points for a Super Regional loss, one point for a second-place regional finish and a half-point each for every other team in a regional.
Here's one critical point: We wanted to reward balance, so our final rankings included only schools that amassed at least five points in each sport. That's why you won't find basketball powers Duke and Kansas or football heavyweights Florida State and Miami in our rankings.
Twenty-seven schools had enough football and men's basketball points to qualify for the rankings we put out last month. Once we included baseball, only 17 schools had enough points in each of the three sports to merit consideration. We also have attached a chart that shows what the rankings would have looked like if we hadn't included this requirement.
The latest list naturally has much more of a southern flavor. The combined rankings include five schools from the SEC, four from the Big 12 and three from the Pac-10. Michigan State, Wisconsin, Maryland, West Virginia, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Boston College, Washington and Cincinnati fell from the rankings once baseball was included.
Wisconsin dropped its baseball program after the 1991 season. Oregon didn't have varsity baseball from 1982-2008.
Top 25 with no mandatory minimums
1. Texas (44 football, 20 basketball, 48 baseball, 112 points)
2. Florida (44 football, 33.5 basketball, 18 baseball, 95.5 points)
3. LSU (35.5 football, 9 basketball, 36.5 baseball, 81 points)
4. Miami (33 football, 4.5 basketball, 41.5 baseball, 79 points)
5. Ohio State (46 football, 18 basketball, 7.5 baseball, 71.5 points)
6. Oklahoma (44 football, 17 basketball, 10 baseball, 71 points)
7t. USC (49 football, 7 basketball, 12 baseball, 68 points)
7t. North Carolina (2.5 football, 36.5 basketball, 29 baseball, 68 points)
9. Florida State (34.5 football, 1 basketball, 32 baseball, 67.5 points)
10. Stanford (2.5 football, 11 basketball, 40.5 baseball, 54 points)
11. Michigan State (6 football, 44.5 basketball, 0 baseball, 50.5 points)
12. Georgia (27 football, 2 basketball, 19.5 baseball, 48.5 points)
13. UCLA (8.5 football, 25 basketball, 14 baseball, 47.5 points)
14. Tennessee (26 football, 12 basketball, 8.5 baseball, 46.5 points)
15. Duke (0 football, 45.5 basketball, 0 baseball, 45.5 points)
16. Alabama (23.5 football, 6 basketball, 13.5 baseball, 43 points)
17t. Cal State Fullerton (0 football, 0.5 basketball, 41.5 baseball, 42 points)
17t. Kansas (4.5 football, 36 basketball, 1.5 baseball, 42 points)
17t. South Carolina (5.5 football, 0.5 basketball, 36 baseball, 42 points)
20. Rice (1 football, 0 basketball, 38 baseball, 39 points)
21t. Wisconsin (19.5 football, 18.5 basketball, 0 baseball, 38 points)
21t. Connecticut (2 football, 35.5 basketball, 0.5 baseball, 38 points)
23. Georgia Tech (10.5 football, 10 basketball, 16 baseball, 36.5 points)
24. Nebraska (21.5 football, 0 basketball, 14.5 baseball, 36 points)
25. Arizona (6 football, 21 basketball, 8.5 baseball, 35.5 points)
Steve Megargee is a national writer for Rivals.com. He can be reached at smegargee@rivals.com.
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