Projected New IBAF World Rankings

Two more World Baseball Classic qualifying rounds are in the book and, in each, a team drastically improved its world rankings. In the Chinese Taipei bracket, unranked New Zealand recovered from a loss to No. 8 Chinese Taipei in their first match to win two games. In Panamá City, Brazil swept through the tournament with three wins to upset the other three teams.

Using the metric posted to the most recent IBAF rankings, which I have listed below, it is possible to extrapolate the new rankings. One caveat: the rankings are a four-year cycle, and I am unaware of the events held just over four years ago (between the last rankings on Sep. 28 and today) that might alter the points. I suspect they are minor.

In my unofficial rankings, New Zealand, of course, rises the most in the rankings, from unlisted out of 76 countries to No. 24. Just ahead of them is the Philippines at 23 and Thailand at 22, both of which, ironically, lost to the Diamondblacks. At 21 is Great Britain, who had a surprising win of its own in Regensburg in September.

Brazil hurdles to 19th, just behind Colómbia, which lost to the blue-and-gold. Nicaragua (No. 14) and Panamá (No. 15) remain in place as the points totals are much higher as one reads up the table. Chinese Taipei (No. 8) remains static, but a strong performance in March might move them up a few places.

Nov. 23, 2012 IBAF World Rankings:

Rank	2012	Member Federation	Total Pts
1	1	Cuba	766.02
2	2	United States	733.25
3	4	Japan	564.42
4	3	Korea	488.20
5	6	Canada	485.00
6	5	Netherlands	476.76
7	8	Venezuela	459.63
8	8	Chinese Taipei	434.79
9	9	Puerto Rico	241.73
10	10	Mexico	231.48
11	13	Italy	214.80
12	11	Australia	211.97
13	12	Dominican Republic	204.20
14	14	Nicaragua	155.01
15	15	Panama	149.74
16	18	Spain	109.51
17	17	Germany	96.83
18	20	Colombia	88.75
19	28	Brazil	82.23
20	18	China	79.48
21	19	Great Britain	64.69
22	27	Thailand	53.38
23	34	Philippines	52.83
24	NR	New Zealand	50.00
25	21	Czech Republic	48.16
26	22	Netherlands Antilles	47.98
27	23	South Africa	43.12
28	24	Pakistan	43.00
29	25	Israel	42.97
30	26	Argentina	41.91
31	29	Croatia	27.57
32	30	Indonesia	27.50
32	30	France	27.50
34	32	Sweden	25.70
35	33	Hong Kong	25.06
36	35	Sri Lanka	18.50
37	36	Greece	16.38
38	37	Belgium	15.38
39	38	Aruba	13.89
40	39	Northern Mariana Islands	12.50
41	40	Afghanistan	11.25
42	41	Honduras	11.18
43	42	Ecuador	10.00
43	42	Guam	10.00
45	44	Russia	8.75
47	45	Belau	7.50
48	46	Guatemala	7.35
49	47	Ukraine	6.44
50	48	Lithuania	3.88
51	49	Nepal	3.75
51	49	New Caledonia	3.75
51	49	Chile	3.75
51	49	Vietnam	3.75
55	53	Switzerland	3.36
56	54	Bulgaria	3.17
57	55	Austria	2.78
58	56	Poland	2.58
59	57	Slovakia	2.20
60	58	Slovenia	2.00
60	58	Peru	2.00
60	58	Myanmar	2.00
60	58	Fiji	2.00
64	62	Ireland	1.81
65	63	Romania	1.42
66	64	Hungary	1.22
67	65	Cambodia	1.13
68	66	Georgia	1.03
69	67	US Virgin Islands	1.00
69	67	Mongolia	1.00
69	67	Bahamas	1.00
72	70	Belarus	0.83
73	71	Finland	0.64
74	72	Malaysia	0.50
75	73	Latvia	0.45
76	74	American Samoa	0.25
76	74	Serbia	0.25
76	74	Bolivia	0.25

Points are awarded according to the following table:

Final position	Points awarded
1st	50
2nd	40
3rd	30
4th	15
5th – 2nd-last*	Spread evenly between 15 & 1
Last*	1

A multiplier is used in awarding points, based on the prestige of the tournament and the quality of the teams involved. The table below reflects the changes in the international baseball schedule recently approved by the IBAF. Below are the multipliers that will be used beginning in 2012.

World Baseball Classic            6x  (Winner receives 50 points, multiplied by 6 for a total of 300 points)

Premier 12                                  6x

WBC Qualifiers                          *    (Pool winner receives 50 points, 2nd – 40 pts, 3rd – 30 pts, 4th – 15 pts)

21U and 18U                              2x

15U and 12U                              1x

Continental Championships, Continental Qualifiers, and all other IBAF-sponsored events will receive a multiplier based on the number of top-10 teams from the previous year-end rankings that are entered in the tournament. (See below)

1.00× – Continental Championships/Qualifying Tournaments, where 3 or more competing teams are in the previous year-end top 10

0.75× – Continental Championships/Qualifying Tournaments, where 2 competing teams are in the previous year-end top 10

0.50× – Continental Championships/Qualifying Tournaments, where 1 competing team is in the previous year-end top 10

0.25× – Continental Championships/Qualifying Tournaments, where no competing teams are in the previous year-end top 10