Japan Ranks No. 3 in New IBAF Ranking After WBC Win

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Winning the WBC does not translate into a move up to the number one team in the world according to the IBAF. After taking the crown in the WBC for the second time in a row, the Japanese moved up to number three in the IBAF World Rankings.

Despite a not so convincing showing in the WBC, Cuba remains the number one team in the world.

The world rankings were updated on March 24 to include the events of the WBC. There is significant movement in the charts, some of which correlates with how teams faired during the WBC.

Despite losing to Japan in the final game, Korea is ranked ahead of them in these rankings. The current top ten teams in the world according to the IBAF are as follows:

1. Cuba
2. Korea
3. Japan
4. USA
5. Chinese Taipei
6. Netherlands
7. Mexico
8. Canada
9. Australia
10. Puerto Rico

The IBAF first started their World Rankings system just a few months ago in January, 2009. The Federation worked with Scott Goode, the sports information director at Harding University in Arkansas to come up with a ranking system that is based on a point total which IBAF teams earn from IBAF sanctioned events in a four-year window, or a period of time in which two IBAF Baseball World Cups occur.

The rankings are not like those in any sport that most Americans are used to seeing rankings for such as college basketball or football because they take in consideration of a four year period and it is entirely based on placement. According to the point system, the winner of a tournament would earn 50 points, the second place team would take home 40, the third place team 30 and the fourth place team would earn 15. After that, the points are divided evenly among the remaining teams in the field to ensure balance in the rankings over tournaments that have fields of varying sizes.

After these points are given, the number the team gets will then be multiplied by a number that is come up with based on the strength of the specific tournament that is occurring. The major events such as the Olympic Games, IBAF Baseball World Cup or the WBC all cause the scores to be multiplied four times. The smaller world championship events such as the Junior, Youth or FISU University Worlds, or even the Honkbol Tournament are just simply multiplied by one. All other continental championships receiving varying multipliers depending on how many teams that are currently ranked in the IBAF top 10 compete in the specific tournament.

Bill Jordan is a contributor to BaseballReflections.com. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected].