Orange Empire Leads All 12 3C2A Conferences in Total Alumni Placement Score

Orange Empire leads all 12 3C2A conferences with a combined 1,052.7 Raw Alumni Placement Score (APS) — the highest total of any conference in the 2026 reporting year.

Across all 12 reporting 3C2A conferences, 87 colleges have combined for 1,666 alumni currently active on four-year rosters — spanning NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NCCAA, and USCAA programs.

No Conference Reordering Under APS

Unlike some governing bodies, 3C2A’s conference order holds steady whichever metric you use: the same 12 conferences rank in the same order by total Raw APS as they do by total alumni count. Orange Empire and Big 8 hold a clear first and second either way, and Western State (North) stays last in both systems. APS changes which individual colleges lead within several conferences — Bay Valley and South Coast both saw a different college break into their top 3 — but it doesn’t reshuffle the conferences themselves.

Why Average Raw APS Per College Tells a Different Story

Combined Raw APS naturally favors conferences with more reporting colleges — Western State (South) and South Coast each field 9 colleges, more than any other conference, while Coast (South) and Coast (North) field just 6 apiece. That’s why this board also shows each conference’s Average Raw APS per College, dividing the combined total by the number of reporting colleges — a measure of the typical program’s strength, independent of how many programs a conference has.

Under this lens, Coast (South) jumps from 6th by combined total to 3rd by average — its 6 colleges are more uniformly strong than a larger conference’s. Western State (South) shows the opposite pattern: 3rd by combined total, but 7th by average, since its total is spread across 9 programs of varying strength. Neither number is wrong — combined Raw APS measures a conference’s total contribution to the 3C2A pipeline, while average Raw APS measures the strength of a typical program within it.

All 12 3C2A Conferences Ranked (2026)

How These Rankings Are Calculated

Conferences are ranked by combined Alumni Placement Score (APS) — the sum of every reporting college’s Raw APS within that conference. Average Raw APS per College divides that total by the number of reporting colleges. See the full APS methodology for the per-college formula, division weights, and what “placement” means in APS.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many total 3C2A alumni are currently active on four-year rosters?

Across all 12 3C2A conferences and 87 reporting colleges, 1,666 alumni are currently active on four-year rosters spanning NCAA Division I, II, and III, NAIA, NCCAA, and USCAA programs in 2026.

Which 3C2A conference has the highest combined Alumni Placement Score?

Orange Empire leads all 3C2A conferences with a combined 1,052.7 Raw APS, built on 234 alumni currently active on four-year rosters. Big 8 (1,022.7) and Western State (South) (681.9) rank second and third.

Do any conferences rank differently by Raw APS than by raw alumni count?

No — all 12 3C2A conferences hold the same relative order whether ranked by combined Raw APS or by total alumni count. APS does change which individual colleges lead within some conferences, but it doesn’t reorder the conferences themselves.

Which 3C2A conference has the highest Average Raw APS per college?

Orange Empire leads on this measure too, at 131.6 average Raw APS per college. The more notable mover is Coast (South), which ranks 3rd by average despite ranking 6th by combined total — its 6 colleges are more consistently strong than several larger conferences, which post higher combined totals only because they field more programs.

How many colleges does 3C2A baseball include?

87 colleges report alumni data across all 12 3C2A conferences in the 2026 reporting period, ranging from 6 colleges (Coast (South), Coast (North), Pacific Coast Athletic, Golden Valley, Western State (North)) to 9 colleges (Big 8, Western State (South), South Coast).

Where can I see the individual college rankings within each conference?

Each conference has its own detailed leaderboard with every reporting college, records, and win percentages, linked from the conference names in the board above. See the Top 10 Programs board for the leading individual colleges across all of 3C2A.

Explore more 3C2A rankings: Top 10

• Orange Empire
• Big 8
• Western State (South)
• South Coast
• Inland Empire
• Coast (South)
• Coast (North)
• Central Valley
• Pacific Coast Athletic
• Bay Valley
• Golden Valley
• Western State (North)

Insights reflect data available at time of publication and are subject to change.