The following is a press release courtesy of Collegiate Water Polo:
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — If change is the only constant, then then 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 12/November 26 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls stay true to science as the aftermath of the 2014 conference championships cause dramatic shifts in this week’s rankings.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champion Stanford University returns to the top spot in the wake of a conference championship which saw Long Beach State University, the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California place second-to-fourth behind the Cardinal. Only three teams from last week’s Top 20 retain their positions as the MPSF, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) championships caused radical shifts in the perception of where teams
Whittier College remains the top pick in the Division III ranks as the Poets garnered 99 points to retain its position as the No. 1 team in a Division III Top 10 Poll which underwent major changes for the sixth week in a row.
For the first time since last year, a new team claims the top spot in the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) rankings as 2014 league champion Brown University, which defeated formerly top-ranked Princeton University over the weekend at the CWPA Championship on the campus of the United States Naval Academy rises to the top of the rankings for the first time in nearly three decades.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, WWPA, MPSF, SCIAC and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
2014 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 12)
Stanford University, which claimed the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship over the weekend via a 10-8 defeat of Long Beach State University, returns to the No. 1 position in the Week 12/November 26 National Top 20 Poll.
The Cardinal (98 points) topped the poll three times (Week 1, Week 2, Week 7) earlier this season and dislodge the University of California-Los Angles (94 points) in the aftermath of a weekend which saw the MPSF, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) champions crowned.
The Bruins drop back to No. 2, while Long Beach State (92 points) moves up to No. 3 after tying with the University of California at No. 4 last week. The University of Southern California (86 points) drops to No. 4 after finishing Fourth at the MPSF Championship, while California (81 points) moves to No. 5.
WWPA champion the University of California-San Diego (72 points) hangs on at No. 6, while the final four positions in the Top 10 saw significant changes.
The University of California-Santa Barbara (67 points), Pepperdine University (61 points) and CWPA champion Brown University (59 points) move from No. 12, 10 and 11 to take over at No. 7-to-9, respectively, with University of the Pacific (57 points) sliding back to No. 10.
The University of California-Irvine (53 points) and Princeton University (52 points) fall out of the Top 10 to No. 11 and 12. The University of California-Davis (37 points) and Loyola Marymount University (35 points) rate at No. 13 and 14, with the service academies of the United States Air Force Academy (24 points) and the United States Naval Academy (24 points) tying at No. 15.
Santa Clara University (18 points), St. Francis College Brooklyn (16 points) and California Baptist University (15 points) stand at No. 17-to-19, with SCIAC champion Whittier College (6 points) and Bucknell University (6 points) tying at No. 20.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 12)
The Poets of Whittier College (99 points), which are tied at No. 20 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 12/November 26 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
Behind the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) champion Poets, Johns Hopkins University (90 points) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (89 points) exchange positions with the Blue Jays claiming the runner-up position at No. 2 by one point over CMS.
Chapman University (82 points) and the University of Redlands (82 points) move into a tie at No. 4, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (74 points) assuming the No. 6 spot.
California Lutheran University (71 points) stays at No. 7, with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (51 points) and the University of La Verne (51 points) tying at No. 8. Occidental College (35 points) completes the Top 10.
Washington & Jefferson College (28 points) and Connecticut College (23 points) also received votes
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 12)
For the first time since the 1985 season, the Bears of Brown University stand on top of the league rankings as the 2014 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) champion picks up 100 points to rate as a unanimous top pick in the Week 12/November 26 CWPA Top 10 Poll.
Northern Division champion Brown, which handled former No. 1 Princeton University by a 7-6 final in the CWPA Championship title game at the United States Naval Academy, made history by claiming the league championship and an automatic berth to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
This marks Brown’s first appearance at the NCAA Championship since 1990 when the event was hosted at Belmont Plaza Pool by California State University-Long Beach. In addition, the Bears advance to the NCAA postseason with the program’s first conference title since an 11-7 victory over Bucknell University on November 10, 1985 in Providence, R.I. for the third of three consecutive Mid-Atlantic League crowns claimed by the Bears. The Mid-Atlantic League was the precursor to the current Collegiate Water Polo Association.
Princeton (95 points), which claimed the league’s Southern Division Championship and was ranked at No. 1 in the league poll since the Preseason balloting, falls back to No. 2.
Navy (89 points) jumps three places to take over at No. 3 after a Third place finish at the CWPA Championship, while St. Francis College Brooklyn (84 points) inches up once place to No. 4.
Bucknell University (81 points) and Johns Hopkins University (76 points) take over at No. 5 and 6, with Harvard University (70 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (58 points) standing at No. 7 and 8, respectively.
George Washington University (52 points) and Fordham University (36 points) complete the Top 10.
