2023 Men’s NCAA Championships: Final Score Analysis

2023 NCAA DIVISION I MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Cal Bears came through on the final day as expected, piling up 167 points on Saturday to secure their second consecutive Men’s NCAA Championship title.

With notable strong showings in the 200 back, 100 free and 200 fly, followed by a narrow runner-up finish in the epic 400 free relay finale, the Bears finished the meet with 482 points to handily outpace runner-up Arizona State.

Cal ultimately outscored their projected psych sheet points by 25.5, while the Sun Devils also outperformed at +3.5.

Moving up from seventh on the psych sheet into third, Texas outscored its projection by a massive 170.5-point margin, scoring 384 points to hold off Indiana (379), NC State (373.5) and Florida (367.5) in what was a wild battle for spots 3-6 that went down to the wire.

This finish, albeit impressive for the group, marks the end of Texas’ nine-year run of first or second-place finishes.

Below, find day-by-day scores for each team and that number compared to their seeded points, plus the Day 4 events relative to seed.

DAY-BY-DAY SCORES VERSUS SEED

Day 1 Total Day 1 Change from seed Day 2 Total Day 2 Change from seed Day 3 Total Day 3 Change from seed Day 4 Total Day 4 Change from seed Total Points
Total Chaneg From Seed
California 62 4 122 12 131 28.5 167 -19 482 25.5
Arizona State 68 -6 86 -3 148 9.5 128 3 430 3.5
Texas 50 12 115 68.5 127 55 92 35 384 170.5
Indiana 58 24 41 10 160 35 120 13 379 82
NC State 66 8 85.5 14 95 -6.5 127 50 373.5 65.5
Florida 60 -6 85 -33.5 106 -22 116.5 -5 367.5 -66.5
Tennessee 26 -14 61 -3.5 57 -2 72.5 -13.5 216.5 -33
Stanford 38 14 36 -7.5 38.5 -6 31 -0.5 143.5 0
Virginia Tech 8 0 44 0 44 10.5 37 -27 133 -16.5
Auburn 40 -4 17 -7.5 39 -18 31 17 127 -12.5
Ohio State 2 -18 29.5 -2.5 23 -10.5 57.5 4 112 -27
Georgia 20 -14 16 -2 17 0 43 -16 96 -32
Louisville 42 16 13 -25.5 16 -12 21 -12 92 -33.5
Texas A&M 8 -10 36 -2 21 -16 15 -16 80 -44
Virginia 22 2 31 5 14 -17 11 -9 78 -19
Missouri 6 -6 4 -3 40.5 2 12 -4 62.5 -11
LSU 0 0 22 8 18 15 22.5 10.5 62.5 33.5
Notre Dame 10 10 7 -2 17 15 28 24 62 47
Alabama 26 10 0 0 12 -4 19 0 57 10
Michigan 4 -22 8 -2.5 12 -15 13 -9.5 37 -49
Minnesota 0 0 0 0 20 3 16 0 36 3
USC 0 0 14 0 17 0 0 0 31 0
Wisconsin 4 4 15 13 8 -15 0 -0.5 27 1.5
UNC 0 0 15 0 12 3 0 0 27 3
Miami 0 0 9 0 0 0 18 0 27 0
South Carolina 0 0 0 0 0 -4 15 0 15 -4
Utah 0 0 0 0 14 3 0 0 14 3
Princeton 0 0 4 -5 0 0 9 6 13 1
SIUC 0 0 0 0 9 -3.5 4 4 13 0.5
Kentucky 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 -11 13 -11
Columbia 0 0 0 0 12 0 0 0 12 0
Arizona 0 -4 10 -8 0 0 1 -2 11 -14
Pittsburgh 0 0 1 0 3 -7 0 0 4 -7
Penn State 0 0 0 0 4 4 0 0 4 4
Georgia Tech 0 0 3 -4 0 0 0 -12.5 3 -16.5
Air Force 0 0 0 0 2 -13 0 0 2 -13
Towson 0 0 0 0 2 -10 0 0 2 -10
Purdue 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1

DAY 4 SCORES VERSUS SEED

1650 FREESTYLE

Actual Psych Difference
California 9 0 9
Arizona State 14 12 2
Texas 19 22 -3
Indiana 0 0 0
NC State 43 21 22
Florida 13 22 -9
Tennessee 0 0 0
Stanford 0 0 0
Virginia Tech 0 0 0
Auburn 0 7 -7
Ohio State 12 9 3
Georgia 16 15 1
Louisville 0 0 0
Texas A&M 0 0 0
Virginia 0 0 0
Missouri 0 0 0
LSU 0 0 0
Notre Dame 14 0 14
Alabama 2 13 -11
Michigan 0 0 0
Minnesota 0 0 0
USC 0 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0 0
UNC 0 0 0
Miami 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0
Utah 0 0 0
Princeton 0 0 0
SIUC 0 0 0
Kentucky 13 20 -7
Columbia 0 0 0
Arizona 0 0 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0
Penn State 0 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 12 -12
Air Force 0 0 0
Towson 0 0 0
Purdue 0 0 0

200 BACKSTROKE

Actual Psych Difference
California 43 53 -10
Arizona State 30 23 7
Texas 11 14 -3
Indiana 0 0 0
NC State 13 3.5 9.5
Florida 0 0 0
Tennessee 2 0 2
Stanford 3 3.5 -0.5
Virginia Tech 0 9 -9
Auburn 9 7 2
Ohio State 0 0 0
Georgia 21 28 -7
Louisville 0 0 0
Texas A&M 0 8 -8
Virginia 0 0 0
Missouri 12 5 7
LSU 0 0 0
Notre Dame 7 0 7
Alabama 0 0 0
Michigan 0 0 0
Minnesota 0 0 0
USC 0 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0.5 -0.5
UNC 0 0 0
Miami 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0
Utah 0 0 0
Princeton 0 0 0
SIUC 4 0 4
Kentucky 0 0 0
Columbia 0 0 0
Arizona 0 0 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0
Penn State 0 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 0.5 -0.5
Air Force 0 0 0
Towson 0 0 0
Purdue 0 0 0

100 FREESTYLE

Actual Psych Difference
California 33 33 0
Arizona State 12 13 -1
Texas 2 0 2
Indiana 12 11 1
NC State 0 1 -1
Florida 27 26 1
Tennessee 22.5 29 -6.5
Stanford 0 0 0
Virginia Tech 11 15 -4
Auburn 0 0 0
Ohio State 15 14 1
Georgia 0 0 0
Louisville 0 0 0
Texas A&M 0 0 0
Virginia 0 6 -6
Missouri 0 0 0
LSU 13.5 3 10.5
Notre Dame 7 4 3
Alabama 0 0 0
Michigan 0 0 0
Minnesota 0 0 0
USC 0 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0 0
UNC 0 0 0
Miami 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0
Utah 0 0 0
Princeton 0 0 0
SIUC 0 0 0
Kentucky 0 0 0
Columbia 0 0 0
Arizona 0 0 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0
Penn State 0 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 0 0
Air Force 0 0 0
Towson 0 0 0
Purdue 0 0 0

200 BREASTSTROKE

Actual Psych Difference
California 14 25 -11
Arizona State 26 20 6
Texas 22 5 17
Indiana 15 6 9
NC State 2 0 2
Florida 17 25 -8
Tennessee 4 5 -1
Stanford 0 0 0
Virginia Tech 12 14 -2
Auburn 0 0 0
Ohio State 0 0 0
Georgia 0 0 0
Louisville 9 15 -6
Texas A&M 11 19 -8
Virginia 0 3 -3
Missouri 0 0 0
LSU 0 0 0
Notre Dame 0 0 0
Alabama 7 0 7
Michigan 0 0 0
Minnesota 16 16 0
USC 0 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0 0
UNC 0 0 0
Miami 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0
Utah 0 0 0
Princeton 0 0 0
SIUC 0 0 0
Kentucky 0 0 0
Columbia 0 0 0
Arizona 0 0 0
Pittsburgh 0 0 0
Penn State 0 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 0 0
Air Force 0 0 0
Towson 0 0 0
Purdue 0 0 0

200 BUTTERFLY

Actual Psych
California 31 32
Arizona State 14 23
Texas 5 0
Indiana 31 30
NC State 39 23.5
Florida 7 6
Tennessee 1 1
Stanford 0 0
Virginia Tech 0 0
Auburn 4 0
Ohio State 0 0
Georgia 0 2
Louisville 0 0
Texas A&M 0 0
Virginia 3 0
Missouri 0 11
LSU 0 0
Notre Dame 0 0
Alabama 0 0
Michigan 11 14.5
Minnesota 0 0
USC 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0
UNC 0 0
Miami 0 0
South Carolina 0 0
Utah 0 0
Princeton 9 3
SIUC 0 0
Kentucky 0 4
Columbia 0 0
Arizona 0 0
Pittsburgh 0 0
Penn State 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 0
Air Force 0 0
Towson 0 0
Purdue 0 0

PLATFORM DIVING

Actual
California 3
Arizona State 0
Texas 5
Indiana 36
NC State 0
Florida 12.5
Tennessee 19
Stanford 6
Virginia Tech 0
Auburn 0
Ohio State 26.5
Georgia 0
Louisville 0
Texas A&M 4
Virginia 0
Missouri 0
LSU 9
Notre Dame 0
Alabama 0
Michigan 0
Minnesota 0
USC 0
Wisconsin 0
UNC 0
Miami 18
South Carolina 15
Utah 0
Princeton 0
SIUC 0
Kentucky 0
Columbia 0
Arizona 1
Pittsburgh 0
Penn State 0
Georgia Tech 0
Air Force 0
Towson 0
Purdue 0

400 FREE RELAY

Actual Psych Difference
California 34 40 -6
Arizona State 32 34 -2
Texas 28 11 17
Indiana 26 24 2
NC State 30 28 2
Florida 40 30 10
Tennessee 24 32 -8
Stanford 22 22 0
Virginia Tech 14 26 -12
Auburn 18 0 18
Ohio State 4 4 0
Georgia 6 14 -8
Louisville 12 18 -6
Texas A&M 0 0 0
Virginia 8 11 -3
Missouri 0 0 0
LSU 0 0 0
Notre Dame 0 0 0
Alabama 10 6 4
Michigan 2 8 -6
Minnesota 0 0 0
USC 0 0 0
Wisconsin 0 0 0
UNC 0 0 0
Miami 0 0 0
South Carolina 0 0 0
Utah 0 0 0
Princeton 0 0 0
SIUC 0 0 0
Kentucky 0 0 0
Columbia 0 0 0
Arizona 0 2 -2
Pittsburgh 0 0 0
Penn State 0 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 0 0
Air Force 0 0 0
Towson 0 0 0
Purdue 0 0 0

DAY 4 TOTALS

Day 4 Total Day 4 Change From Seed
California 167 -19
Arizona State 128 3
Texas 92 35
Indiana 120 13
NC State 127 50
Florida 116.5 -5
Tennessee 72.5 -13.5
Stanford 31 -0.5
Virginia Tech 37 -27
Auburn 31 17
Ohio State 57.5 4
Georgia 43 -16
Louisville 21 -12
Texas A&M 15 -16
Virginia 11 -9
Missouri 12 -4
LSU 22.5 10.5
Notre Dame 28 24
Alabama 19 0
Michigan 13 -9.5
Minnesota 16 0
USC 0 0
Wisconsin 0 -0.5
UNC 0 0
Miami 18 0
South Carolina 15 0
Utah 0 0
Princeton 9 6
SIUC 4 4
Kentucky 13 -11
Columbia 0 0
Arizona 1 -2
Pittsburgh 0 0
Penn State 0 0
Georgia Tech 0 -12.5
Air Force 0 0
Towson 0 0
Purdue 0 0

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Alum
1 year ago

Man Michigan is really been bad at NCAAs the past few years. I’d have to look back to confirm, but it seems like they drastically drop off after Big Tens. Indiana this year over performed from seed finally.

Andrew
1 year ago

We are told how deep NC State is in free every week, yet they laid an egg in the 100/200 which cost them their obligatory 4th place finish

All things considered, I think Florida swam well (other than a couple individual instances like McDuff, Chaney, and they were 17-20th in a LOT of events).

When Liendo arrived, people tried to conveniently forget that they lost 10 A finals from Finke, Kieran, and Trey Freeman.

Still, I couldn’t imagine scoring near 400 points and not even finishing top 5

SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

At NCAAs last year, Finke had 2 A finals, Smith 3 A finals, and Freeman 0 A finals.

Andrew
Reply to  SAMUEL HUNTINGTON
1 year ago

i meant to write 8 (idk why i wrote 10 lol) and that was what they would’ve done if they all came back

Smith 3 A
Finke 3 A (maybe a down in 500)
Freeman 2 A in distance

chickenlamp
Reply to  Andrew
1 year ago

Florida did not have great morning swims, and like you said, a lot of swimmer just outside of the finals. The good news for them is that they don’t graduate many points and have a good recruiting class coming in.

Dane T
1 year ago

Notre Dame with a top 20 finish. Highest finish ever for the men!

CTO
1 year ago

Has anyone calculated points by class / returning points yet?

Jimbo
Reply to  CTO
1 year ago

That’s in the previous box score article.

Swammer
Reply to  CTO
1 year ago

Cal has the most returning points. Looks like there going no where

Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

Team performances that stood out (positively):
1. ASU
2. Indiana
3. Auburn
4. Notre Dame

Team performances that were disappointing:
1. Florida (despite relay successes; just expected more)
2. Ohio State (swimming; only diving showed up)
3. Georgia
4. Michigan
5. Arizona

Coaches that should get pink slips:
1. Busch – Arizona
2. Bottom – Michigan
3. Murphy – Penn State

Frank
Reply to  Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

Spot on but missing one …Southern Cal didn’t show up either …

Andrew
Reply to  Frank
1 year ago

but nobody expected them to show up is the only difference

Doggiepaddle
Reply to  Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

I think Texas should be on the list that stood out positively

Observing
Reply to  Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

Should probably include Power 5’s that scored 0 points in there, although expected it’s still disappointing to see when there are midmajors with far less that can still figure out how to score;

  1. West Virginia
  2. TCU
  3. Northwestern
  4. Florida State

Mid majors that scored;

  1. SIU – 13
  2. Princeton – 13
  3. Columbia – 12 (Diver)
  4. Towson – 2
  5. Airforce – 2

Are there any Power 5’s that didn’t even make the meet?

Observing
Reply to  Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

Most improved last year to this year placement wise

  1. Auburn up 19 spots
  2. Notre Dame up 15 spots
  3. Wisconsin and Tennessee up 11 spots

Biggest drop

  1. Harvard (13th with 103 points to no points) glad the team itself still did well at Ivy’s basically just no Dean
  2. Arizona down 15 spots
  3. Georgia Tech down 14 spots

To be fair Ohio state technically only dropped 2 spots and Michigan actually moved up 1, not to say they did well, more to say they just didn’t really get worse (Georgia fell 4, coaching turnover and such)

Observing
Reply to  Observing
1 year ago

We can take it a step further
FSU, Arizona, Northwestern, South Carolina, USC, WVU and TCU scored 0 individual swimming points, and Duke and BC didn’t have any qualifiers

On the flipside some mid majors did score, SIU, Princeton, Towson and Airforce (Columbia did as well but only diving so not included in this since I specified swimming points for the power 5 teams)

Last edited 1 year ago by Observing
Lab Counter
Reply to  Observing
1 year ago

Same coaches at Georgia, just different titles! They probably did all (or none) of the recruiting the last few years. Sammy award went to a rookie,Chris Lindauer, and he knew nothing of the athletes prior to this season.

Observing
Reply to  Lab Counter
1 year ago

Thats right, I forgot they split the program after Bauerle retired. Well whatever they lost in Jack and whoever else left seems to have taken a bit of a toll, but one year isn’t enough time to say they’ve done a poor job, but it is enough with all the changes to at least shake them up a little

VASWAMMER
Reply to  Vegas Baby!
1 year ago

I’d add the Virginia men to the disappointment list. They didn’t perform to the level they have in years past.

neffry
Reply to  VASWAMMER
1 year ago

To be fair, they are missing two of their best sprinters (injury and family matters I believe). Those savage relays from last year, plus what could have likely been several scoring points all gone this season.

Snarky
1 year ago

Texas wont have a +125 point gain next year when they actually swim at a real conference meet.

Swim dad
Reply to  Snarky
1 year ago

They are still in Big 12’s next year. Start SEC in 2024

Binky
Reply to  Snarky
1 year ago

Texas doesn’t care about conference meets. They get their cuts at winter invite.

Joel Lin
Reply to  Snarky
1 year ago

Texas won’t need to rely on SEC conference meet to get cuts. They’ve got the dudes who get cuts in the fall & more who get them at dual meets. They were crazy fast in the dual meet against NC State. That’s one new dual meet rivalry I’d like to see for years to come.

Admin
Reply to  Snarky
1 year ago

Texas doesn’t join the SEC until the season after next.

Horninco
Reply to  Snarky
1 year ago

I love this narrative, it assumes that Texas , or any team with a realistic shot at a national title, would rather taper for their conference meet to win it then focus on NCAA’s, and win that

If Eddie or whomever the coaches in 2024 decides that they don’t have a realistic shot at winning NCAA’s and would rather focus on SEC‘s to win that then maybe your point would be valid, but otherwise they will continue to try to swim fast at mid season to get their cuts there, and then only taper one time in the spring at the big meet

Now, maybe they decide to taper for their first SEC’s in order to make a good… Read more »

swimapologist
Reply to  Horninco
1 year ago

There are some things that people who live in the Texas bubble don’t know yet but will learn shortly after moving to the SEC.

One of those things is that recruits care about conference titles.

If you think that duffing SECs the way they duff Big 12s isn’t going to hurt Texas’ recruiting, then just watch this space, and see what happens.

It’s easy for Texas to say they don’t care about the conference meet, because they’ve never had to care about it. But every year they write big headlines and Tweets for the recruits about Texas winning it’s 348th conference title in a row, and those press releases never caveat “in a conference that is by far the weakest… Read more »

Binky
Reply to  swimapologist
1 year ago

The recruits that Cal and Texas bring in come to win NCAA titles.

Period.

If you doubt me, ask them.

Or better yet, ask any top 10 recruit that went to Cal or Texas in the last decade why they went there.

Last edited 1 year ago by Binky
Observing
Reply to  Binky
1 year ago

no, no, he’s got a point

Lab counter
Reply to  swimapologist
1 year ago

Texas vs UF will be epic…..let’s be real, there is no other mens teams at their level and it has been like that for a decade. But Nesty has to figure out going from conference to NCAAs cause they were hit or miss….relays were a hit!

About James Sutherland

James Sutherland

James swam five years at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, specializing in the 200 free, back and IM. He finished up his collegiate swimming career in 2018, graduating with a bachelor's degree in economics. In 2019 he completed his graduate degree in sports journalism. Prior to going to Laurentian, James swam …

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