Cal piled up 167 points on the final day to secure a second straight Men's NCAA Championship banner. Current photo via Jack Spitser/Spitser Photography
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
31
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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
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?
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
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;
West Virginia
TCU
Northwestern
Florida State
Mid majors that scored;
SIU – 13
Princeton – 13
Columbia – 12 (Diver)
Towson – 2
Airforce – 2
Are there any Power 5’s that didn’t even make the meet?
Most improved last year to this year placement wise
Auburn up 19 spots
Notre Dame up 15 spots
Wisconsin and Tennessee up 11 spots
Biggest drop
Harvard (13th with 103 points to no points) glad the team itself still did well at Ivy’s basically just no Dean
Arizona down 15 spots
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)
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)
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.
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
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.
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.
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 »
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 »
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!
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 …
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.
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
At NCAAs last year, Finke had 2 A finals, Smith 3 A finals, and Freeman 0 A finals.
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
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.
Notre Dame with a top 20 finish. Highest finish ever for the men!
Has anyone calculated points by class / returning points yet?
That’s in the previous box score article.
https://swimswam.com/2023-mens-ncaa-d1-swimming-and-diving-championships-box-score/
Cal has the most returning points. Looks like there going no where
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
Spot on but missing one …Southern Cal didn’t show up either …
but nobody expected them to show up is the only difference
I think Texas should be on the list that stood out positively
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;
Mid majors that scored;
Are there any Power 5’s that didn’t even make the meet?
Most improved last year to this year placement wise
Biggest drop
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)
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)
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.
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
I’d add the Virginia men to the disappointment list. They didn’t perform to the level they have in years past.
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.
Texas wont have a +125 point gain next year when they actually swim at a real conference meet.
They are still in Big 12’s next year. Start SEC in 2024
Texas doesn’t care about conference meets. They get their cuts at winter invite.
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.
Texas doesn’t join the SEC until the season after next.
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 »
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 »
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.
no, no, he’s got a point
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!