2024-25 NCAA Men’s Power Rankings: Post-Invites Edition

As in previous years, SwimSwam’s Power Rankings are somewhere between the CSCAA-style dual meet rankings and a pure prediction of NCAA finish order. SwimSwam’s rankings take into account how a team looks at the moment, while keeping the end of the season in mind through things like a team’s previous trajectory and NCAA scoring potential. These rankings are by nature subjective, and a jumping-off point for discussion. If you disagree with any team’s ranking, feel free to make your case in our comments section.

Sophie Kaufman, Braden Keith, Spencer Penland, Robert Gibbs, Yanyan Li, and Anya Pelshaw contributed to this report.

Midseason invitationals are in the rearview mirror as NCAA teams take one foot off the gas for the holiday break—outside of a few mid-December dual meets—before diving into winter training and then descending into the new year with conference championship meets and ultimately NCAAs not too far away.

The Texas men have been on an absolute tear since September, highlighted by a phenomenal showing at the Texas Hall of Fame Invite (plus several impressive showings from both collegiate and pro swimmers at Short Course Worlds).

As a result, the Longhorns move into the #1 spot in our power rankings, overtaking Indiana.

Stanford and Virginia Tech were the only other movers in the top 10, switching spots from the pre-invite rankings as the Cardinal move to #8 and the Hokies fall to #10, while Virginia, Louisville and Michigan all moved up in the next three spots.

Alabama was the other big mover on the positive side, moving up from 22nd to 18th, while Texas A&M and Auburn remain in the top 15 but both slid three spots.

Arizona, UNC and Army all moved into the top 25 after they were unranked pre-invite. Minnesota, Penn and Pitt fall out of the top 25 but were all Honorable Mentions.

Previous Rankings: 

• Pre-season
• Pre-invites

Honorable Mentions: Pennsylvania Quakers, Pittsburgh Panthers, Minnesota Golden Gophers, Yale Bulldogs

Yale Bulldogs

(My comments will highlight each team’s swimmer who has the highest season ranking in an individual event, per the USA Swimming NCAA Swimming Division I database. This includes converted SCM times). Before the Ohio State Invitational, Noah Millard‘s last swam 1650 back in March 2023. There didn’t seem to be any rust after that 21-month gap, though, as he knocked 14 seconds off his previous best, and has #2 time this season. -RG

#25: Florida State Seminoles -1 (Previous Rank: 24)

Max Wilson is the Seminoles’ top-ranked swimmer with a #9 ranking in the 100 back. But keep an eye on freshman Logan Robinson, who’s already broken the 200 fly school record twice and likely punched his NCAA ticket. -RG

#24: Army Black Knights + (Previous Rank: NR)

Army – The Army-Navy football game may have crushed the souls of West Point fans everywhere, but hey, at least their swim teams beat Navy. Plebe (that’s West Point speak for freshman) Johnny Crush has rewritten the Army record book multiple times this season, and he currently holds the #3 spot in the 100 back. -RG

#23: North Carolina Tar Heels + (Previous Rank: NR)

From returners to first years, UNC looked great at their midseason invite, breaking multiple program records. They already have 2 relay ‘A’ cuts, a big improvement from this time last season. -SK

UNC has four relays ranked in the top 16 nationally so far this season (including a 200 free relay that’s faster than Texas’), and Louis Dramm ranks 8th in the 200 IM. This could be shaping up to be the Tar Heels’ best season in a while. -RG

#22: SMU Mustangs -1 (Previous Rank: 21)

Jack Hoagland hasn’t shown much in the distance freestyle events, but he ranks #6 nationally in the 400 IM. -RG

#21: Arizona Wildcats + (Previous Rank: NR)

Arizona seems to be doing well under the new coaching staff. 2024 NCAA qualifier Haakon Naughton has already knocked a second off his 200 fly time, and the Wildcats have the #5 800 free relay time in the country. -RG

#20: Purdue Boilermakers -1 (Previous Rank: 19)

Purdue only has a single swimmer with a top 24 ranking — Brady Samuels, who’s 16th in the 100 fly, but Purdue’s strength is their dive corps. -RG

#19: USC Trojans -2 (Previous Rank: 17)

The 200 fly final at Short Course Worlds last week was full of current or former NCAA swimmers, and Krzysztof Chmielewski‘s bronze medal time, puts him at #2 in college this season. -RG

#18: Alabama Crimson Tide +4 (Previous Rank: 22)

Charlie Hawke continues to swim well all season long, as evidenced by his 1:31.05 200 free at the UGA Invite, good for #3. Even though Hawke and teammate Kaique Alves have two of the top ten times in this event, Alabama doesn’t have a ranked 800 free relay…but probably only because they chose not to swim it at midseason. -RG

#17: LSU Tigers +1 (Previous Rank: 18)

Jere Hribar generated headlines early this season while swimming against Texas, and he kept the momentum going through Short Course Worlds. His converted times from there put him at #8 (50 free) and #10 (100 free) nationally this season. -RG

#16: Ohio State Buckeyes – (Previous Rank: 16)

Tristan Jankovics was nearly two seconds faster in the 400 IM at the Ohio State Invite than he was last year.  His converted time from Short Course Worlds is even faster and ranks him #2 in the NCAA this season. -RG

#15: Auburn Tigers -3 (Previous Rank: 12)

Nate Stoffle‘s been Auburn’s best swimmer so far this season, ranking 6th nationally in the 200 back. The Tigers only have top ten relay so far this season (200 medley), but they return the vast majority of last year’s relay legs, so keep an eye on them as the season progresses. -RG

#14: Texas A&M Aggies -3 (Previous Rank: 11)

Holy taper, Batman! There may be a new coaching staff in College Station, but Alex Sanchez is still taking a similar approach to the 200 breast — don’t break 2:00 in dual meets, then drop 12+ seconds at midseason. It’s working him, as he’s #7 so far this season in the event. -RG

The Aggie men were good, not great, in their first big taper meet under new head coach Blaire Anderson. Still too soon to write the new administration off, but it will test Anderson’s soft skills to keep this famously-frustrated bunch engaged until SECs. -BK

#13: Michigan Wolverines +1 (Previous Rank: 14)

The Wolverines’ top-ranked swimmer this season is Jon Jontvedt, whose 14:48.20 1650 time puts at #12. Meanwhile, they’ve got the fifth-fastest 200 free relay in the country this season. Make of that what you will. -RG

I think what makes this Michigan team a bit hard to wrap one’s head around is that it’s developing some really good depth, but there still aren’t a lot of individual NCAA Championship scoring times there yet. Matt Bowe is clearly making an impact on the swimmers he’s coaching, but the Wolverines’ recruiting still needs time to catch up. -BK

I’m still high on the Wolverines. They’re ahead of where they were at this point last year. Not only are they ahead of this point in the season last year, but Michigan already has a handful of events where their top time this season is faster than last year’s top time from the whole season. It’s flying under the radar, but Michigan has momentum right now. -SP

#12: Louisville Cardinals +3 (Previous Rank: 15)

Denis Petrashov just missed a medal in the 100 breast in Budapest, but his converted time puts him at #3 in the NCAA this season. It looks like Louisville’s relays will deliver, but they could use a few more individual scorers in order to make a run at the top 10. -RG

#11: Virginia Cavaliers +2 (Previous Rank: 13)

It looks like Virginia may have rested a little more for the midseason invite than they have the last few years. If so, the approach seems to have worked pretty well, as several Cavalier men punched their first NCAA tickets. That group includes freshman Spencer Nicholas, the only freshman with an ‘A’ cut this season, thanks to his #4 time in the 100 fly. -RG

#10: Virginia Tech Hokies -2 (Previous Rank: 8)

This is essentially the exact same team that finished 9th last year, so while they haven’t really shown their cards yet this season, that’s no cause for concern. The exception is Carles Coll Marti, who won gold in Budapest with a time that puts him on the top of the NCAA rankings in the 200 breast. -RG

#9: Georgia Bulldogs – (Previous Rank: 9)

The Bulldogs have a pretty notable 1-2 punch of Luca Urlando (ranked 3rd in the 100/200 fly) and Jake Magahey (ranked 3rd in the 500). Georgia fans, though, are going to be looking for the shorter freestyle relays to come around if this team is going to stay in the top 10 come March. -RG

Luca Urlando didn’t compete at midseason invites–he’s their most valuable swimmer, so Georgia looked a less strong than they actually are at midseason, particularly on the relays. -SK

#8: Stanford Cardinal +2 (Previous Rank: 10)

Andrei Minakov ranks #6 in the nation in both fly events after making finals in both at Short Course Worlds. The Cardinal as a whole are off to a strong start, with all five relays ranking in the top 11. -RG

#7: Tennessee Volunteers – (Previous Rank: 7)

Don’t let Tennessee’s dual meet loss to Kentucky fool you — there may not be a ton of depth, but the Volunteers have the guys who will rack up points in the spring. That group is led by Jordan Crooks, who in addition to setting world records at Worlds, holds the top times the 50 and the 100 free in the NCAA this season. -RG

The Tennessee men have the best 1-2 sprint punch in the country in Jordan Crooks and Gui Caribe, and depending on how this season turns out, maybe the best 1-2 sprint punch in men’s NCAA swimming history. They still need a few more guys like Nikoli Blackman and Lamar Taylor and Joaquin Vargas to step up and score some individual points, though. -BK

#6: NC State Wolfpack – (Previous Rank: 6)

Fifth-year Owen Lloyd was about a second faster than he was at NCAAs, clocking a 1650 time that puts him 4th nationally. The Wolfpack hasn’t shown a ton of speed yet, but they will. -RG

#5: Arizona State Sun Devils – (Previous Rank: 5)

The Bowman-to-Behm transition seems to be going well for all parties. All five Sun Devil relays rank in the top 5 nationally. Meanwhile, it seems like it’s only a matter of when, not if, Ilya Kharun breaks the 200y fly U.S. Open Record. He’s got the fastest time by nearly a second this season based on his time from SC Worlds. -RG

#4: Florida Gators – (Previous Rank: 4)

Olympian Luke Whitlock leaving mid-season to return home to train in Indiana certainly doesn’t help the Gators, but Florida distance swimmers usually take a season to settle in any way so I’m not sure that’s enough to allow teams like NC State, Tennessee, or Arizona State to close the gap. -BK

Julian Smith has a strong argument for NCAA Breakout Swimmer of the Semester. He was already an All-American in the 100 breast, but he’s taken it to the next level by becoming the fourth man to go under 50.0. He leads the NCAA with a 49.98. If that’s not enough, he also ranks in the top ten in both the 50 and the 100 free. -RG

#3: California Golden Bears – (Previous Rank: 3)

It’s felt like a pretty quiet semester for Cal, not least because we haven’t seen much from Destin Lasco yet. But Jack Alexy had a strong showing at Short Course Worlds. Besides winning the 100 free gold medal, his converted leadoff time from the World Record-setting 4×100 free relay ranks him #2 in the NCAA this season. I’ve got Cal 4th right now only because they haven’t shown much compared to the three teams I have ahead of them, but I also expect them to be in the thick of the fight for the team title in March. -RG

Cal’s times haven’t been as impressive as some of the other top teams this fall, however, there’s still a lot to be encouraged by with this roster. Freshmen Nans Mazellier and Yamato Okadome are looking particularly impressive. -SP

#2: Indiana Hoosiers -1 (Previous Rank: 1)

Owen McDonald hasn’t missed a beat after transferring from ASU, and he’s got the #2 time in the country in the 200 IM. Factor in Matt King, who redshirted this semester, and the Indiana diving crew, and the Hoosiers should very much be in the hunt for the NCAA title. -RG

I’m sticking with Indiana as my #1 team in the NCAA right now. I get that Texas put up impressive times this fall, but Indiana is also very deep and well-balanced. It’s worth mentioning that IU also has the best diving group in the country right now. -SP

#1: Texas Longhorns +1 (Previous Rank: 2)

The Bob Bowman era is off to a roaring start down in Austin. The Longhorns have been incredible this season. Rex Maurer has exploded and that’s going to be huge at the end of the season. -SP

Four Longhorn swimmers rank #1 in the nation in at least one event: Luke Hobson, Rex Maurer, Will Modglin, and Hubert Kos. Those times include a (converted) world record and an American Record. Yeah, I think you can say the first semester of the Bob Bowman era has gone decently. -RG

Texas just has so much momentum right now, I couldn’t keep them out of that top spot anymore. With their mid-season additions, I think the ‘Horns are now in control, though it’s still well within the boundaries of Indiana and Cal being able to take the win. -BK

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