2025-26 NCAA Men’s Power Rankings: Pre-Conferences 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.   

James Sutherland, Braden Keith, Robert Gibbs, Madeline Folsom, Anya Pelshaw, and Terin Frodyma contributed to this report. 

The championship season is fast approaching for the 2025-26 season. And while there’s been a few changes in our Pre-Conference edition of the Division I men’s Power Rankings, things have stayed largely status quo from the last edition that we did after midseason invitationals. There are still some questions lingering about how teams may translate dual meet success–or struggle–into the championship format but largely, the NCAA picture is getting clearer.

There were no changes to the top-7 ranked teams, with Texas still the clear frontrunner to claim their second straight national championship. The only movement in the top ten came from Tennessee rising from #9 to #8, while Florida State climbed from #10 to tie Stanford at #9 after the Cardinal dropped from #8.

Virginia (+2) and Missouri (+2) had the biggest jumps, while Army (-3) took the steepest drop. Michigan fell two spots (-2) to #15 amid mid-season coaching changes, and Alabama slipped two places (-2) to #21. Auburn and LSU each dropped one spot, with LSU falling from #12 to #13 and Auburn sliding from #16 to #17. #14 Ohio State and #16 USC each climbed one position.

Purdue and Northwestern both entered the rankings from honorable mentions post-invites, while North Carolina, Wisconsin, and Texas A&M fell out of the standings. North Carolina seems like a key team to move back into the rankings post-ACCs, assuming their elite breaststroke duo of Ben Delmar and Xavier Rui continues to impress and the team maybe finds another breakthrough that could score at NCAAs.

These rankings were heavily informed, though not dictated by, the pre-conferences scoring exercise. The simulation uses each swimmer’s season-best times from their three top events, with diving factored into our ballots separately.

Previous Rankings: 

• Early-season
• Pre-invites
• Post-invites

Honorable Mentions: Princeton Tigers, North Carolina Tar Heels, Southern Methodist University Mustangs, Kentucky Wildcats

#25: Penn State Nittany Lions — (Previous Rank: 25)

This is shaping up to be Penn State’s best team in over a decade, if the Nittany Lions can keep their momentum going into championship season. – R.G.

#24: Yale Bulldogs — (Previous Rank: 24)

If Noah Millard rounds back into form in the post-season and approaches or improves upon his 4:07.68/14:28.43 distance freestyle times from 2024-25, he alone could push the Bulldogs into the top 25 after guiding them to 20th a year ago. – S.G.

#23: Army Black Knights -3 (Previous Rank: 20)

Johnny Crush and Kohen Rankin are capable of having big scoring ‘A’ final swims in one event each at NCAAs, but the key for Army will be scoring more than four relay points at NCAAs, which was their total last year en route to a 30th-place finish. – J.S.

#22: Purdue Boilermakers — (Previous Rank: HM)

Diving remains a massive strength for the Boilermakers. They return sophomore Kaden Springfield (16 points) and junior Maxwell Miller (8 points), while freshman Junior National Champion Nathaniel Grannis looks like a legitimate title contender. – S.G.

#21: Alabama Crimson Tide -2 (Previous Rank: 19)

Leo Alcantara looks like he could be a top 8 scorer in the distance freestyles. – A.P.

#20: Northwestern Wildcats — (Previous Rank: HM)

Josh Staples and Stuart Seymour are two of the major components to Northwestern’s success here in the coming weeks. Seymour has an outside chance of going into the NCAA’s as the Big Ten champ in the 100 back and could make some noise in the 100 free. Staples is among the top IMers and mid distance freestylers in the conference, and also could shake things up in the conference. – T.F.

#19: Missouri Tigers +2 (Previous Rank: 21)

Sophomore Luke Nebrich had been a force for Mizzou this season, and his relay and individual point contributions will be huge in improving the Tigers 10 points and 36th place finish from last year. – M.F.

#18: Arizona Wildcats — (Previous Rank: 18)

Sophomore Tomas Lukminas (41.33/1:31.88 free) is ranked 8th nationally in the 200 and 9th in the 100, while senior Haakon Naughton (44.80/1:40.70 fly) is ranked 10th in the 100 and 11th in the 200. Both are poised to score big at NCAAs, and the team has several relays ranked in the top 16. – S.G.

#17: Auburn Tigers -1 (Previous Rank: 16)

Although Auburn lost to Alabama, they won both relays, which relays are what boosts them right now in the Swimulator. – A.P.

#16: USC Trojans +1 (Previous Rank: 17)

Similar to Arizona, the Trojans have a clear formula for success: the Chmielewski brothers plus several scoring relays. – S.G.

#15. Michigan Wolverines -2 (Previous Rank: 13)

Sometimes when coaches leave mid-season it can disrupt a team. Sometimes, it can be addition by subtraction. The fate of the Wolverines might depend on how they respond to adversity. – B.K.

#14: Ohio State Buckeyes +1 (Previous Rank: 15)

The Buckeyes’ ultimate outcome may depend on how many diving points they can pick up, but the swimming side continues to look solid, with big peformances from Tristan Jankovics and Matt Klinge. – R.G.

#13. LSU Tigers -1 (Previous Rank: 12)

LSU has a few weapons at their disposal, but none are more prominent than Jere Hribar who sits in the top 8 in the country in 2 different events and sits just outside scoring position in a 3rd. He picked up two medals at the 2025 SC Euros in December, and looks to be primed for a similar performance at NCAAs. – M.F.

#12: Virginia Cavaliers +2 (Previous Rank: 14)

Like I said in December, I think that Virginia’s relays have more than the 16 points they’re currently projected to score in them. Given they are one of the teams that haven’t contested the 800 free relay this season, I think that’s around 30 points alone given they have the freshman duo of Maximus Williamson and Thomas Heilman, along with sophomore David King, who have all been 1:31 or faster from a flat start in their careers. The swimulator projects them to finish 14th as things currently stand, but adding 30 points puts them in a tie for 10th. If Maximus Williamson and Thomas Heilman approach their best times, I think they can finish higher than 12th. – S.G.

#11: Louisville Cardinals — (Previous Rank: 11)

The swimulator projects 78 points coming to the Cardinals by way of relays, which is not too far-fetched, though outside of Jackson Millard, and possibly Guy Brooks, there are not any other serious double-digit point-scoring threats. – T.F.

=#9: Stanford Cardinal -1 (Previous Rank: 8)

Stanford had a massive meet against Cal to kick the month off, taking the win against a team that is struggling this season. They picked up some strong freshmen, including Ethan Ekk, who will be huge point scorers for them next month. – M.F.

=#9: Florida State Seminoles +1 (Previous Rank: 10)

FSU’s relays are the main reason why the Swimulator has them sitting eighth entering the postseason. That ranking will drop once more teams swim the 800 free relay, but there is something to be said to what the Seminoles have done this season, ranking top-six in both medleys (and 2nd in the 800 free relay) entering conference season. Logan Robinson has also been a star for them with standout swims in the 200 free and 200 fly in the fall. Anything around the top 10 would be an improvement after placing 18th last year. – J.S.

#8: Tennessee Volunteers +1 (Previous Rank: 9)

Tennessee is hurting with the loss of Jordan Crooks, but their relays still have strong point scoring potential. Gui Caribe holds he fastest time in the country in the 100 free and the 3rd fasetst time in the 50 free, which will earn the Vols valuable points in March. – M.F.

#7: California Golden Bears — (Previous Rank: 7)

It almost feels weird ranking Cal so low this season, but the numbers speak for themselves. The Bears always seem to have a rabbit to pull out of their hat in the postseason. Yamato Okadome was their breakout freshman last year, and now they’ve got Ryan Erisman and Nathan Wiffen to go along with Lucca Battaglini’s standout sophomore campaign. They’ve also got some sneaky solid relay pieces, but it was still be a surprise to see them break into the top five at NCAAs. – J.S.

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

Arsenio Bustos hasn’t show much this season after redshirting last season. If he can get back to his 2024 form, that’ll be a big boost for the Wolfpack, both at ACCs and NCAAs. – R.G.

#5: Florida Gators — (Previous Rank: 5)

The potential duo of Jaouadi and Hafnaoui in distance events for the Gators makes me really excited for SECs, especially if we get a tapered Hafnaoui for a championship in yards. The relay battles with UGA and Texas will also be blockbuster matchups prior to their NCAA showdowns. – T.F.

#4: Georgia Bulldogs — (Previous Rank: 4)

Not much has changed for Georgia within the past month, as Luca Urlando, Tomis Koski, Drew Hitchcock, Ruard Van Renen, and Eliot Woodburn are all still swimming great. While they may not shine depth-wise at SECs, their top-end scoring ability will serve them well at NCAAs. – S.G.

#3: Indiana Hoosiers — (Previous Rank: 3)

Zalan Sarkany has been unstoppable thus far for Indiana and looks like one of the few who could threaten Rex Maurer in the 500. But Indiana’s depth, with Olympians Luke Whitlock and Aaron Shackell, is crucial. Owen McDonald also looks like a potential top-five swimmer in several events for the Hoosiers and has found some success against high-level opponents as of late. The likelihood of them taking the Big Ten title is high, but individual events could help set the Hoosiers apart from the potential cluster of teams ranked 3-7. – T.F.

#2: Arizona State Sun Devils — (Previous Rank: 2)

On one hand, it feels like the Sun Devils had a relatively-quiet January. On the other hand, at the Big 12 West Championship, their 200 free relay went 1:15.01, faster than any other team this season. And that wasn’t even their full ‘A’ lineup. And then over the weekend against Arizona, they went 1:14.68…with a pair of 18.3 split on another relay. – R.G.

#1: Texas Longhorns — (Previous Rank: 1)

The Longhorns were already the leader in the NCAA and Hubert Kos has since returned. There’s not much that seems will stop them from raising the trophy. – A.P.

Ballots: