2026 M. NCAA Champs: Day 3 (Ups/Downs) – Florida, Texas Still Battling for 1st, Indiana Eyeing 3rd

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• Defending Champions: Texas (1x)
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  • Prelims: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of “Ups” and “Downs” is a good way to track which teams performed best during prelims. In prelims at the NCAA Championships, swimmers qualify for just one finals: the top eight finishers make the Championship/’A’ final (Ups), and places nine through 16 are used to make the Consolation/‘B’ final (Downs), but now those results are scored from prelims. However, for the purposes of this article we will still refer to them as a down.

With that in mind, we track “Ups” and “Downs” after each prelims session as a way to follow the team race. 

Team Scores Thru Day 2

1. Texas – 215.5
2. Florida – 205
3. Arizona St – 133.5
4. Indiana – 132.5
5. California – 124
6. NC State – 122
7. Michigan – 115
8. Tennessee – 107
9. Virginia – 88
10. Stanford – 83
11. Ohio St – 63
12. Louisville – 53
13. Kentucky – 51
14. Virginia Tech – 31
15. Auburn – 30
16. LSU/Southern California – 29
18. Princeton – 25
19. SMU – 24
20. Miami (FL) – 22
21. Wisconsin – 19
22. Georgia – 17.5
23. Pittsburgh – 17
24. UNC – 14
25. Northwestern – 13
26. Delaware/Utah – 12
28. Georgia Tech – 11
29. Yale – 10
30. Harvard – 9
31. Alabama – 8
32. Florida St/Purdue – 7
34. IU Indianapolis – 6
35. Penn St – 5
36. Army/Texas A&M – 4
38. Arizona – 2

Ups and Downs

Indiana had a day this morning, advancing five individual swimmers into finals and scoring four this morning in the 9th-16th places. They did a lot of damage, where they were expected with two swimmers in the A-final of the 200 breaststroke and two placed 9th-16th. Four scoring in the event is not that unexpected, as they were seeded to have three score, but what is remarkable is the fact that all four of their scorers this year were not in the top 16 last year, a fact made more interesting as Indiana had three finalists last year, all of whom are no longer on the team, having graduated.

ASU, Florida and Texas all advanced four individual into finals tonight, and each will have a relay in the final heat of the 400 Medley. Florida and Texas each stumbled a little, with the Gators expected to have an A-finalist in the 100 back, and Texas expected to have four scorers in the 200 breast, but instead have two.

California advanced just one swimmer into the A-final, Yamato Okadome in the 200 breast, but had five swimmers in the 9-16 range.

Projected Scores after tonight (not including diving)

* Schools that placed 9th- 16th this morning can not move down in their points, but can move up if a team in the final heat tonight either DQs or swims times equal to or slower than Texas’s time of 1:14.40 from this morning.

HUGE Disclaimer: Diving is going to play a big part in the leaderboard tonight

Based on swimming alone, the University of Texas is set to extend its lead over Florida, going from a 10-point differential to 14.5. While 4.5 points doesn’t seem like a lot, meets have been won and lost on a lot less, so Florida will be looking for their 500 swimmers (Ahmed Jaouadi, Ahmed Hafnaoui, and Gio Linscheer) to move up from their 2nd, 4th, and 7th seeding. Texas, on the other hand, needs top seeds Hubert Kos and Rex Maurer to defend their top billing as well as see Will Modglin improve upon his 5th place in the 100 back from this morning.

Indiana, with the most swims tonight, looks to leap from Arizona State to take 3rd place. The Hoosiers were back of the Sun Devils by just a lone point, but look to outscore them by 10.5 points. Much of Indiana’s points are blunted by the massive 45 points expected to be gained by ASU in the 50 free and the 40 points from the 400 medley relay, where they are the top seed.