How Did We Do? Reviewing SwimSwam’s Final 2026 Men’s NCAA Power Rankings

2026 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships

• Dates: Wednesday, March 25–Saturday, March 28
• Location: McAuley Aquatic Center, Atlanta, GA
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Psych Sheets
• Live Results

The 2026 Men’s NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships came to a close on Saturday night with the University of Texas successfully defending its national title.

Although it might’ve been closer than expected, the Longhorns came out on top with 445.5 points, topping runner-up Florida (416) by 29.5.

The Gators delivered a surprise 2nd-place finish, while Indiana took 3rd for the second straight year and Arizona State settled for 4th.

Final Team Standings – Top 10

1. Texas, 445.5
2. Florida, 416
3. Indiana, 351
4. Arizona State, 328
5. Tennessee, 272
6. NC State, 258.5
7. California, 231
8. Michigan, 220
9. Virginia, 192
10. Stanford, 136

Below, we’ll be taking a look at how the team standings shook out compared to our final predictions from the SwimSwam Power Rankings.

2025-26 Men’s NCAA Power Rankings:

• Early-season
• Pre-invites
• Post-invites
• Pre-conferences
• Final Edition

2026 MEN’S NCAA RESULTS VERSUS SWIMSWAM PICKS

WHAT WE GOT RIGHT

• We correctly predicted Texas to win the title, Indiana to place 3rd and NC State to take 6th, though the teams around them shuffled a little compared to our rankings. We did have the top seven teams correct, just not in the right order.
• In addition to the three teams in the top 10, Ohio State (13th), Georgia (15th) and Alabama (24th) were also picked in the correct position.

WHAT WE GOT WRONG – TOP 10

• Three teams in the top 10 placed two spots higher than we predicted them to, led by Florida.
• The Gators placed 2nd, their best showing since a runner-up finish in 1985, after we picked them to finish 4th. Florida ranked 3rd in psych sheet scoring, just 4.5 points back of Arizona State, and they ended up outperforming their seed by 24.5 points in the pool (358 points compared to 333.5 seeded points). Their seniors were the top-scoring class of the meet with 119 individual points. The Gators also picked up 58 diving points, surprisingly the most of any team, and incredibly 54 more than Indiana, known for being a diving powerhouse.
• Tennessee was the second-highest scoring diving team with 53 points on the boards, helping push them up to 5th place after they were predicted to finish 7th and were seeded 8th in swimming points. The Vols scored 14.5 more individual swimming points and 19 more relay points than they were seeded for, to go along with their strong diving showing. If we subtract the diving points from their total, they slide to 8th place.
• The team that cracked the top 10 that wasn’t predicted to was Virginia, which earned 9th place with 192 points, scoring nearly 14 times as many as they did in 2025 when they placed 32nd (14 points). The Cavaliers delivered their best finish since 2021 after outscoring their psych sheet points by 82.5. Individually, all four of their scorers improved on their seed, led by freshman Maximus Williamson, who scored double the points (40) he was seeded for (20) after winning a pair of titles in the 200 free and 200 IM.
• Arizona State was our pick for the runner-up position behind Texas throughout the season, but the Sun Devils fell to 4th with 328 points, 88 back of runner-up Florida. ASU scored exactly as many relay points as they were seeded for (182) and were only 10 off their individual seed (146), but both Florida and Indiana outperformed expectations to pass them in the standings.
• Cal and Stanford also dropped two spots relative to their predicted placements. The Golden Bears essentially matched their individual and relay seeded points, and picked up 13 more in diving, but their power ranking was based on them improving from seed a bit more, which they’ve historically done. The Cardinal dropped to 10th place after being picked 8th, largely due to scoring 22 fewer relay points than they were seeded for. They did score 28 diving points, but Stanford was still well back of 9th-place Virginia by 56 points.
• Michigan, picked 9th, placed 8th in the team standings, and despite only moving up three spots from last season (11th), the Wolverines scored more than double the points, going from 98.5 in 2025 to 220 in 2026. Michigan scored 21 fewer individual swimming points than they were seeded for, but put up 25 more in the relays.

OTHER SURPRISES

• The biggest climbers in the team standings relative to our predictions were USC, Virginia Tech and Pitt.
• The Trojans took 14th overall after they were picked to finish 22nd, primarily due to their diving prowess. USC was seeded to score 11 individual swimming points and zero in relays. They ended up with 12 individual, 14 in relays, and 43 in diving for 69 total and 14th in the team standings. Krzysztof Chmielewski was a surprise to score zero points for the team, but divers Mortiz Wesemann and Laurent Gosselin-Paradis carried the mail to salvage a top-15 finish.
• Virginia Tech, seeded for 71.5 points, scored 86 to place 11th overall after they were picked 15th. Helping move the Hokies up was sophomore Eli Martin, who scored 11 points with an 8th-place finish in the 200 breast after he was only seeded to score one.
• Pitt, picked 25th in the final edition of the power rankings, placed 20th with 48 points, 19 more than they were seeded for. Leading the charge for the Panthers was sophomore Julian Koch, who scored 28, 11 more than he was seeded for, after making the final of the 100 free (4th) and 100 fly (8th) while also scoring in the 50 free (15th).
• The biggest dropper from the power rankings was Florida State, which barely cracked the top 25 after we picked them to finish 10th. The Seminoles were seeded to score 122 swimming points, and they ended up with just 39. Logan Robinson was their only individual scorer, finishing with 17 points after he was seeded for 30, while Max Wilson and Michel Arkhangelsky both finished with zero after being seeded for nine apiece. The big crusher for FSU was relays, where they were seeded to score 74 points but only ended up with 22. They were seeded to score in all five, but missed out on points by finishing 18th in the 200 free and 800 free relays, and they were also disqualified in the 400 free relay at the end of the meet (though their time would’ve missed the points in 17th).
• LSU placed 16th after they were predicted to finish 12th, scoring just 46 swimming points after they were seeded for 107. Similar to FSU, that included a big drop in relays, finishing with 22 relay points after being seeded for 66. The Tigers earned 15 diving points, which proved to be crucial as without them, they would’ve tied for 20th.
• Princeton also dropped five spots relative to their prediction, though they finished with 45 points after being seeded for 42.

MOVING UP & MOVING OUT

• Three teams cracked the top 25 that we didn’t predict: Auburn, Miami (FL) and SMU.
• Seeded for 26 swimming points, the Tigers doubled that, putting up 52 points in the pool while adding three more in diving to finish with 55 and place 17th. Freshman Abdalla Youssef scored 16 points after he wasn’t seeded to score any.
• Miami (FL) scored 46 points, all in diving, to finish 21st overall. Although the Hurricanes are always a diving power, they graduated their lone scorer from last year, Maxwell Flory, which was a key reason why they weren’t picked in the top 25 and instead left as an Honorable Mention. They ended up having three divers score, led by freshman Matteo Santoro, who was the runner-up on 1-meter and placed 4th on 3-meter.
• SMU was in a similar situation, scoring 37 diving points, all from Luke Sitz, to help land them 23rd in the team standings. The Mustangs were seeded to score six swimming points and ended up with seven.
• The teams we picked in the top 25 that didn’t make the cut were Wisconsin, Purdue, Yale and Army.

• The Boilermakers were picked 19th based on their diving prowess, and although they had five divers score points, their cumulative total of 32 wasn’t enough to crack the top 25, placing 29th.
• Wisconsin, seeded to score 41 swimming points, only ended up with 19. That included scoring just one point from individual events, a 16th-place finish from Dominik Mark Torok in the 400 IM, after he was seeded to score 15 points.
• The Yale duo of Nick Finch and Noah Millard combined to score 17 points, 12 fewer than they were seeded for, to give the Bulldogs a 34th-place finish after they were picked 23rd. Millard was seeded 7th in the 500 free and 11th in the 1650 free, but ended up with respective finishes of 10th and 16th.
• Army finished with 17.5 points after they were seeded to score 27, placing them 33rd in the standings after being picked 25th. Johnny Crush essentially held his seed, scoring 13.5 out of the 14 points he was projected to, but Kohen Rankin ended up putting just four on the board after being seeded for 13.

See the full NCAA Championship box score here.

Final Scores