SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side.
Our most recent polls asked SwimSwam readers which men’s conference favorite is the most vulnerable heading into the postseason:
Question: Which favorite is most at risk of being upset at the men’s conference championships?
RESULTS
- ACC – Cal – 46.7%
- SEC – Texas – 27.7%
- Big 12 – ASU – 13.1%
- Big Ten – Indiana – 12.6%
On paper, each of the men’s titles in the power conferences appears to have a clear-cut favorite.
Three of those happen to be teams making their championship debut in their new conference: Cal in the ACC, Texas in the SEC, and Arizona State in the Big 12.
In the Big Ten, it’s Indiana coming in as the big favorites as the three-time defending champions.
Although each of these teams has distanced themselves from the rest of their conference foes based on times produced so far this season, things can be turned on their head once the meet actually gets underway.
The Swimulator tells us how each conference championship meet would score out based on times done this season, not including diving:
- ACC – Cal would win by 224.5 points over NC State
- Big 12 – ASU would win by 548.5 points over Arizona
- Big Ten – Indiana would win by 407.5 points over Michigan
- SEC – Texas would win by 438 points over Florida
In the latest SwimSwam poll, we asked readers which conference favorite is most at risk of being upset, and leading the way with almost half the votes was Cal.
The voting results and the Swimulator numbers align, as Cal’s margin of error is the smallest (by a lot) compared to the other conference frontrunners.
The NC State men have won three straight ACC titles and nine of the last 10, dominating the conference championships over the last decade outside of being upset by Louisville in 2021.
We’ve also seen Cal put less focus on performing at the conference championships in the past, including sending some of their top swimmers to a Pro Swim Series meet last year instead of Pac-12s, and we’ll see a similar scenario with the Stanford women this season as they’ve decided to send some top swimmers home midway through ACCs due to the increased travel.
However, Cal has added some strength to their roster for the meet, bringing in Olympic gold medalist and multi-time NCAA champion Brooks Curry in a surprise move, which could put them over the top.
The #2 option in the poll was Texas in the SEC, which is an interesting discussion point as the conference championships have been owned by Florida since 2013, winning their 12th straight title with a record-setting point total in 2024.
The Longhorn men have always been able to do whatever they want and still win the Big 12 title with ease, but this year that won’t be the case as the SEC is talented-stacked with the Gators, Tennesse and Georgia.
How Bob Bowman and company approach the meet will be a storyline to watch, but one thing that’s become clear this season is that under Bowman, Texas is taking more of the philosophy we saw from his swimmers when he was at ASU: swim fast all season. That should reaffirm Texas as the clear favorite.
The Big 12 and Big Ten trailed in the poll, with Arizona State picking up a few more votes than Indiana despite the Sun Devils seemingly being the biggest slam-dunk favorite among the four.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks: Which barrier will have the most men go under it over the next five weeks:
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ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner.
How many times did Andrew vote for Cal?
Lol 😂