Editor’s Note: SwimSwam is not on the voting panel for the CSCAA Dual Meet Rankings, but the rankings are posted as a courtesy to the CSCAA. See our most recent men’s Power Rankings here and women’s Power Rankings here.
There are some major shakeups in the second round of the CSCAA (College Swimming Coaches Association of America) Division I dual meet polls. There’s a Texas team on top, but it’s not the four-time defending champion men’s program – it’s the Longhorn women.
Texas’s women rose from 4th to 1st from the preseason polls two weeks ago. That comes after big wins against Indiana and Florida on the road. Meanwhile on the men’s side, Texas lost to Indiana and Florida in that same triangular, and now rank just fifth in the nation. The Cal men have taken over the #1 spot after easy wins vs Pacific and Utah, while the defending NCAA champion Stanford women sit #2 behind Texas.
You can find the full CSCAA ranks below, or on their website here.
Division I Men
| Rank | Prev | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | California | 324 |
| 2 | 3 | Indiana | 313 |
| 3 | 8 | Florida | 289 |
| 4 | 4 | NC State | 285 |
| 5 | 1 | Texas | 276 |
| 6 | 6 | Michigan | 258 |
| 7 | 5 | Stanford | 249 |
| 8 | 7 | Southern California | 232 |
| 9 | 9 | Georgia | 208 |
| 10 | 16 | Ohio State | 193 |
| 11 | 17 | Alabama | 191 |
| 12 | 10 | Texas A&M | 172 |
| 13 | 11 | Louisville | 162 |
| 14 | 14 | Arizona State | 144 |
| 15 | 12 | Tennessee | 140 |
| 16 | 15 | Virginia | 125 |
| 17 | NR | Georgia Tech | 100 |
| 18 | 23 | Notre Dame | 99 |
| 19 | 22 | Missouri | 89 |
| 20 | 18 | Minnesota | 75 |
| 21 | 20 | Florida State | 62 |
| 21 | 13 | Arizona | 62 |
| 23 | 19 | Harvard | 61 |
| 24 | NR | Wisconsin | 28 |
| 25 | 20/NR | Purdue/Pittsburgh | 23 |
Also Receiving Votes:
Utah (12), Miami (OH) (10), Virginia Tech (6), Duke (6), Kentucky (3), Auburn (2), George Washington (1), Louisiana State (1), West Virginia
Men’s Poll Committee
Brian Schrader, Denver; Steve Schaffer, Grand Canyon ; Bill Roberts Navy; Craig Nisgor, Seattle; McGee Moody South Carolina; Chad Cradock UMBC; Chase Bloch, USC; Jason Calanog, Texas A&M; Ashley Dell, Iowa; Damion Dennis, West Virginia; Dan Kesler, Arizona State; Neal Studd, Florida State; Jamie Holder, Dartmouth; Kevin Woodhull-Smith, East Carolina
Division I Women
| Rank | Prev | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | Texas | 298 |
| 2 | 1 | Stanford | 286 |
| 3 | 3 | Michigan | 276 |
| 4 | 11 | NC State | 265 |
| 5 | 2 | California | 250 |
| 5 | 5 | Texas A&M | 230 |
| 7 | 10 | Virginia | 223 |
| 8 | 8 | Louisville | 212 |
| 9 | 6 | Indiana | 195 |
| 10 | 19 | Florida | 189 |
| 11 | 7 | Georgia | 184 |
| 11 | 11 | Southern California | 184 |
| 13 | 18 | Notre Dame | 144 |
| 14 | 20 | Wisconsin | 127 |
| 15 | 17 | Ohio State | 114 |
| 16 | 13 | Minnesota | 109 |
| 17 | 16 | Auburn | 101 |
| 18 | 14 | Kentucky | 97 |
| 19 | NR | South Carolina | 94 |
| 20 | 22 | Duke | 71 |
| 21 | 25 | Florida State | 63 |
| 22 | NR | Akron | 55 |
| 23 | 23 | Arkansas | 40 |
| 24 | 9 | Tennessee | 31 |
| 25 | NR/21 | Alabama/Arizona | 17 |
Also Receiving Votes:
Missouri (14), Arizona State (6), Northwestern (4), UCLA (2), Virginia Tech (1), Utah (1)
Women’s Poll Committee
Colleen Murphy, Air Force; Dan Colella, Duke; Ryan Wochomurka, Houston; Lars Jorgenson, Kentucky; Naya Higashijima, UCLA; Jennifer Buffin, Oregon State; David Geyer, LSU; Neil Harper, Arkansas; Jesse Moore, Minnesota; Kristy Brager, Wisconsin; Niko Fantakis, Brown; April Jensen, Notre Dame; Nathan Lavery, TCU;
So the top of the rankings are okay, and make sense but has as few major flaws (but all in top 5 belong somewhere in top 5) … after the top portion, things get “iffy” at best. Even if you base on current results, UVA women at 7 is just wrong. They finished 3rd at the SMU invite, HANDILY behind Louisville and comfortably behind USC…. yet they are ranked higher than both?!?!? Really?!? We will see if Auburn is really that bad tomorrow when they face off vs UVA. GT, does seem very overrated. Texas men at 5?!? and Texas women at #1?!? C’mon now. Stanford women not #1??!? I mean… that right there makes this all a joke doesnt… Read more »
How I interpret the polls is the rankings referred to how the teams are currently performing at dual meets. That being said I think Texas men at 5 is fair. It’s not really saying that the polls are projecting these rankings as final standings in March.
These mean nothing… I mean Kentucky men beat Notre Dame and ND is #18 and UK isn’t even ranked, plus Notre Dame beat GT but still ranked lower…doesn’t make much sense
NC State only School in the nation with both men’s and women’s team and the top four.
These polls should wait until after Winter Invites, like the only poll in football that counts. Many of these teams have either swim one or no meets yet
This CSCAA Dual met poll is useless. Look at the voters. If Texas and Stanford women’s were in a dual meet, Stanford would win.
And it wouldn’t even be that close.
Actually based on results I have to disagree. Texas girls been swimming real fast in season compared to what Stanford has it would be close.for sure
According to the actual real-life results comparing Texas’ swims from the Texas-Indiana-Florida tri to Stanford’s meet vs. Utah, Texas wins 173-85.
https://swimswam.com/swimulator/?type=swimulate&gender=Women&division=D1&division1=D1&team1=Stanford&season1=2019&meet1=Utah+%40+Stanford&division2=D1&team2=Texas&season2=2019&meet2=Texas+vs+Florida+vs+Indiana
With just 1 data point, there’s a whole lot of caveats, not the least of which are the relative intensity of Texas’ first meet to Stanford’s first meet and event selection (the 200 free, 200 medley, no 400 IM lineup favors Texas).
That being said, if you put them in the same pool head-to-head, full NCAA event schedule, with something at stake, I’d probably still take Stanford. But, I agree with Troy – Texas swam really well at their first meet, and Stanford really didn’t.
The same reason they don’t rank amateurs with professionals: they don’t rank mortals with gods.
Tennessee Women dropped from 9 to 24th and have not had a meet yet.
I think the reality is that the CSCAA poll doesn’t have enough voters to make it useful. Too many ripples, too much movement. That’s part of why we started our power rankings – to give a less-reactionary look toward March.
Your power rankings are good and valid. Thanks for that! The coaches poll has zero predictive value for NCAAs and should be taken as comic relief only.
George Washington??? How did they get a vote!
Most coaches’ polls release the coaches’ ballots. The CSCAA does not. If they did, then we could all play conspiracy theories with who might have done it. In September, on our volleyball site, we reported on two coaches who inexplicably left the defending NCAA Champions Nebraska off their ballots one week. The next week, they were back, and ranked in the top 10: https://volleymob.com/nebraska-left-off-of-two-poll-submissions-in-avca-coaches-poll/
wait wait wait….am I the only one just discovering there is a volleyball clone of swimswam??
I can dig it.