For the third time in three weeks the position as the No. 1 team in the nation changes hands as Preaseason, Week 1 and Week 2 top-rated Stanford University dislodges Week 6 No. 1 the University of Southern California following a one-week reign by the Trojans after toppling Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 top-rated the University of California-Los Angeles. It marks the first time in recent memory that three teams have topped the National Rankings in three weeks. The change comes on the heels of an 11-10 victory by the Cardinal over USC at home in Palo Alto, Calif. to return Stanford to the top position after rating at No. 3 last week and dramatically shake up the Top Four positions in the rankings with Stanford, USC, UCLA and the University of California, formerly 3-1-4-2, now rating at 1-2-3-4.
Whittier remains the top pick in the Division III ranks as the Poets garnered 99 points to top a Division III Top 10 Poll which underwent significant changes in the wake of Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III action.
The CWPA Top 10 also experiences some changes, including some brought about by Division III action in the league. The Tigers of Princeton continue to top the rankings as the unanimous choice of the pollsters, but Northern Division frontrunner Brown University, which fell to Princeton by a 9-7 final in the Ivy Championship game, moves in front of St. Francis College Brooklyn to move within striking distance of terminating the Tigers’ tenure at the top.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
2014 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 7)
For the third time in three weeks during the 2014 season, the No. 1 position in the country changes hands as Stanford University, which topped the first three polls of the season spanning the Preseason to Week 2 balloting, takes back the crown of the nation’s leading men’s water polo team after a one-week reign by the University of Southern California (Week 6) and a three week tenure by the University of California-Los Angeles (Week, 3, 4, 5) to once again stand supreme in the Week 7/October 22 National Top 20 Poll.
Per President John F. Kennedy, who said, “Change is the law of life,” change is the current law of varisty men’s water polo.
The top four positions in the National Top 20 all change this week as USC’s 11-10 defeat at Stanford causes a shockwave to move from the No. 1 to the No. 20 spots in the balloting.
Stanford (96 points), USC (94 points), Week 3-4-5 No. 1 the University of California-Los Angeles (92 points) and the University of California (86 points) all change spots as the Cardinal, Trojans, Bruins and Golden Bears ranked at No. 3, 1, 4 and 2 last week.
The remainder of last week’s Top 10 remains relatively unchanged as Long Beach State University (80 points) and the University of California-San Diego (75 points) hold firm at No. 5 and 6, respectively. The University of California-Santa Barbara (65 points) inches in front of the University of the Pacific (64 points) to assume the No. 7 berth, while Princeton University (63 points) and the University of California-Irvine (57 points) cling to No. 9 and 10 for another week.
Pepperdine University (51 points), the University of California-Davis (46 points) and the United States Air Force Academy (39 points) remain at No. 11-to-13, with Brown University (29 points) squeeking past Santa Clara University (28 points) to jump up to No. 14.
Loyola Marymount University (23 points), St. Francis College Brooklyn (21 points), Harvard University (14 points), California Baptist University (11 points) and Whittier College (6 points) complete the Top 20.
The United States Naval Academy (4 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (4 points), Bucknell University (3 points) and Concordia University (1 point) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 7)
The Poets of Whittier College (99 points), which are ranked at No. 20 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 7/October 22 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
Behind Whittier, Chapman University (90 points) and the University of Redlands (90 points) move into a tie for the runner-up position. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (85 points), which downed former No. 3 Johns Hopkins University (83 points) for the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III Championship over the weekend, surpasses the Blue Jays to move up to No. 4 and drop JHU back to No. 5.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (72 points) and California Lutheran University (72 points) follow in a tie for the No. 6 position, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (69 points) falls one place to No. 8.
Washington & Jefferson College (46 points) bumps up to No. 9 and the University of La Verne (36 points) slips to No. 10.
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 7)
The Tigers of Princeton University continue as the top rated team in the league as the squad picked up 100 points in the Week 7/October 22 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Poll.
Princeton, which finished second to St. Francis College Brooklyn last season in the CWPA Championship title game and was ranked No. 1 in the wake of the Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 ballots, tops a league poll which experienced some significant changes this week.
Northern Division frontrunner Brown University (94 points) returns to the No. 2 position on the strength of a narrow 9-7 loss to Princeton in the Ivy Championship title game, while St. Francis Brooklyn (91 points) slips back to No. 3.
Bucknell University (81 points) moves up to No. 4, Harvard University (77 points) falls back to No. 5 and the United States Naval Academy (74 points) remains anchored at No. 6.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (72 points) jumps in front of Johns Hopkins University (67 points) to take over at No. 7, while George Washington University (49 points) and Iona College (36 points) complete the Top 10.
Water Polo News is courtesy of the Collegiate Water Polo Association.
