Defending NCAA Champions Cal Top Men’s Pre-Season Collegiate Water Polo Varsity Polls

Courtesy: Collegiate Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of California and the University of Redlands are favored to repeat as National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and USA Water Polo Division III National Champions, respectively, as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the official 2023 Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Preseason Polls.

California, which topped the University of Southern California by 13-12 scores to claim the 2021 and 2022 NCAA crowns, and Redlands, which captured the 2021 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship via an 11-6 margin against California Lutheran University, will open the 2023 season seeking to repeat as National Champions.

Defending MAWPC champion Fordham University tops the MAWPC Preseason Top Five, while defending NWPC champion Princeton University leads its league’s Top Five rankings.

Voted on by a panel of coaches, 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.

2023 MEN’S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 20 (PRESEASON)

The University of California opens the season where it concluded the 2021 and 2022 campaigns – at No. 1 – as the Golden Bears enter the new season ranked at No. 1 in the 2023 Preseason National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.

California (99 points) will commence the season this weekend with a four point lead over the University of Southern California (95 points) – a team which the Golden Bears topped by a 13-12 margin to capture both the 2021 and 2022 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships.

The top four in the preseason voting remains the same as the final 2022 voting as the University of California-Los Angeles (91 points) and Stanford University (85 points) again rate at No. 3 and 4, respectively, behind Cal and USC.

The remainder of the Top 10 has a new look compared to the final balloting of 2022 as the University of California-Davis (76 points), University of the Pacific (74 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (64 points), Princeton University (63 points), Long Beach State University (61 points) and the University of California-Irvine (55 points) readjust to rate at No. 5-to-10, respectively.

The University of California-San Diego (52 points) and Pepperdine University (52 points) commence the new campaign tied at No. 11, while Loyola Marymount University (45 points), San Jose State University (35 points) and Fordham University (28 points) finish out the Top 15.

Santa Clara University (21 points), California Baptist University (19 points), Harvard University (18 points), the United States Air Force Academy (7 points) and the United States Naval Academy (6 points) complete the Top 20.

2023 MEN’S VARSITY DIVISION III TOP 10 (PRESEASON)

The University of Redlands will start the 2023 season where it concluded the 2022 campaign  – as a unanimous No. 1 selection – as the squad leads the 2023 Preseason Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

The 2022 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Champion, the Bulldogs (100 points) possess a 10-point lead over Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (90 points) with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (89 points) opening the new season at No. 3.

California Lutheran University (86 points) – which finished behind Redlands at the 2022 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Championship – and Chapman University (76 points) complete the Top Five, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (74 points) and Occidental College (74 points) are deadlocked at No. 6 prior to the opening sprint of the 2023 season.

Johns Hopkins University (64 points), Whittier College (39 points) and Augustana College (36 points) round out the Preseason Top 10.

2023 MEN’S VARSITY MID-ATLANTIC WATER POLO CONFERENCE TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

Fordam University – which claimed the 2021 and 2022 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championships – will aim to three-peat as the Rams top the 2023 MAWPC Preseason Top Five Poll.

A unanimous No. 1 selection, the Rams (100 points) hold a 10-point lead over both George Washington University (90 points) and the United States Naval Academy (90 points) as the Revolutionaries and Midshipmen are tied at No. 2.

2022 MAWPC Championship runner-up Bucknell University (89 points) and Johns Hopkins University (49 points) complete the Top Five.

Unlike last year in which the MAWPC featured 11 teams, the membership contracts to seven teams this year (Bucknell, Fordham, George Washington, Johns Hopkins, Mount St. Mary’s University, Navy, Wagner College)  following the departure of Gannon University, Mercyhurst University, Salem University and McKendree University to the primarily Division II Western Water Polo Association (WWPA).

2023 MEN’S VARSITY NORTHEAST WATER POLO CONFERENCE TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

Two-time defending Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University commences the 2023 season with the target once again upon the Tigers as the squad leads the NWPC Preseason Top Five Poll.

The 2018, 2021 and 2022 NWPC Champion Tigers (100 points) rate as a unanimous No. 1 selection and hold a seven-point lead over fellow three-time (2016, 2017, 2019) NWPC Champion Harvard University (93 points).

Brown University (90 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (86 points) and Iona University (81 points) complete the Top Five.

The NWPC features seven institutions in 2023 with Brown, Connecticut College, Harvard, Iona, MIT and Princeton being joined by newcomer Long Island University.