Editor’s note: the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)’s rankings track dual meet strength, specifically. That is, a higher-ranked team is expected to win in a head-to-head dual meet with a lower-ranked team, according to the voters. These rankings aren’t an NCAA finish prediction – for a ranking closer to that model, check out SwimSwam’s Power Rankings.
The Michigan women have taken over the #1 spot in the CSCAA dual meet poll, while Texas remains the men’s leaders. Michigan becomes the fourth women’s team in five polls to earn a #1 rank.
Stanford led the preseason women’s poll. Florida topped the October and November polls, but Cal led December and now Michigan has taken top billing in the January poll. Compare that to the men’s side, where Cal led Preseason and October before giving way to Texas in the last three polls.
Biggest risers:
- Ohio State women (+11)
- Northwestern women (+9)
- Texas A&M women (+8)
- Michigan women (+4)
- Virginia Tech men (+4)
- NC State women (+3)
- Georgia men (+3)
- Louisville men (+3)
- Notre Dame women (unranked to #12)
- LSU women (unranked to #17)
Biggest fallers:
- USC women (-15)
- Louisville women (-8)
- Missouri women (-8)
- Indiana women (-6)
- Virginia women (-3)
DIVISION I WOMEN
| Rank | Prev | Team | Points |
| 1 | 5 | Michigan | 292 |
| 2 | 1 | California | 289 |
| 3 | 6 | NC State | 267 |
| 4 | 2 | Tennessee | 265 |
| 5 | 4 | Stanford | 252 |
| 6 | 3 | Virginia | 243 |
| 7 | 18 | Ohio State | 224 |
| 8 | 7 | Florida | 220 |
| 9 | 8 | Georgia | 207 |
| 10 | 10 | Texas | 190 |
| 11 | 19 | Texas A&M | 175 |
| 12 | NR | Notre Dame | 159 |
| 13 | 13 | Kentucky | 139 |
| 14 | 14 | Auburn | 136 |
| 15 | 16 | North Carolina | 131 |
| 16 | 25 | Northwestern | 118 |
| 17 | NR | Louisiana State | 101 |
| 18 | 17 | Alabama | 95 |
| 19 | 11 | Louisville | 84 |
| 20 | 12 | Missouri | 79 |
| 21 | 15 | Indiana | 56 |
| 22 | NR | Princeton | 52 |
| 23 | 24 | Minnesota | 46 |
| 24 | 9 | Southern California | 44 |
| 25 | NR | Florida State | 22 |
Also receiving votes: Iowa (6), Wisconsin (3), Houston (2), Arkansas (2), Duke (1)
Women’s Poll Committee
Dan Colella, Duke; Niko Fantakis, Brown; Chris Hansen, CSU Bakersfield; Naya Higashijima, Southern Methodist; Nathan Lavery, Texas Christian; Matthew Leach, Washington State; Sergio Lopez, Virginia Tech; Christine Mabile, Boise State; Jonathan Maccoll, Rutgers; Jesse Moore, Minnesota; Jeff Poppell, Florida; Jos Smith, Utah; Braden Keith, SwimSwam; John Lohn, Swimming World.
Division I Men
| Rank | Prev | Team | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Texas | 300 |
| 2 | 2 | California | 288 |
| 3 | 3 | Michigan | 276 |
| 4 | 5 | Indiana | 257 |
| 5 | 4 | Texas A&M | 245 |
| 6 | 7 | Missouri | 231 |
| 7 | 6 | NC State | 230 |
| 8 | 11 | Georgia | 222 |
| 9 | 9 | Florida | 194 |
| 10 | 13 | Louisville | 188 |
| 10 | 8 | Arizona | 188 |
| 12 | 10 | Tennessee | 166 |
| 13 | 12 | Arizona State | 152 |
| 14 | 16 | Ohio State | 137 |
| 15 | 14 | Florida State | 129 |
| 16 | 17 | Notre Dame | 99 |
| 17 | 15 | Virginia | 90 |
| 18 | 18 | Iowa | 87 |
| 19 | 19 | Stanford | 84 |
| 20 | 24 | Virginia Tech | 81 |
| 21 | NR | Northwestern | 70 |
| 22 | NR | Louisiana State | 52 |
| 23 | NR | Denver | 29 |
| 24 | NR | Georgia Tech | 23 |
| 25 | NR | Kentucky | 19 |
Also receiving votes: Auburn (18), Utah (16), Southern California (11), Alabama (9), Harvard (4), North Carolina (3), Duke (2)
Men’s Poll Committee
Steve Barnes, Penn State; Molly Belk, Purdue; Chase Bloch, Southern California; Jason Calanog, Texas A&M; Chad Cradock UMBC; Daniel Dozier, West Virginia; John Hargis, Pittsburgh; Jamie Holder, Dartmouth; Lars Jorgensen, Kentucky; Craig Nisgor, Seattle; Bill Roberts Navy; Rachel Stratton Mills, Arizona State; Neal Studd, Florida State; Braden Keith, SwimSwam; John Lohn, Swimming World.
Looking forward to seeing the Wolfpack women beat the Cavaliers today since this poll says it is going to happen!!! Oh, and seeing the wolfpack men easily win their meet.
USC slipping down the list on both sides. Lots of changes coming up there coaching wise…. and maybe still feeling the fallout from the admissions scandals etc there. Recruiting challenges? Moral Down?Who knows but certainly a downward slide.
Having a poll like this to predict dual meets is interesting, keeps excitement up, and is a nice compliment to Swim Swam’s power rankings that predict the NCAA final position.
One minor note for the voters to consider in the next poll: Alabama men (others receiving votes) beat the Florida State men (Ranked 15th) by a score of 156-138 on 1/11/20.
https://rolltide.com/news/2020/1/11/swimming-diving-alabama-swimming-and-diving-sweeps-florida-state-on-the-road-saturday.aspx
Denver Men on the rise
Both Cal and Stanford Men and Women athletes start their PAC12 dual meet season this weekend (against Arizona and Arizona State). Cal men need to hang on to their #2 position behind Texas and Stanford women should move up to 1 to 3).
Agree. Mi women should never be #1 in front of Stanford women!