Stanford Tops Varsity, Bucknell Leads Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Week 2 Polls

Courtesy: Collegiate Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Defending National Champion Stanford University retains sole possession of the No. 1 position in the national rankings as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the Week 2/February 3 Winter 2021 Men’s Varsity National Top 10 and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls.

The Cardinal stay ahead of fellow Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) institutions the University of Southern California, the University of California and the University of California-Los Angeles by the narrowest of margins as Stanford holds a one-point lead over the triumvirate of the Trojans, Golden Bears and Bruins, 93-to-92.

In the MAWPC Top Five rankings, defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Bucknell University and the United States Naval Academy remain deadlocked in the lead position.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Golden Coast Conference, 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 will be compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the abbreviated Winter 2021 season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship slated for March 18, 20 and 21 on the campus of Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

WINTER 2021 MEN’S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 10 (WEEK 2)

Defending National Champion Stanford University clings to the No. 1 position in the national rankings for another seven-day stretch as the Cardinal continue at No. 1 in the Week 2/February 3 National Men’s Varsity Top 10 Poll. The National Top 10 is a change from the normally released Top 20 due to a decrease in the number of varsity programs competing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Stanford (93 points), which downed host University of the Pacific by a 13-8 score in the 2019 NCAA Championship title game held at the Chris Kjeldsen Pool Complex in Stockton, Calif., has yet to compete this year – although the Cardinal will earn need to defend their crown this weekend in a clash of No. 1 versus No. 2.

Stanford will travel to the University of Southern California‘s this weekend to face the host Trojans, the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of California for a two-day, six game series unlike anything in the history of collegiate sport.  USC (92 points), UCLA (92 points) and California (92 points), which were tied at No. 2 last week, remain squared in the runner-up position as this weekend’s competition at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center will feature three meetings of the No. 2 teams in the nation (UCLA-vs.-California, USC-vs.-California, USC-vs.-UCLA) and a trio of clashes between No. 1 and No. 2 (USC-vs.-Stanford, UCLA-vs.-Stanford, California-vs.-Stanford).  It marks the only time known in the history of men’s and women’s collegiate sport on either the Division I, II or III levels that a six-game tournament will feature no team ranked lower than second in the nation.

California (17-16 W OT vs. UCLA; 12-9 W vs USC), UCLA (10-7 W vs. California; 11-8 W vs. USC) and USC (9-6 W vs. California; 12-7 W vs. UCLA) have prior meetings versus one another from the opening weekend of competition and will aim to stake their claim to the No. 1 spot for the Week 3 balloting.

Pepperdine University (83 points), Loyola Marymount University (72 points), California Baptist University (66 points) and Bucknell University (61 points) remain at No. 5-to-8, respectively, while the United States Air Force Academy (60 points) soars into the Top 10 at No. 9.  Air Force’s ascension sinks the United States Naval Academy (54 points) and George Washington University (56 points) to No. 10 and complete the rankings.

WINTER 2021 MEN’S VARSITY MID-ATLANTIC WATER POLO CONFERENCE TOP 5 (WEEK 2)

Defending league champion Bucknell University and the United States Naval Academy remain tied at No. 1 in the Week 2/February 3 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Poll.

The 2016 and 2019 MAWPC Champion Bison (96 points) – which held sole custody of the No. 1 spot in the MAWPC’s Preseason Poll – is again knotted with the Midshipmen (96 points) with neither team competing in a game yet during the COVID-19 impacted campaign.

Fordham University (93 points) and George Washington University (83 points) hold at No. 3 and 4, respectively, with La Salle University (34 points) shattering a tie with Gannon University to acquire sole possession of the No. 5 spot.