UCLA Remains Number 1 on Collegiate Water Polo Week 3 Rankings

The University of California-Los Angeles retains its position as the No. 1 team in the nation as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2016 Week 3/September 21 Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NEWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls.

The two-time defending National Champion Bruins hold at 99 points this week to once again barely miss out on being a unanimous No. 1 selection.  Whittier College retains its position as a uncontested No. 1 selection, however, as the Poets retain their position on top of the Division III Top 10 Poll.

2015 CWPA Champion Princeton University sees its lead in the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five Poll evaporate as the Tigers are now tied with the Crimson of Harvard University for the first year league’s No. 1 berth.  Bucknell University is again a unanimous No. 1 selection in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top Five as the Bison hold a five-point lead over runner-up George Washington University.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, NEWPC, 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 season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

2016 MEN’S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 20 (WEEK 3/SEPTEMBER 21)

The 2014 and 2015 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion Bruins of theUniversity of California-Los Angeles continue to rank in the top spot in the 2016 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll through games of September 19.

UCLA, which garners 99 points for the second week in a row after rating as a unanimous top choice in the Week 1 voting, witnesses its margin over runner-up the University of Southern California (94 points) slip to three points after the Bruins held spreads of five and second points over the Trojans during the past two weeks. The University of California (91 points), University of the Pacific (85 points), Stanford University (81 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (73 points) and Long Beach State University (72 points) follow at No. 3-to-7 for the fourth time to retain their Preseason, Week 1 and Week 2 positions.

For the third week in a row, the final two slots in the Top 10 experience change.  The University of California-Irvine (58 points), which ranked at No. 8 in the past three polls, acquires company as Harvard University (58 points) shatters a three-way tie at No. 9 from last week with Pepperdine University and Princeton University to create a deadheat at No. 8 in the Week 3 voting.  The Crimson’s rise drops Pepperdine (56 points) back to No. 10, while Princeton (47 points) slips into a tie with the University of California-Davis (47 points) at No. 11.

Bucknell University (41 points) leaps over the University of California-San Diego (39 points) and Brown University (39 points) to assume control of the No. 13 slot in the Top 20 as the Tritons and Bears each move back one place to No. 14 and 15, respectively.

Changes keep occurring in the backend of the Top 20 as California Baptist University (17 points) and George Washington University(17 points) are now tied at No. 16 with San Jose State University (15 points) and Santa Clara University (8 points) coming in at No. 18 and 19.

Fresno Pacific University (7 points), which was unranked last week, cracks the Top 20 in the final spot.

2016 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 3/September 21)
Rank	Team	Week 2 Poll	Points
1	University of California-Los Angeles	1	99
2	University of Southern California	2	96
3	University of California	3	91
4	University of the Pacific	4	85
5	Stanford University	5	81
6	University of California-Santa Barbara	6	73
7	Long Beach State University	7	72
8 (T)	Harvard University	9 (T)	58
8 (T)	University of California-Irvine	8	58
10	Pepperdine University	9 (T)	56
11 (T)	University of California-Davis	12	47
11 (T)	Princeton University	9 (T)	47
13	Bucknell University	15	41
14	University of California-San Diego	13	39
15	Brown University	14	34
16 (T)	California Baptist University	16	17
16 (T)	George Washington University	19	17
18	San Jose State University	17	15
19	Santa Clara University	20	8
20	Fresno Pacific University	NR	7
RV	Whittier College	RV	6
RV	Saint Francis College Brooklyn	18	4
RV	University of Redlands	NR	2
RV	United States Air Force Academy	RV	1
RV	Loyola Marymount University	RV	1
RV	Wagner College	NR	1

 

2016 MEN’S VARSITY DIVISION III TOP 10 (WEEK 3/SEPTEMBER 21)

The Poets of Whittier College (100 points) remain a unanimous No. 1 selection in the 2016 National Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll through games of September 19.

Whittier, which had 96 points to top the Preseason Poll prior to acquiring a perfect 100 points after the first week of competition, leads a Division III Top 10 continues to see programs rise and fall in the wake of early season competition.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (94 points) holds at No. 2, but the University of Redlands (89 points) moves back in front of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (86 points) to take over at No. 3 after the Sagehens went in front of the Bulldogs last week.

California Lutheran University (77 points) inches up to No. 5 with Chapman University (74 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (71 points) holding at and falling to No. 6 and 7, respectively.

The University of La Verne (66 points), Johns Hopkins University and Occidental College (34 points) conclude the Top 10 as the trio stay put at No. 8-to-10.

Connecticut College (11 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (11 points) also received votes.

2016 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 3/September 21)
Rank	Team	Week 2 Poll	Points
1	Whittier College	1	100
2	Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges	2	94
3	University of Redlands	4	89
4	Pomona-Pitzer Colleges	3	86
5	California Lutheran University	7	77
6	Chapman University	6	74
7	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5	71
8	University of La Verne	8	66
9	Johns Hopkins University	9	62
10	Occidental College	10	34
RV	Washington & Jefferson College	RV	11
RV	Connecticut College	RV	11

 

2016 MEN’S VARSITY MID-ATLANTIC WATER POLO CONFERENCE TOP 5 (WEEK 3/SEPTEMBER 21)

Bucknell University, which rose to the No. 1 position in the Week 1/September 7 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Poll with 98 points and became a unanimous top selection last week, continues to stand horns and shoulders above the rest of the conference as the Bison once gain garner 100 points.

Bucknell continues to lead a first-year conference grouping that includes George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, the United States Naval Academy, Gannon University, MercyhurstUniversity, Monmouth College, Salem International University, Washington & Jefferson College, Connecticut College, Fordham University, Wagner College and La Salle University.

Change does come to the remainder of the Top Five, however.

George Washington University (95 points) continues to rate at No. 2 behind Bucknell, but the remainder of the Top Five shifts as Johns Hopkins University (86 points) pulls even with the United States Naval Academy (86 points) at No. 3 as the Blue Jays and Midshipmen previously ranked at No. 4 and 3, respectively, last week.

Wagner College, which is fielding a men’s varsity team for the first time in 2016, cracks the Top Five as the Seahawks surpass FordhamUniversity (33 points) to round out the MAWPC’s elite through three weeks of action.

2016 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 3/September 21)
Rank	Team	Week 2 Poll	Points
1	Bucknell University	1	100
2	George Washington University	2	95
3 (T)	United States Naval Academy	3	86
3 (T)	Johns Hopkins University	4	86
5	Wagner College	RV	50
RV	Fordham University	5	33

 

2016 MEN’S VARSITY NORTHEAST WATER POLO CONFERENCE TOP 5 (WEEK 3/SEPTEMBER 31)

The first-year Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) continues to be Ivy-dominated through the first three weeks of the 2016 Men’s Varsity season as 2015 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion Princeton University and fellow Ivy league institution Harvard University are deadlocked on top of the group.

Comprised of Brown University, Iona College, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Saint Francis College Brooklyn, Harvard and Princeton, the NWPC is in its first-year of existence following a division of the CWPA into two men’s varsity conferences (Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, Northeast Water Polo Conference) starting in 2016.

Princeton, which topped fellow Ivy League institution Brown 95-94 for the No. 1 spot in the Preseason rankings, could not hold off the Crimson this week after topping Harvard by a point in both the Week 1 (97-96) and Week 2 (98-97) polls.

Harvard, which was ranked at No. 4 in the Preseason voting, and Princeton lead a Top Five which experienced change at the top and bottom of the rankings.

Brown (91 points) and St. Francis Brooklyn (68 points) continue at No. 3 and 4, while Iona (64 points) slips past MIT (33 points) to take over the final position in the Top Five.

2016 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 3/September 21)
Rank	Team	Week 2 Poll	Points
1 (T)	Harvard University	2	97
1 (T)	Princeton University	1	97
3	Brown University	3	91
4	St. Francis College Brooklyn	4	68
5	Iona College	RV	64
RV	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	5	33

Courtesy of Colligate Water Polo Association.