USC Sits Atop 2022 Women’s CWPA Varsity Preseason Polls

Courtesy: Collegiate Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Defending National Champion the University of Southern California will open the 2022 women’s water polo varsity season as the top-ranked team in the land as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2022 Preseason Women’s Varsity National Top 25, Division III Top 10, CWPA Top Five and CWPA Division III Top Five Polls.

Following a 2021 season in which the Division III rankings were cut to five teams with the CWPA and CWPA Division III polls standing at four and five teams, respectively, a full allotment of varsity programs are slated to compete in 2022.  The national polls return to their normal numbers with adjustments possible if the number of teams diminishes due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges will open the new season as the top-ranked team in Division III, while the University of Michigan and Austin College retain their top billing in the CWPA Top Five and CWPA Division III Top Five Polls after claiming championships in 2021.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Golden Coast Conference, the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the Big West Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the CWPA based on the cumulative results of the season, the polls are compiled and released on Wednesday during the season.

2022 WOMEN’S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 25 (PRESEASON)

Three things are nearly certain at the state of a new season – death, taxes and the University of Southern California stands among the top-ranked teams in women’s collegiate water polo.

The 2022 season will begin true to this saying as the Trojans – who claimed the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship – will open the year as the top-ranked program in the Women’s Varsity Top 25 Preseason Poll.

USC (97 points) holds a slim one-point lead over Stanford University (96 points) as the Cardinal take over at No. 2 after rating at No. 3 in the final 2021 poll.  The University of California-Los Angeles (94 points), Arizona State University (84 points) and the University of California (83 points) rate at No. 3-to-5, respectively, while the University of Hawaii (82 points), the University of California-Irvine (80 points), the University of Michigan (72 points), the University of California-San Diego (64 points) and Fresno State University (62 points) round out the Top 10 at No. 6-to-10.

Indiana University (51 points), Long Beach State University (50 points), University of the Pacific (47 points), the University of California-Davis (46 points) and San Diego State University (42 points) will commence their campaigns at No. 11-to-15 with San Jose State University (39 points), Loyola Marymount University (38 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (36 points), Princeton University (26 points) and Harvard University (24 points) capping off the Top 20.

California Baptist University (35 points), Marist College (15 points), Wagner College (23 points), Bucknell University (12 points) and California State University-Northridge (7 points) complete the Top 25.

2022 WOMEN’S VARSITY DIVISION III TOP 10 (PRESEASON)

Following a 2021 season in which half of the programs did not compete due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges returns to the women’s ranks to rate at No. 1 in the 2022 Women’s Varsity Division III Preseason Top 10 Poll.

The Division III rankings in 2021 were cut down to five teams as California Lutheran University, Chapman University and the University of Redlands of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) elected to compete, while the California Institute of Technology, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Occidental College, the University of La Verne, Pomona-Pitzer and Whittier College stayed out of competition due to the pandemic.  In the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), Connecticut College, Macalester College, Utica College and Washington & Jefferson College competed in minimal schedules with Austin College, Carthage College, Grove City College, Penn State Behrend and Wittenberg University all contesting full CWPA Division III league seasons.

Due to the number of teams competing, the Division III Top 10 poll was cut down to five teams to maintain proportionality between the number of competing programs and national ranking size.

However, a New Year and fresh season brings a return to the more inclusive Top 10 Poll with the Saghens (98 points) returning to the water with a preseason No. 1 ranking.

California Lutheran (96 points) – which tied with Austin at No. 1 in the final 2021 poll – opens the year at No. 2 with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (88 points) and Whittier (76 points) coming in at No. 3 and 4.

Chapman (75 points) and Redlands (75 points) are tied at No. 5 with La Verne (72 points), Austin (70 points), Occidental (67 points) and Wittenberg (25 points) rounding out the Top 10.

2022 WOMEN’S VARSITY COLLEGIATE WATER POLO ASSOCIATION TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

Five-time defending Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion the University of Michigan will aim to make it six in a row in 2022 as the as the Wolverines once again lead the league rankings by topping the 2022 CWPA Division I Preseason Top Five Poll.

The 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021 league champion, Michigan (100 points) is a unanimous No. 1 selection and holds a five-point lead over runner-up Princeton University (95 points).  Princeton, Brown University and Harvard University did not compete during the 2021 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Harvard (88 points) rates at No. 3 with Bucknell University (82 points) and Brown (52 points) rounding out the Top Five.

2022 WOMEN’S VARSITY COLLEGIATE WATER POLO ASSOCIATION DIVISION III TOP 5 (PRESEASON)

2021 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III champion Austin College earns the top spot in the 2022 Preseason CWPA Division III Top Five Poll.

The ‘Roos (100 points) open the season as a unanimous No. 1 pick.  Austin, which downed Wittenberg University to claim the program’s inaugural league championship last year, holds a five-point lead over the Tigers (95 points) in the early rankings.

Grove City College (80 points), Macalester College (71 points) and Penn State Behrend (69 points) complete the Top Five.