USC, UCLA Men Remained Tied Atop CWPA Varsity Polls In Week 13

Courtesy: Collegiate Water Polo

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of Southern California and the University of California-Los Angeles remain tied at No. 1 as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2021 Week 13/December 1 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 Polls.

UCLA, which fell from the top position three weeks ago, claimed the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) title by defeating host Stanford University, 11-10, on the weekend prior to Thanksgiving. USC – which was tied at No. 1 two weeks with the University of California – finished in third place at the MPSF Championship after downing Cal by an 11-9 count after taking a 6-5 loss to UCLA in the semifinals.  However, the national poll looks at the entire season – rather than one weekend – as the Bruins and Trojans are rated as equals heading into the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship on December 4-5 at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center.

In the other rankings, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges retains custody of the top spot in the Division III Top 10 ranking.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, NWPC, Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), SCIAC and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), 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.

2021 MEN’S VARSITY NATIONAL TOP 20 (WEEK 13)

The University of California-Los Angeles and the University of Southern California stay tied at No. 1 in the 2021 Week 13/December 1 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 poll.

USC (96 points) and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion UCLA (96 points) lead a Top 20 in which the majority of the positions remain unchanged.

The University of California (92 points) remains at No. 3, while Stanford University (85 points) edges in front of Golden Coast Conference Champion Long Beach State University (81 points) to take over sole custody of the No. 4 position.  Long Beach drops back to No. 5 with University of the Pacific (73 points) – which fell to Long Beach State by a 13-9 final score in the Golden Coast Conference title game – remaining at No. 6.

Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion the University of California-Davis (64 points) acquires company at No. 7 as San Jose State University (64 points) and the University of California-Santa Barbara (64 points) pull into a three-way tie.  Pepperdine University (55 points) stays at No. 10 to round out the upper half of the Top 20 rankings.

Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Princeton University (43 points), California Baptist University (43 points) – which fell to UC-Davis in the WWPA title game by a 14-9 score – and the University of California-Irvine (43 points) rate in a tie at No. 11.

Loyola Marymount University (42 points), the University of California-San Diego (34 points), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (19 points), Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University (16 points), St. Francis College Brooklyn (15 points), Brown University (11 points) and Harvard University (8 points) complete the Top 20.

2021 MEN’S VARSITY DIVISION III TOP 10 (WEEK 13)

The Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remain the undisputed top team in the 2021 Week 13/December 1 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

Pomona-Pitzer (100 points), which was ranked at No. 3 in the Preseason balloting, is a unanimous top selection for the 13th week in a row.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (95 points) – which fell to Pomona-Pitzer by a 12-8 score in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) title game – remains at No. 2, with California Lutheran University (90 points), Whittier College (82 points), Johns Hopkins University (80 points) and Chapman University (73 points) retaining the No. 3-to-6 positions, respectively.

Occidental College (70 points) edges in front of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (69 points) to assume sole possession of the No. 7 position, while MIT, the University of Redlands (61 points) and the University of La Verne (33 points) complete the Top 10.