The College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has released their women’s preseason poll, with Virginia and Stanford leading the way. The defending champion Cavaliers received 12 of 15 first place votes and the reloaded Cardinal received the other 3 first place votes. NC State, Michigan and Texas rounded out the top five.
While some teams have begun competition, as the ‘preseason’ poll, pollsters were instructed to not penalize teams that have not yet competed.
Note: the CSCAA polls are designed to reflect dual meet strength, not necessarily a projection of NCAA Championship meet finish.
The poll reflects what is likely to be a tight two-team race between Virginia and Stanford throughout the season. At last year’s NCAA Championship, Virginia won handily with 491 points, ahead of 2nd place NC State and 3rd place Texas. Stanford, which was hit hard by multiple redshirts and deferments last season, finished in ninth with 159 points.
From last year’s NCAA results, Stanford is the biggest riser, moving up from 9th to 2nd. Two programs also had significant drops from last season’s NCAA finish, as Alabama dropped from 5th to 14th, and Texas A&M fell from 14th to 21st.
Some notable Top 10 matchups are set to take place this weekend, as #1 Virginia travels west to take on #6 Cal, and #7 Tennessee heads to Raleigh to battle #3 NC State.
NCAA Division I Poll
| Rk | Prv | Team | Points |
| 1 | Virginia | 372 | |
| 2 | Stanford | 363 | |
| 3 | NC State | 333 | |
| 4 | Michigan | 331 | |
| 5 | Texas | 325 | |
| 6 | California | 293 | |
| 7 | Tennessee | 276 | |
| 8 | Georgia | 267 | |
| 9 | Florida | 250 | |
| 10 | Ohio State | 243 | |
| 11 | Indiana | 242 | |
| 12 | Kentucky | 203 | |
| 13 | Louisville | 187 | |
| 14 | Alabama | 168 | |
| 15 | North Carolina | 156 | |
| 16 | Northwestern | 143 | |
| 17 | Southern California | 141 | |
| 18 | Virginia Tech | 111 | |
| 19 | Wisconsin | 106 | |
| 20 | Missouri | 94 | |
| 21 | Texas A&M | 88 | |
| 22 | Arizona State | 79 | |
| 23 | Auburn | 35 | |
| 24 | Duke | 31 | |
| 25 | Notre Dame | 22 |
Also Receiving Votes
Florida State (8), San Diego State (3), Miami (FL) (2), Southern Methodist (1), South Carolina (1)
Women’s Poll Committee
Jen Betz, Kansas; Niko Fantakis, Brown; Naya Higashijima, Southern Methodist (Chair); Andrew Hodgson, Northwestern; Lars Jorgensen, Kentucky; Nathan Lavery, Drexel; Ben Loorz, UNLV; Sergio Lopez, Virginia Tech; Jonathan Maccoll, Rutger; Lea Maurer, Southern California; Jeana Kempe, South Carolina; Jos Smith, Utak; Mike Stephens, Boston College; Braden Keith, SwimSwam; David Rieder, Swimming World.
Cal will be higher with Mia Kragh as a new flyer. She suffered an injury this past year, but her LC success suggests that she’s back in form at 58.8 in the 100 L Fly. 52.01 in SC, going to be good
Notable Top 10 matchups in the last paragraph correction: Tennessee travels to NC State not the other way around.
It’s gonna be old school crazy tomorrow night in the thunderdome/wolf’s den or whatever they want to call it. Hate to compare it to a rival but it seems like the swimming equivalent in there to that Cameron indoor or Allen field house type vibe. Hope they post video!
Old school crazy is; people throwing chairs into the pool, diving coaches giving the other team’s divers a 2 for a 7 dive, the home team putting the pep band next the the visiting team, after the visitors have chosen lanes a manager for homies lather some vaseline on their blocks and the officials leaving with a thicker wallet for the questionable dqs. Naw it will be a politically correct gentiel white gloved competition relishing the traditions of sportsmanship and good natured athletic jiggles. Sad state of affairs that people are so sedated and afraid to get raunchy!!! I say have the NCState fans throwin oranges at the VOLS and have the Tennessee hillbilly fans cover their overalls with cow… Read more »
the Alabama slander has been brutal on this site lately
I don’t see a case for them to be top 10
This is for dual meets. Rhyan White beats almost anyone in backstroke and 100 fly, Kensey McMahon beats almost anyone in 500-1,650. They have 3 women go 21 in the 50 & 47 in the 100, a 59.1 breaststroker, and superb relays. I would say they are at the very least a top 10 women’s team