For the second-consecutive season we got a competitive race for the team title at the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships and for the second-consecutive season, the Texas Longhorns came out on top, winning by 29.5 points ahead of the surprising Florida Gators.
The Gators were one of three men’s teams that improved their scoring from last year by over 100 points, jumping 101 from last year. The leading theory out of the swamp is that with the pressure of their 12 consecutive SEC titles off after Texas broke the streak last year, the Gators were able to more clearly wind up for the NCAA Championships.
Further data to support that theory is that this was the first time since 2022 that Florida swimmers outperformed their seed at the national championship meet.
Ironically, Florida and Michigan, the two worst-performing men’s teams versus seed over the last three years, are two of the three teams that improved more than 100 points versus seed this season. Michigan’s men, like their women (+100), made a big leap forward.
The other team with a triple digit improvement in scoring was the University of Virginia, boosted by a huge performance from their freshman class. Newcomers scored 72 of the team’s 97 individual points, including a pair of NCAA titles for freshman Maximus Williamson.
NCAA Men’s Team Movement Vs. Last Year
| Place | Team | Points | Last Year’s Place | Up/Down Places | Points Last Year | Points Difference |
| 1 | Texas | 445.5 | 1 | — | 490 | -44.5 |
| 2 | Florida | 416 | 4 | +2 | 315 | +101 |
| 3 | Indiana | 351 | 3 | — | 459 | -108 |
| 4 | Arizona St | 328 | 6 | +2 | 248 | +80 |
| 5 | Tennessee | 272 | 5 | — | 266.5 | +5.5 |
| 6 | NC State | 258.5 | 9 | +3 | 178 | +80.5 |
| 7 | California | 231 | 2 | -5 | 471 | -240 |
| 8 | Michigan | 220 | 11 | +3 | 98.5 | +121.5 |
| 9 | Virginia | 192 | 32 | +23 | 14 | +178 |
| 10 | Stanford | 136 | 8 | -2 | 216 | -80 |
| 11 | Virginia Tech | 86 | 10 | -1 | 107.5 | -21.5 |
| 12 | Louisville | 82 | 14 | +2 | 84 | -2 |
| 13 | Ohio St | 72 | 16 | +3 | 78 | -6 |
| 14 | Southern California | 69 | 15 | +1 | 80 | -11 |
| 15 | Georgia | 64.5 | 7 | -8 | 238.5 | -174 |
| 16 | LSU | 61 | 19 | +3 | 47 | +14 |
| 17 | Auburn | 55 | 32 | +15 | 14 | +41 |
| 18 | Kentucky | 52 | 20 | +2 | 30 | +22 |
| 19 | UNC | 50.5 | 23 | +4 | 25 | +25.5 |
| 20 | Pittsburgh | 48 | 34 | +14 | 13 | +35 |
| 21 | Miami (Fl) | 46 | 23 | +2 | 25 | +21 |
| 22 | Princeton | 45 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +45 |
| 23 | SMU | 44 | 35 | +12 | 12 | +32 |
| 24 | Alabama | 41 | 13 | -11 | 93 | -52 |
| 25 | Florida St | 40 | 18 | -7 | 54 | -14 |
| 26 | Northwestern | 39 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +39 |
| 27 | Arizona | 35 | 29 | +2 | 15.5 | +19.5 |
| 28 | Missouri | 32.5 | 36 | +8 | 10 | +22.5 |
| 29 | Purdue | 32 | 17 | -12 | 62 | -30 |
| 30 | Texas A&M | 28 | 12 | -18 | 95.5 | -67.5 |
| 31 | Minnesota | 22 | 28 | -3 | 16 | +6 |
| 32 | Wisconsin | 19 | 22 | -10 | 28 | -9 |
| 33 | Army | 17.5 | 30 | -3 | 15 | +2.5 |
| 34 | Georgia Tech | 17 | 25 | -9 | 24 | -7 |
| 34 | Utah | 17 | 30 | -4 | 15 | +2 |
| 34 | Yale | 17 | 20 | -14 | 30 | -13 |
| 37 | Notre Dame | 16 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +16 |
| 38 | Delaware | 12 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +12 |
| 39 | Harvard | 9 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +9 |
| 40 | IU Indianapolis | 6 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +6 |
| 41 | Penn St | 5 | N/A | N/A | N/A | +5 |
Six NCAA men’s programs had their best finish in at least 10 years at the meet: Pitt (1953), Princeton (2006), Northwestern (2008), Kentucky (2010), North Carolina (2015), and Delaware (never scored before)
Team By Team “Best Since” or “Worst Since”
Fun Fact: Michigan has scored at every NCAA D1 Championship meet in history with team scoring, dating back to 1937. That’s 89 consecutive meets. No other program comes close.
- #1 Texas – Repeated as NCAA Champions
- Last time they weren’t champions was 2024 (#7)
- #2 Florida – Best finish since 1985 (#2)
- Last time they were better than 2nd was 1984 (#1)
- #3 Indiana – Repeated in 3rd place
- Last time they were lower than 3rd was 2024 (#4)
- #4 Arizona State – Best finish since 2024 (#1)
- #5 Tennessee – Repeated in 5th place
- Matches their best finish since 2001 (#3)
- #6 NC State – Best finish since 2024 (#5)
- #7 Cal – Lowest finish since 2007 (#8)
- Current head coach Dave Durden was hired after the 2007 NCAA Championship meet
- #8 Michigan – Best finish since 2018 (#8)
- Matches their best finish since 2015 (#3)
- Scored at NCAAs for the 89th straight year
- #9 Virginia – Best finish since 2021 (#9)
- Matches their best finish since 2011 (#8)
- #10 Stanford – Lowest finish since 2021 (#14)
- #11 Virginia Tech – Lowest finish since 2022 (#11)
- The last time they were lower than 11th was 2019 (#35)
- #12 Louisville – Best finish since 2022 (#12)
- Matches their best finish since 2021 (#5)
- #13 Ohio State – Best finish since 2024 (#13)
- Matches their best finish since 2023 (#11)
- #14 USC – Best finish since 2018 (#6)
- #15 Georgia – Lowest finish since 2019 (#18)
- #16 LSU – Best finish since 2023 (t-#16)
- Matches best finish since 2022 (t-#15)
- #17 Auburn – Best finish since 2024 (#12)
- #18 Kentucky – Best finish since 2010 (#16)
- #19 UNC – Best finish since 2015 (#18)
- #20 Pitt – Best finish since 1953 (t-#19)
- Best finish in 73 years
- Had only scored 23 times since 1953
- Highest point total at NCAAs (31 points in 2016)
- #21 Miami (FL) – Best finish since 2017 (#21)
- Matches best finish since 2015 (#20)
- #22 Princeton – Best finish since 2006 (t-#21)
- #23 SMU – Best finish since 2024 (#18)
- #24 Alabama – Lowest finish since 2013 (#28)
- #25 Florida State – Lowest finish since 2023 (no score)
- #26 Northwestern – Best finish since 2008 (#12)
- #27 Arizona – Best finish sine 2024 (t-#27)
- Matches best finish since 2022 (#17)
- #28 Missouri – Best finish since 2024 (t-#27)
- #29 Purdue – Lowest finish since 2023 (#38)
- #30 Texas A&M – Lowest finish since 2015 (#38)
- #31 Minnesota – Lowest finish since 1988 (t-#32)
- #32 Wisconsin – Lowest finish since 2022 (t-#34)
- #33 Army – Lowest finish since 2025 (t-#30)
- Two consecutive scoring years are their first scoring years since 1987.
- #34 Georgia Tech – Lowest finish since 2024 (no score)
- #34 Utah – Lowest finish since 2024 (#36)
- #34 Yale – Lowest finish since 2024 (no score)
- #37 Notre Dame – Best finish since 2024 (#10)
- #38 Delaware – Scored for the first time at the NCAA Championships
- #39 Harvard – Best finish since 2022 (#13)
- First time scoring at the NCAA Championships since 2022.
- #40 IU Indianapolis – Best-ever finish at the NCAA Championships
- Previous best, and only other time scoring, came as IUPUI in 2019, grabbing 4 points to tie for 42nd.
- #41 Penn State – Best finish since 2024 (#34)
I feel like Michigan is being underlooked this season. They are back!
yes
UVA was kind of expected, but I’m very surprised to hear Michigan did too. I didn’t see them coming.
Oh now it was expected
Cal lost over 200 points. Did they recruit well enough to bounce back some?
They’ve got a decent amount of talent, but contrary to their entire run in the top 2 the taper just didn’t hit this year. I imagine they’ll be fighting hard to be top 5 the next couple years
Cal is reloading.
Gators graduate a ton. Glad their seniors/5Y go out with a bang.
Proud of Heilman! Was rooting for him with everything he has gone through recently.
Gators looked so good