The NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. It has been held every year since 1969. With a limited number of NCAA water polo programs at the national level, all men's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year. The tournament was expanded from a four-team bracket in 2013 by adding two play-in games that are contested by the bottom four seeds, effectively creating a six-team bracket with a first-round bye for the top two teams.
While the championship often includes teams from around the country, most programs are located within the state of California, and no school from outside California has ever surpassed third place or participated in the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship game.
The four California based PAC-12 schools have been the most successful. California is the most successful program with 14 titles, followed by UCLA with 11 titles, Stanford (10 titles), and USC (9 titles). One of these four schools has won the championship every year since 1998.
Championships summary
Highlights: Cal men's water polo claims NCAA National Championship with win over USC - Cal men's water polo claimed its 14th men's water polo national title with a 11-8 win over USC Sunday in Berkeley.
Team titles
Recent championships
2009 Championship
Semifinals scores (Princeton University, December 5, 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm (ET)):
- #1 USC 13 vs. #4 Princeton 3; #2 UCLA 9 vs. #3 Loyola Marymount 8 (2 OT)
National Championship (Princeton University, December 6, 2:00 pm (ET)):
- #1 USC (25-2) vs. #2 UCLA (23-6)
2009 NCAA All-Tournament Teams:
- First-Team â€" Shea Buckner, USC; Scott Davidson, UCLA; Ben Hohl, UCLA; Tibor Forai, LMU; J. W. Krumpholz, USC; Andy Stevens, LMU; Jordan Thompson, USC (MVP)
- Second-Team â€" Edgaras Asajavicius, LMU; Matt Hale, Princeton; Cullen Hennessy, UCLA; Chay Lapin, UCLA; Matt Sagehorn, USC; Josh Samuels, UCLA; Eric Vreeland, Princeton; Griffin White, UCLA; Mark Zalewski, Princeton
2010 Championship
Semifinals (December 4, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California)
- USC def. St. Francis (NY) 10-7
- California def. Loyola Marymount 7-6
Championship (December 5, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California)
- USC def. California 12-10 (OT)
2010 NCAA All-Tournament Teams:
- First-Team â€" Peter Kurzeka, USC (MVP); Ivan Rackov, CAL; Zachary White, CAL; Tibor Forai, LMU; Nikola Vavic, USC; Andy Stevens, LMU; Brian Dudley, CAL
- Second-Team â€" Boris Plavsic, SFC; Ikaika Aki, LMU; Marko Gencic, SFC; Jeremy Davie, USC; Joel Dennerley, USC; Matt Burton, USC; Cory Nasoff, CAL
2011 Championship
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining team was selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
Semifinals (December 3, 2011, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California)
- USC (22-3) def. Princeton (21-9) 17â€"4
- UCLA (23-4) def. UC-San Diego (17-9) 10â€"1
Championship (December 4, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California)
- Third-place game, Princeton def. UC San Diego 9-7
- Championship game, USC def. UCLA 7â€"4
2011 NCAA All-Tournament Teams:
- First-Team â€" Joel Dennerley (MOP), Peter Kurzeka and Nikola Vavic, USC; Josh Samuels and Cullen Hennessy, UCLA; Thomas Nelson, Princeton and Graham Saber, UC San Diego.
- Second-team â€" Matt Rapacz, Griffin White and Cristiano Mirarchi, UCLA; Jeremy Davie and Mace Rapsey, USC; Drew Hoffenberg, Princeton, and Brian Donohoe, UC San Diego.
2012 Championship
The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 1 and 2, 2012 at Southern California's McDonald’s Swim Stadium. Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining team was selected at-large without geographical restrictions. All four championship games will be streamed live on www.NCAA.com.
Semifinals - December 1, 2012
- Southern California (27-0) vs. Air Force (19-10) 4 p.m. ET
- UCLA (27-4) vs. St. Francis (N.Y.) (16-8) 6:12Â p.m. ET
Finals - December 2, 2012
- Third-place game played at 4 p.m. ET
- The championship game played at 6:12Â p.m. ET.
2013 Championship
The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 7 and 8, 2013 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. This season marked the introduction of an expanded format. Six teams were seeded into the tournament, with the bottom four participating in Play-in games to fill the four team bracket. Four conferences received automatic qualification: the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions. The tournament was seeded by the Men’s Water Polo Committee on December 1. Conference representatives were Southern Cal (MPSF), Whittier College (SCIAC), UC San Diego (WWPA), and St. Francis College Brooklyn (CWPA).
Play-in â€" December 5, 2013
- Game 1: #5 St. Francis College Brooklyn (22-10) def. #4 UC San Diego (14-13) 6-5
- Game 2: #3 Stanford (21-5) def. #6 Whittier College (19-12) 20-3
Semifinals â€" December 7, 2013
- 1 p.m. â€" Seed No.1 Southern Cal (26-4) def. #5 St. Francis College Brooklyn (23-10) 10â€"3
- 2:45 p.m. â€" Seed No. 2 Pacific (22-4) def. #3 Stanford (22-5) 11â€"10
Finals â€" December 8, 2013
- Third-place game played at 1 p.m.
- The championship game played at 3 p.m.
2014 Championship
The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 6 and 7, 2014 at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center, La Jolla, CA. The tournament continued with the new format by adding two more teams to play in the four-team play-in games. Conferences received automatic qualification were the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions. They were selected by the Men’s Water Polo Committee on November 23, 2014.
Play-in â€" November 29, 2014
- Game 1: #4 UC San Diego (15-9) def. #5 Brown University (26-6) 12â€"7
- Game 2: #3 USC (22-6) def. #6 Whittier (23-12) 19-4
Semifinals â€" December 6, 2014
- Game 3, 1:00 PM PT: #1 seed UCLA (27-3) def. #4 seed UC San Diego (16-9) 15â€"6
- Game 4, 3:12 PM PT: #3 seed USC (23-6) def. #2 seed Stanford (25-3) 12â€"11 in triple OT
Championship Dec. 7, 2014
- Third Place Game, 1:00 p.m. PT: #2 seed Stanford def. #4 seed UC San Diego 20â€"11
- National Championship Game, 3:12 p.m. PT: #1 seed UCLA def. #3 seed USC 9â€"8
2015 Championship
The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 5 and 6, 2015 at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center, Los Angeles. The tournament continued with the new format by adding two more teams to play in the four-team play-in games. Conferences received automatic qualification were the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions. They were selected by the Men’s Water Polo Committee on November 22, 2015.
Play-in â€" December 2, 2015
- Game 1: #5 UCSD (14â€"13) def. #4 Princeton (22â€"4) 12â€"7
- Game 2: #3 USC (20â€"6) def. #6 Claremont McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges (21â€"7) 20â€"5
Semifinals â€" December 5, 2015
- Game 3, 1:00 PM PT: #1 seed UCLA (28â€"0) def. #5 UCSD (15â€"13) 17â€"4
- Game 4, 3:12 PM PT: #3 USC (21â€"6) def. #2 seed California (23â€"6) 9â€"6
Championship Dec. 6, 2015
- Third Place Game, 1:00 p.m. PT: Cal def. UCSD 20â€"9
- National Championship Game, 3:12 p.m. PT: UCLA def. USC 10â€"7
2016 Championship
California defeated USC 11-8 (2OT) for the national championship.
2017 Championship
The NCAA men's water polo championship will be held December 2 and 3, 2017 at USC, Los Angeles. The tournament continues with the new format with eight teams playing for the championship. Conferences received automatic qualification are the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), Golden Coast Conference (GCC), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
Opening round â€" November 25, 2017
- Pacific defeated Pomona-Pitzer 16â€"2
- Harvard defeated George Washington 15â€"13
First round â€" November 30, 2017
- Pacific defeated UC Davis 13â€"12
- USC defeated Harvard 16â€"4
Semifinals â€" December 2, 2017
- UCLA defeated Pacific 11â€"9
- USC defeated California 12â€"11
Championship â€" December 3, 2017
- UCLA defeated USC 7â€"5
See also
- Collegiate Water Polo Association
- Western Water Polo Association
- Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
- Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
References
External links
- NCAA Men's Water Polo
