The University of Southern California, Whittier College and Princeton University top the 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 6/October 15 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls.
In the National Top 20 rankings, the Trojans of the USC rise from No. 4 to take over as the No. 1 team in the land thanks to a victorious run at the 2014 SoCal Tournament over the weekend at former No. 1-ranked the University of California-Los Angeles. The University of California (96 points), which finished second to USC at SoCals, joins the Trojans in moving up the rankings to take over the No. 2 slot, while Stanford University (91 points) and UCLA (86 points) drop back to No. 3 and 4, respectively, as the outcome of the SoCal Tournament sent shockwaves through the water polo national scene to radically change the Top 20.
Whittier remains the top pick in the Division III ranks as the Poets garnered 99 points to top a Division III Top 10 Poll which looks eerily similar to the October 8 rankings.
Similar to the National Top 20 Poll, the CWPA Top 10 sees the league rankings shift radically from last week as the Tigers of Princeton (100 points) return to being a unanimous top selection. However, the remainder of the Top 10 underwent some significant surgery as only four of the slots in the Top 10 remain the same from last week.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the CWPA, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (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.
2014 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 6)
For only the second time during the 2014 season, the No. 1 position in the country changes hands as the University of Southern California (98 points) uses a championship performance at the 2014 SoCal Tournament to dislodge former No. 1 the University of California-Los Angeles to take over the top spot in the Week 6/October 15 National Top 20 Poll.
UCLA, which moved up to No. 1 three weeks ago in the wake of downing former No. 1-ranked Stanford University by a 9-7 final score, falls to the side after placing fourth at home during the SoCal Tournament.
The defending National Champion, USC leads a Top 20 in which only four teams retain their ranks from the Week 5/October 8 Poll.
Behind the Trojans, the University of California (96 points), which finished second at the SoCal Tournament, leapfrogs to No. 2, while former No. 2 and No. 1 ranked Stanford University (91 points) and UCLA (86 points) slide to their tournament finishes by locking up the No. 3 and 4 positions, respectively.
Long Beach State University (80 points) stays at No. 5 for another week, while the University of California-San Diego (73 points) improves to No. 6. The University of the Pacific (71 points) joins LBSU as the only Top 10 teams to hold onto their rankings as the Tigers stay at No. 7.
The University of California-Santa Barbara (67 points) drops back two spots to No. 8, while Princeton University (61 points) and the University of California-Irvine (53 points) trade the No. 9 and 10 slots to complete the Top 10 after Princeton’s victory against the Anteaters in the Ninth Place game at SoCals.
Pepperdine University (48 points), the University of California-Davis (44 points), the United States Air Force Academy (35 points), Santa Clara University (33 points) and Brown University (32 points) slide around to claim the No. 11-to-15 spots this week.
Loyola Marymount University (26 points), St. Francis College Brooklyn (18 points), California Baptist University (15 points), Harvard University (12 points) and Whittier College (9 points) complete the Top 20.
Bucknell University (4 points), the United States Naval Academy (4 points), Concordia University (1 point), Johns Hopkins University (1 point) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1 point) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 6)
The Poets of Whittier College (99 points), which are now ranked at No. 20 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 6/October 15 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
Whittier, which loses its previous position as a unanimous top pick, leads a Division III Top 10 which experienced no changes from the Week 5/October 8 voting.
Behind the Poets, Chapman University (95 points) stays at No. 2, while the University of Redlands (84 points) and Johns Hopkins University (84 points) rate in a tie at No. 3. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (79 points) holds firm at No. 5 for another week as the Division III ranks did not experience significant change over the past seven days.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (76 points), Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (72 points), California Lutheran University (66 points), the University of La Verne (60 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (35 points) complete the Top 10.
Connecticut College (25 points) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 6)
The Tigers of Princeton University continue as the top rated team in the league as the squad picked up 100 points in the Week 6/October 15 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Poll.
Princeton, which finished second to St. Francis College Brooklyn last season in the CWPA Championship title game and was ranked No. 1 in the wake of the Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 ballots, tops a league poll which experienced some significant changes this week.
Northern Division frontrunner Brown University (90 points) falls back to No. 3 this week as the Bears fell to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology over the weekend. The loss allowed a resurgent St. Francis Brooklyn (90 points) squad to climb two places to No. 2 and force Brown and Harvard University (86 points) down to No. 3 and 4, respectively.
Bucknell University (81 points), the United States Naval Academy (74 points) and Johns Hopkins University (72 points) stay at No. 5-to-7, with MIT (68 points) riding the coattails of its win over Brown to the No. 8 position. George Washington University (59 points) and Fordham University (23 points) complete the Top 10.
Washington & Jefferson College (22 points) and Iona College (12 points) also received votes.
Water Polo News courtesy of CWPA.