The University of California-Los Angeles, Whittier College and Princeton University top the 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 8/October 29 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls.
For the fourth time in four weeks the position as the No. 1 team in the nation changes hands as UCLA returns to the top spot after a two-week absence. Overall, the position changes hands once again as Preaseason, Week 1, Week 2 and Week 7 top-rated Stanford University dropped a 7-6 game to the Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 top-ranked Bruins. Prior to the latest switch, Stanford had dislodged Week 6 No. 1 the University of Southern California following a one-week reign by the Trojans after toppling UCLA. It marks the first time in the history of the National Top 20 Men’s and/or Women’s Polls that the No. 1 position has changed four times in four weeks. Overall, UCLA’s rise to the top dramatically shifts the balance in the upper echelon of the rankings as UCLA, Stanford, USC and the University of California, which now rank at 1-2-3-4, were rated at 3-1-2-4 just seven days ago.
Whittier remains the top pick in the Division III ranks as the Poets once again garnered 99 points to top a Division III Top 10 Poll which underwent significant changes for the second week in a row following Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Division III action.
The CWPA Top 10 also experiences minor changes as the Tigers of Princeton continue to top the rankings as the unanimous choice of the pollsters. The lone change comes at No. 3 and 4 as Bucknell University surpasses St. Francis College Brooklyn in the wake of a 5-0 finish at the Santa Clara University Rodeo tournament over the weekend.
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 8)
For the fourth time in four weeks during the 2014 season, the No. 1 position in the country changes hands as the University of California-Los Angeles, which topped the Week 3-5 rankings, takes back the crown of the nation’s leading men’s water polo team after one-week tenures by the University of Southern California (Week 6) and Stanford University (Week 7) to once rate in the top position in the Week 8/October 29 National Top 20 Poll.
Unanimous No. 1 pick UCLA (100 points), which dispatched Stanford by a 7-6 count over the weekend, moves up two positions to regain top-billing as the Preseason, Week 1, Week 2 and Week 7 top-ranked Cardinal (94 points) and Week 6 No. 1 rated USC (91 points) both fall one spot to No. 2 and 3, respectively.
The University of California (86 points), Long Beach State University (80 points), the University of California-San Diego (74 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (70 points), University of the Pacific (65 points), Princeton University (59 points) and the University of California-Irvine (55 points) complete the Top 10 by holding firm at No. 5-to-10.
Positions No. 11-to-20 underwent some significant changes in the wake of Santa Clara University’s Rodeo tournament with one team moving from “Receiving Votes” to No. 12 this week.
Pepperdine University (45 points) stays at No. 11, while Bucknell University (44 points) rises from outside the Top 20 to No. 12 in the wake of a 5-0 mark at the Rodeo. Brown University (43 points), which finished 4-1 at Santa Clara, inches up to No. 13, with the University of California-Davis (35 points), the United States Air Force Academy (29 points) and Santa Clara (26 points) throttling back to No. 14, 15 and 16.
St. Francis College Brooklyn (18 points) stays at No. 17 with Loyola Marymount University (17 points), Harvard University (10 points) and Whittier College (5 points) completing the Top 20.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 8)
The Poets of Whittier College (99 points), which are ranked at No. 20 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 8/October 29 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
Behind Whittier, Chapman University (94 points) acquires sole possession of the No. 2 berth after tying with the University of Redlands (84 points) last week. Redlands slips back to No. 3, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (83 points) stays at No. 4.
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (80 points) improves one place to move into a tie with Johns Hopkins University (80 points) for Fifth Place and California Lutheran University (70 points) slides back to No. 7.
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (65 points) stays at No. 8, while the University of La Verne (58 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (37 points) exchange the No. 9 and 10 spots. Connecticut College (11 points) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 8)
The Tigers of Princeton University continue as the top rated team in the league as the squad picked up 100 points in the Week 8/October 29 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 has been ranked at No. 1 since the Preseason balloting, tops a league poll which experienced some significant changes this week.
Northern Division frontrunner Brown University (94 points) stays in striking distance of the Tigers as the Bears continue at No. 2 for the second consecutive week.
The first and only change in the Top 10 comes at No. 3 and 4 as Bucknell University (88 points), which finished 5-0 at the Santa Clara University Rodeo tournament over the weekend, supplants the Terriers of St. Francis (87 points) by a single point.
Harvard University (81 points), the United States Naval Academy (71 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (68 points), Johns Hopkins University (66 points), George Washington University (62 points) and Iona College (58 points) complete the Top 10 by holding onto last week’s No. 5-to-10 spots.
Water Polo News courtesy of the Collegiate Water Polo Association.