Press Release courtesy of CWPA.
The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NEWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Week 5/October 4 Polls for the 2017 season.
For the second time in as many weeks, the title of “Top Team” is exchanged as the University of Southern California rises to No. 1 in the wake of a 9-8 loss by former top-ranked the University of California-Los Angeles to the University of California-Irvine.
The Division III Top 10 Poll also sees a team fall from No. 1 as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) slips off the pace with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Whittier College to break up a trifecta in the premier position from last week.
Defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Bucknell University hangs onto the top spot in the MAWPC Top Five rankings as a unanimous top selection, while 2016 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Harvard University loses its edge to permit Princeton University to top the NWPC Top Five this week.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, NEWPC, Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), SCIAC and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls will be compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
2017 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 5/October 4)
The only thing constant is change on top of the Men’s National Top 20 Poll as the University of Southern California takes over the top spot in the Week 5/October 4 voting following a loss by former No. 1-ranked the University of California-Los Angeles.
USC (99 points) moves up as UCLA (93 points) suffered a 9-8 loss to the University of California-Irvine last week. The defeat causes an exchange of the No. 1 and 2 positions with the Trojans moving up and the Bruins sliding back to No. 2.
Defending National Champion the University of California (92 points), Stanford University (85 points) and the University of the Pacific (81 points) remain at No. 3-to-5, respectively, while the win by UC-Irvine (75 points) drives the team past Long Beach State University (71 points) to take over at No. 6
The University of California-Santa Barbara (64 points), Pepperdine University (61 points) and the University of California-Davis (56 points) continue at No. 8-to-10, with Princeton University (49 points) acquiring sole custody of the No. 11 position after tying withHarvard University last week.
The University of California-San Diego (40 points) inches up one berth to No. 12, while St. Francis College Brooklyn (37 points) assumes the No. 13 position after downing now No. 14 Harvard (35 points) by a 13-11 final score.
Brown University (26 points) and California Baptist University (26 points), which stood at No. 14 and 15 last week, are now tied at No. 15, while Bucknell University (20 points) resets at No. 17.
San Jose State University (17 points) remains at No. 18 for another week in front of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (7 points) and Fordham University (7 points) which stay knotted at No. 19.
2017 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 5/October 4) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 4 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California | 2 | 99 |
| 2 | University of California-Los Angeles | 1 | 93 |
| 3 | University of California | 3 | 92 |
| 4 | Stanford University | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | University of the Pacific | 5 | 81 |
| 6 | University of California-Irvine | 7 | 75 |
| 7 | Long Beach State University | 6 | 71 |
| 8 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 8 | 64 |
| 9 | Pepperdine University | 9 | 61 |
| 10 | University of California-Davis | 10 | 56 |
| 11 | Princeton University | 11 (T) | 49 |
| 12 | University of California-San Diego | 13 | 40 |
| 13 | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 16 (T) | 37 |
| 14 | Harvard University | 11 (T) | 35 |
| 15 (T) | California Baptist University | 15 | 26 |
| 15 (T) | Brown University | 14 | 26 |
| 17 | Bucknell University | 16 (T) | 20 |
| 18 | San Jose State University | 18 | 17 |
| 19 (T) | Fordham University | 19 (T) | 7 |
| 19 (T) | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 19 (T) | 7 |
| RV | George Washington University | RV | 5 |
| RV | Whittier College | RV | 4 |
| RV | United States Air Force Academy | 19 (T) | 3 |
| RV | Concordia University | NR | 1 |
| RV | Loyola Marymount University | 19 (T) | 1 |
| RV | Fresno Pacific University | NR | 1 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 5/October 4)
The Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and the Poets of Whittier College once again lead the Week 5/October 4 Division III Top 10.
Pomona-Pitzer (94 points) and Whittier (94 points), which were tied with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at No. 1 last week, edge out the Engineers (93 points) to drop the Division III marquee down to two programs.
MIT and Chapman University (85 points) stand at No. 3 and 4 with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (79 points) and the University of Redlands (76 points) moving past Johns Hopkins University (75 points) to take over at No. 5 and 6, respectively.
JHU settles at No. 7 with California Lutheran University (64 points) and the University of La Verne (46 points) remaining at No. 8 and 9.
The California Institute of Technology (45 points), which received votes last week, completes the Top 10.
2017 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 5/October 4) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 4 Poll | Points |
| 1 (T) | Whittier College | 1 (T) | 94 |
| 1 (T) | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 (T) | 94 |
| 3 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 1 (T) | 93 |
| 4 | Chapman University | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 6 | 79 |
| 6 | University of Redlands | 7 | 76 |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins University | 5 | 75 |
| 8 | California Lutheran University | 8 | 64 |
| 9 | University of La Verne | 9 | 46 |
| 10 | California Institute of Technology | RV | 45 |
| RV | Connecticut College | RV | 13 |
| RV | Occidental College | 10 | 12 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 5/October 4)
Bucknell University retains its Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 selection as the No. 1 team in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) as the Bison top the Week 5/October 4 Top Five Poll.
The 2016 MAWPC Champion Bison (100 points) are once again a unanimous top selection after previously earning 100 points in the Preseason, Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 polls.
Fordham University (95 points), George Washington University (90 points) and Wagner College (85 points) stick at No. 2-to-4, respectively, with the United States Naval Academy (64 points) completing the Top Five.
2017 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 5/October 4) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 4 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Bucknell University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Fordham University | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | George Washington University | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | Wagner College | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | United States Naval Academy | NR | 64 |
| RV | Johns Hopkins University | 5 | 16 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 5/October 4)
Princeton University dislodges inaugural/2016 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Harvard University to take over the No. 1 position in the Week 5/October 4 NWPC Top Five Poll.
Following three weeks of trailing Harvard by one point, the Tigers (100 points) catch the Crimson (90 points) by the tail and become a unanimous top selection in the Northeast Water Polo Conference. Princeton and Harvard were tied at No. 1 in the Week 1 voting prior to the Crimson gaining leads of 97-to-96, 98-to-97 and 98-to-97 in the Week 2, Week 3 and Week 4 balloting.
Harvard comes in at No. 3 this week as St. Francis College Brooklyn (92 points) assumes the No. 2 slot after downing Harvard (13-11 W), Brown University (5-4 W), Iona College (14-12 W OT) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (10-5 W).
Brown (88 points) and MIT (80 points) round out the Top Five.
2017 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 5/October 4) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 4 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 2 | 100 |
| 2 | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 4 | 92 |
| 3 | Harvard University | 1 | 90 |
| 4 | Brown University | 3 | 88 |
| 5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 5 | 80 |