Collegiate water polo was thrown for a loop on Tuesday when the #1 team in the nation, USC, fired their head coach Jovan Vavic for his alleged involvement in the nationwide academic fraud scandal. In spite of that upheavel, though, the country as a whole was steady in the Week 8 CWPA women’s water polo Top 25, with the top 7 teams remaining the same.
Arizona State and UC Santa Barbara took advantage of two losses by last week’s #8 UC Irvine, moving into eighth and ninth as the Anteaters dropped two spots to #10. UCI lost to #1 USC (11-5) on Thursday and to UC Santa Barbara on Saturday.
UC San Diego and San Diego State were the among the biggest movers of the week, each dropping three poll positions. The Tritons dropped to #17 after falling to then #17 Long Beach State 5-1 on Sunday. The Aztecs were edged 10-9 by vote getter Azusa Pacific.
LBSU moved up two spots to #15 with the win over UCSD.
Indiana took advantage of the SDSU’s drop, climbing three places to #22 with a 23-2 drubbing of Wittenberg, during which the team tied its all-time scoring record. The Hoosiers will be tested this week as they face #8 Arizona State and #3 UCLA in Tempe, Arizona.
Azusa Pacific meanwhile clinched a spot in the Top 25 in a tie for #23 after upsetting the Aztecs as well as then #24 Bucknell (11-10). The Bison dropped just outside the top 25 as the lone vote getter listed beyond the Top 25.
Brown, which had previously been listed as receiving votes, dropped out of the rankings.
Action for ranked teams began on Tuesday as then-#20 Cal State Northridge pocketed wins over Connecticut College (13-2) and Austin College (20-3).
Matches between ranked teams begin on Thursday as RV Bucknell takes on #15 Long Beach State.
Six ranked teams will head to the LMU Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
| Rank | Team | Points | Last Week |
| 1 | USC | 100 | 1 |
| 2 | Stanford | 96 | 2 |
| 3 | UCLA | 92 | 3 |
| 4 | Cal | 88 | 4 |
| 5 | Hawaii | 83 | 5 |
| 6 | Michigan | 80 | 6 |
| 7 | Pacific | 77 | 7 |
| 8 | Arizona State | 71 | 9 |
| 9 | UC Santa Barbara | 69 | 10 |
| 10 | UC Irvine | 64 | 8 |
| 11 | UC Davis | 60 | 11 |
| 12 | Loyola Marymount | 54 | 12 |
| 13 | Fresno State | 50 | 13 |
| 14 | Princeton | 43 | 15 |
| 15 | Long Beach State | 42 | T17 |
| 16 | Wagner | 40 | 16 |
| 17 | UC San Diego | 38 | 14 |
| 18 | Harvard | 34 | T17 |
| 19 | San Jose State | 32 | 19 |
| 20 | Marist | 20 | 21 |
| 21 | Cal State Northridge | 16 | 20 |
| 22 | Indiana | 14 | 25 |
| T23 | Cal Baptist | 12 | 23 |
| T23 | Azusa Pacific | 12 | RV |
| 25 | San Diego State | 9 | 22 |
| RV | Bucknell | 4 | 24 |