Editor’s note: the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA)’s rankings track dual meet strength, specifically. That is, a higher-ranked team is expected to win in a head-to-head dual meet with a lower-ranked team, according to the voters. These rankings aren’t an NCAA finish prediction – for a ranking closer to that model, check out SwimSwam’s Power Rankings, coming soon.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) has released their third round of Division I polls for the 2020-21 season, with a new leader on the women’s side: the Texas Longhorns.
The Longhorn women jumped from #2 to #1, with the Texas Hall of Fame Invite seeing them break several school records, largely at the hands of a stellar freshman class. On the women’s side, Virginia also popped up from #4 to #2, pushing former #1 Georgia down to #3. NC State moved from #7 to #4, Tennessee from #9 to #5 and Florida from #10 to #7, while Texas A&M, Louisville and UNC moved up several spots.
One team, Arkansas, appears after not being ranked at all this season. They’ve leapt up to #17.
Texas’s men hold on to their #1 ranking, but after Georgia’s huge mid-season meet, they’ve clawed past Cal to #2. Texas A&M, buoyed by their star Shaine Casas and an impressive upswing season from senior Tanner Olson, hops up to #4.
Mizzou and Virginia also come charging into the top 10 after being ranked #18 and #17, respectively. Georgia Tech is another big mover, elevating five spots to #17, while Navy and SMU appear at #24 and #25, respectively, after not being ranked previously.
As a reminder, starting with November’s ranks, Arizona State (redshirting their team this season) and the Ivy League (winter sports canceled) are not included in the polls. Out of major conferences, we’ve seen the most action from teams in the SEC and ACC, along with Texas, while Pac-12 and Big Ten teams have been quiet or completely silent, competition-wise.
Voters were instructed to factor in virtual and intrasquad meet results into their ballots, and to downgrade, but not exclude, teams that haven’t competed yet.
Division I Women
| Rk | Prv | Team | Points |
| 1 | 2 | Texas | 339 |
| 2 | 4 | Virginia | 336 |
| 3 | 1 | Georgia | 326 |
| 4 | 7 | NC State | 295 |
| 5 | 9 | Tennessee | 280 |
| 6 | 3 | California | 275 |
| 7 | 10 | Florida | 254 |
| 8 | 5 | Stanford | 251 |
| 9 | 6 | Michigan | 237 |
| 10 | 8 | Kentucky | 236 |
| 11 | 11 | Alabama | 218 |
| 12 | 15 | Texas A&M | 182 |
| 13 | 13 | Missouri | 171 |
| 14 | 21 | Louisville | 159 |
| 15 | 17 | Virginia Tech | 146 |
| 16 | 16 | Duke | 121 |
| 17 | NR | Arkansas | 110 |
| 18 | 23 | North Carolina | 104 |
| 19 | 22 | Auburn | 96 |
| 20 | 20 | Indiana | 71 |
| 21 | 14 | Ohio State | 69 |
| 22 | 25 | Florida State | 65 |
| 23 | 18 | Southern California | 57 |
| 24 | 19 | Northwestern | 55 |
| 25 | 24 | Akron | 43 |
Also Receiving Votes
Notre Dame (14), Fresno State (6), UCLA (5), Louisiana State (3), Houston (2), South Carolina (1)
Division I Men
| Rk | Prv | Team | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Texas | 350 |
| 2 | 3 | Georgia | 324 |
| 3 | 2 | California | 324 |
| 4 | 6 | Texas A&M | 310 |
| 5 | 5 | Florida | 300 |
| 6 | 4 | NC State | 277 |
| 7 | 8 | Michigan | 237 |
| 8 | 18 | Missouri | 221 |
| 9 | 9 | Indiana | 220 |
| 10 | 17 | Virginia | 204 |
| 11 | 12 | Tennessee | 202 |
| 12 | 7 | Stanford | 201 |
| 13 | 10 | Louisville | 199 |
| 14 | 13 | Alabama | 172 |
| 15 | 11 | Virginia Tech | 160 |
| 16 | 16 | Florida State | 138 |
| 17 | 22 | Georgia Tech | 124 |
| 18 | 14 | Ohio State | 115 |
| 19 | 20 | Arizona | 110 |
| 20 | 23 | North Carolina | 85 |
| 21 | 15 | Notre Dame | 64 |
| 22 | 21 | Auburn | 62 |
| 23 | 19 | Wisconsin | 38 |
| 24 | NR | Navy | 29 |
| 25 | NR | Southern Methodist | 18 |
Also Receiving Votes
Southern California (14), Minnesota (13), Louisiana State (7), Kentucky (6), Arizona State (6), Duke (5), Texas Christian (4), Pittsburgh (4), Northwestern (4), South Carolina (2) Penn State (1)
I believe that the Big 10 teams haven’t competed yet, either. This may sound silly, but I feel that the teams that haven’t competed will not get their chance to qualify for the NCAAs. It just doesn’t seem right that some conferences get to compete but others don’t
Hello Navy at 24. Probably one of the deepest teams in the country just need some top end speed
SMU men have cracked the Top 25 just one year after Rhodenbaugh took over. Pony up!
If you want to see how much value is put in these polls, go look at coaches contracts and see the bonuses they get for dual meet victories and dual meet rankings…now go look at performance bonuses for conference and ncaa meet places and championships. You’ll see that one set of bonuses exists and the other doesn’t. Swim coaches get compensated based on what matters to their schools and pretty much every one agrees that dual meet records are not at all indicative of championship finishes…for that you need the SwimSwam Swimulator and Power Rankings!
Anyway you look at this; Virginia should be ranked number one. I am not a Virginia fan but until some other program wins the NCAA swimming championship (if there is one) they deserve the number one ranking. And if the NCAA really wants a championship they could easily figure it out. Put the swimmers in a bubble for the four or five days it would take.
Thats obviously the women i am referring to.
Why? UVA never won it.
UVA because of the talent on their roster. And the fact that all their best are swimming.
The real question here is why no mention of Liberty University for the women? Coach Jake has promised us during recruiting that we are better than most Big 10 teams
I guess declaring repeatedly on social media that your football team is among the 25 best teams that are playing football doesn’t have the same impact on building a top 25 swim team as coach thinks it does.
With the Liberty timing system they should be Number 1!!!!
UNC men are way too low. Should be top 15 for sure.
They won’t get top 25 at NCAAs. They shouldn’t be on the list at all
This list has absolutely nothing to do with how teams are projected to finish at NCAAs. People need to realize that with these polls
Well then why is the Texas mens in place first? Sorry me english not is to good!
They don’t have great correlation to how teams are projected to fare (or have fared) in dual meets either. See: Fresno State.
You already know the Virginia coach are gonna have steam coming out of their ears because their no #1
The Virginia coach is not going to have steam coming from his ears. He has learned the difference between a December poll and the points totals at NCAAs. While it is nice to have midseason recognition, I am not aware of anyone who hoists a banner that says, “We are #1 in the December 17 CSCAA Coaches Poll.” If there are such banners, I would love to see a picture!
PS I recognize, fully, that the above post is by a troll (together with his up-voters), but I am engaging him/her in an endearing way. I hope s/he is entertained.
It’s interesting you say that because Virginia as well as many other programs plaster these polls and predictions all over their social media accounts
I think it should be illegal for teams to plaster polls and predictions on social media accounts. We should censure them if they become over zealous. UVA is a great example of a hysterical team.
Actually Texas A&M does just that
Pretty sure they’ve been hoisting the banner all year because they were seeded to score the most points.
Sorry for the typos I’m illiterate