The University of California-Los Angeles, Whittier College and Princeton University remain on top of the 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 11/November 19 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls.
UCLA retains the No. 1 position in the National Top 20 Poll as the Bruins picked up 100 points to reattain the position as a unanimous top selection. Overall, the Top Eights positions in the poll remain unchanged as Stanford University, the University of Southern California, Long Beach State University, the University of California, the University of California-San Diego, University of the Pacific and Princeton University hang onto their rankings for another week.
Whittier remains the top pick in the Division III ranks as the Poets garnered 100 points to retain its position as a unanimous top pick in a Division III Top 10 Poll which underwent major changes for the fifth week in a row.
Due to no competition, the CWPA Top 10 also experiences minor changes as the Tigers of Princeton as the first-place choice of the pollsters. Brown University and Bucknell University stay at No. 2 and 3 as the Top Eight positions remain unchanged from the November 12 results.
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 11)
The University of California-Los Angeles remains the No. 1 team in the country as the Bruins pick up 100 points to reassume its spot as a unanimous top pick in the Week 11/November 19 National Top 20 Poll.
UCLA, which returned to the No. 1 spot three weeks ago as a unanimous choice and garnered 99 points last week, is followed by Stanford University (95 points) and the University of Southern California (90 points). Long Beach State University (82 points), which held sole possession of the No. 4 slot last week, gains some company as the University of California (82 points) rises from No. 5 to tie for the Fourth position in the Top 20. The University of California-San Diego (74 points), University of the Pacific (70 points) and Princeton University (65 points) remain locks at No. 6-to-8, respectively, as the first eight positions in the poll remain unchanged from the Week 10/November 12 voting.
The Top 10 does experience some change in the final two positions as the University of California-Irvine (58 points) leaps from No. 12 to No. 9 and drives former No. 9 Pepperdine University (53 points) back to No. 10.
Brown University (51 points) holds on at No. 11 to barely miss cracking the Top 10 as history could have been made if the Bears broke into the upper half of the poll. Never in the history of the National Top 20 poll have two teams from the East Coast ranked in the men’s Top 10 at the same time.
UC-Irvine’s climb to No. 9 drives former No. 10 the University of California-Santa Barbara (50 points) back to No. 12, with Bucknell University (43 points), the University of California-Davis (34 points) and the United States Air Force Academy (27 points) clinging to the No. 13-to-15 spots for another week.
Santa Clara University (22 points) moves in front of Loyola Marymount University (17 points) to take over at No. 16, while Harvard University (13 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (13 points) follow LMU at No. 18 and 19.
The final change in the Top 20 comes at the final position as the United States Naval Academy (6 points) breaks into the rankings to tie Whittier College (6 points) for the last position.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 11)
The Poets of Whittier College (100 points), which are tied at No. 20 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 11/November 19 National Division III Top 10 Poll. Behind the Poets, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (91 points) and Johns Hopkins University (83 points) retain their positions at No. 2 and 3, respectively. The first change in the rankings comes at No. 4 as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (82 points) takes over sole possession of the spot after tying with Chapman University (81 points) last week. Chapman drops back to No. 5 with the University of Redlands (80 points) sticking at No. 6. California Lutheran University (70 points) moves past Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (66 points) to take over at No. 7, while Pomona-Pitzer, the University of La Verne (61 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (34 points) complete the Top 10. Connecticut College (27 points) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 11)
The Tigers of Princeton University continue as the top rated team in the league as the squad picked up 99 points as a unanimous to pick in the Week 11/November 19 Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Poll.
Princeton, which finished claimed the league’s Southern Division Championship two weeks ago and has been ranked at No. 1 since the Preseason balloting, tops a league poll which experienced a minor changes this week.
Northern Division champion Brown University (95 points) stays in striking distance of the Tigers as the Bears continue at No. 2 for the fifth consecutive week.
Southern Division runner-up Bucknell University (91 points) hangs on at No. 3, while Harvard University (85 points) stays at No. 3 after a runner-up finish at the Northern Division Championship. St. Francis College Brooklyn (78 points), the league’s 2012 and 2013 champion which finished Third at the 2014 Northern Division Championship, holds at No. 5 and Southern Division Third Place squad the United States Naval Academy (76 points) holds steady at No. 6.
Southern Division Fourth Place finisher Johns Hopkins University (71 points) and Northern Division Fifth Place squad the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (62 points) remain locks at No. 7 and 8, respectively.
The only change in the Top 10 comes at No. 9 and 10 as George Washington University (49 points) slips behind Fordham University (58 points) after registering Fifth and Fourth place marks at the Southern and Northern Division Championships, respectively.
Connecticut College (11 points) also received votes this week.
Water Polo News courtesy of the Collegiate Water Polo Association.