Courtesy: Cal Athletics
The Cal men’s water polo team will host the 2022 NCAA Championship as the No. 1 seed and advance straight to the semifinals on Dec. 3 at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The seven-team field was announced Sunday evening, and the defending NCAA champions were placed directly in the semifinals, where they will take on either Pacific or UC Davis. No. 2 UCLA was awarded the other automatic semifinal berth.
Spieker Aquatics Complex will play host to a pair of opening round games on Dec. 1. In addition to a matchup between Pacific and UC Davis, USC will take on the winner of this Saturday’s initial opening round contest between Princeton and Fordham.
The semifinal winners will meet in the NCAA final on Dec. 4. The championship match will air on ESPNU.
The Bears won the MPSF regular season championship for the third straight season and are 20-2 overall. They won their 15th national championship last season after defeating USC in the final, 13-12. Cal features three-time defending MPSF Player of the year Nikolaos Papanikolaou and three-time defending MPSF Coach of the Year Kirk Everist.
Tickets for the 2022 NCAA Championship at Spieker Aquatics Complex go on sale Monday at 9 a.m. PT and can be purchased by clicking here.