The battles in the team standings at the Men’s NCAA Championships were some of the most exciting we’ve seen in recent memory, as not only was there a competitive race for the team title, but places third through sixth weren’t decided until the final event.
The Cal Golden Bears came through as the pre-meet favorites, winning a repeat national title, while the Arizona State Sun Devils continued their incredible rise by earning the runner-up spot. Texas prevailed with a third-place finish, five points clear of fourth-place Indiana, while NC State edged out Florida to round out the top five.
Below, find the top 25 teams from the championships alongside SwimSwam’s final edition of the Power Rankings, as we take a look at what we got right, what we got wrong, and what we got really wrong.
2022-23 Men’s NCAA Power Rankings
MEN’S NCAA RESULTS VERSUS SWIMSWAM PICKS (TOP 25)
| ACTUAL FINISH | TEAM | SS FINAL POWER RANKING | DIFFERENCE |
| 1 | Cal Golden Bears | 1 | – |
| 2 | Arizona State Sun Devils | 3 | ↑1 |
| 3 | Texas Longhorns | 4 | ↑1 |
| 4 | Indiana Hoosiers | 5 | ↑1 |
| 5 | NC State Wolfpack | 6 | ↑1 |
| 6 | Florida Gators | 2 | ↓4 |
| 7 | Tennessee Volunteers | 7 | – |
| 8 | Stanford Cardinal | 8 | – |
| 9 | Virginia Tech Hokies | 9 | – |
| 10 | Auburn Tigers | 11 (tie) | ↑1 |
| 11 | Ohio State Buckeyes | 14 | ↑3 |
| 12 | Georgia Bulldogs | 15 | ↑3 |
| 13 | Louisville Cardinals | 11 (tie) | ↓2 |
| 14 | Texas A&M Aggies | 13 | ↓1 |
| 15 | Virginia Cavaliers | 10 | ↓5 |
| 16 | LSU Tigers | 20 | ↑4 |
| 16 | Missouri Tigers | 19 | ↑3 |
| 18 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 25 | ↑7 |
| 19 | Alabama Crimson Tide | 16 | ↓3 |
| 20 | Michigan Wolverines | 17 | ↓3 |
| 21 | Minnesota Golden Gophers | 18 | ↓3 |
| 22 | USC Trojans | NR | + |
| 23 | Miami (FL) Hurricanes | 22 | ↓1 |
| 23 | UNC Tar Heels | NR | + |
| 23 | Wisconsin Badgers | HM | + |
WHAT WE GOT RIGHT
Not much. Well, we correctly predicted Cal to win the title, which they were favored to do, and our final Power Rankings also had Tennessee, Stanford and Virginia Tech correctly slotted in places seventh, eighth and ninth.
WHAT WE GOT WRONG – TOP 10
Our biggest miss inside the top 10 was Florida, as the Gators fell to sixth after we predicted they would finish second. The entire top five scored more points than they were seeded to, while Florida went -66.5 relative to seed, ultimately finishing 16.5 points back of third place.
The general sentiment was that Arizona State had peaked for their conference championship meet and wouldn’t pull off the double-taper at NCAAs, but that ended up being more of the case for the Gators, as the Sun Devils essentially held their seed and were within striking distance of Cal up until the final day.
Florida performed exceptionally well on the relays, leading all teams with 180 points across those five events, but only had two athletes score 20 or more points individually. The teams in the top five all had at least six athletes score 20+ points, with Indiana notably having seven (three of which were divers).
As a result of Florida’s drop, ASU, Texas, Indiana and NC State all finished one spot higher than our prediction, while Auburn also moved up from a predicted t-11th into the top 10.
Dropping out of the top 10 was Virginia, which ended up placing 15th, 49 points back of the 10th-place Tigers. The Cavaliers, who have outperformed their seed in recent years, scored 19 fewer points than they were projected to.
OTHER SURPRISES
Notre Dame moved up seven spots from where we predicted them, as the Fighting Irish scored 47 more points than they were projected to earn their highest finish in program history (18th).
Jack Hoagland led the way with 26 points, while Chris Guiliano and Tommy Janton combined to score the same amount for UND, and they added 10 points on relays.
Propelled by Brooks Curry and 19 diving points, LSU finished four spots higher than we predicted in 16th, tying Mizzou, which finished three spots higher than predicted. Ohio State and Georgia both moved up three spots as well, primarily due to UVA’s drop.
With LSU, Mizzou and Notre Dame all moving up, the teams that dropped were Alabama, Michigan and Minnesota. The Wolverines had the second-worst final score relative to seed, going -49.5, with only Florida lower.
MOVING UP & MOVING OUT
Columbia (21st), Georgia Tech (23rd) and Arizona (24th) were the three teams that we picked in the top 25 that didn’t end up making the cut.
Columbia ended up scoring 12 points to finish in 31st, the Wildcats scored 11 to finish 32nd, and the Yellow Jackets put up just three to finish 35th.
We vastly underestimated USC diving, as the Trojans finished 22nd with 31 points, all coming from Shangfei Wang.
Also moving into the top 25 was Wisconsin, led by Jake Newmark, and UNC, which had 24 of 27 points come from diver Anton Down Jenkins.
FINAL SCORES
| TEAM | TOTAL | INDIVIDUAL SWIMMING POINTS | RELAY POINTS | DIVING POINTS | SCORING INDIVIDUAL COUNT | SCORING RELAY COUNT | SCORING DIVING COUNT | |
| 1 | California | 482 | 321 | 158 | 3 | 26 | 5 | 1 |
| 2 | Arizona State | 430 | 270 | 160 | 0 | 26 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | Texas | 384 | 216 | 124 | 44 | 19 | 5 | 7 |
| 4 | Indiana | 379 | 139 | 136 | 104 | 11 | 5 | 6 |
| 5 | NC State | 373.5 | 215.5 | 158 | 0 | 21 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | Florida | 367.5 | 173 | 180 | 14.5 | 20 | 5 | 2 |
| 7 | Tennessee | 216.5 | 78.5 | 106 | 32 | 10 | 4 | 3 |
| 8 | Stanford | 143.5 | 43.5 | 78 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| 9 | Virginia Tech | 133 | 59 | 68 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| 10 | Auburn | 127 | 39 | 82 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| 11 | Ohio State | 112 | 32.5 | 8 | 71.5 | 4 | 3 | 7 |
| 12 | Georgia | 96 | 70 | 26 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| 13 | Louisville | 92 | 26 | 66 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 14 | Texas A&M | 80 | 32 | 16 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| 15 | Virginia | 78 | 8 | 70 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 16 | Missouri | 62.5 | 34.5 | 28 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 17 | LSU | 62.5 | 43.5 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 18 | Notre Dame | 62 | 52 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
| 19 | Alabama | 57 | 21 | 36 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| 20 | Michigan | 37 | 17 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | Minnesota | 36 | 36 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 22 | USC | 31 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 23 | Wisconsin | 27 | 19 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 24 | UNC | 27 | 3 | 0 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 25 | Miami | 27 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 26 | South Carolina | 15 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | Utah | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | Princeton | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | SIUC | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 30 | Kentucky | 13 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 31 | Columbia | 12 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 32 | Arizona | 11 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 33 | Pittsburgh | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 34 | Penn State | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | Georgia Tech | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 36 | Air Force | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 37 | Towson | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Purdue | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Wow. USC not getting a single point from swimming. Their 2015 team must be pissed.
How did Arizona do? They are not shown on the results? I’m guessing not well but that’s 5 years in a row, while ASU has flipped places with them and some. One common denominator and somehow he’s still in charge.
This may have been, quietly, Eddie Reese’s best coaching. He lost four swimmers in the fall, and still managed to snag third place.
I also recall you ranking texas out of the top 5. Really sleeping on them another thing u got wrong
I’m sorry that you recall that, but it isn’t the true.
Don’t take my word for it: the information is public:
https://staging.swimswam.com/2022-2023-ncaa-mens-power-rankings-final-edition/
Florida had lights out relays at the men’s meet, and Liendo was great, but they seriously underperformed on the men’s and women’s side at NCs.
let us take a look at Cal’s roster:
Hugo Gonzalez: 6th year senior, no business in the NCAA. Joined the team in January after being begged to come back and ring chase, which shouldn’t even be allowed. At least House stayed on one team lol
Henveaux: Another late addition. Acquired through Marsh recruiting violations (shocker)
Bjorn Seeliger: Laughably off at NCAAs. Wait, I thought cal never misses taper? Adds in finals more than Michael Andrew or Carson Foster pre 2022 worlds. Oh, also Curry’s son. Lost cal the 4×1
Reece Whitley: Most raw talented breaststroker I’ve seen coming out of high school, completely ruined by Durden. Begged to come back for a 5th year to ring chase. Has BARELY dropped… Read more »
I’m sure they are wiping their tears with the championship trophy.
The hate is strong with this one.
And yet they won…….
But ASU men won the dual meet!
How did you do at NCAA’s during your career?
So Gabe Jett, who was not even ranked top 20 in his class, making 3 A finals his sophomore year has no merit? Or Destin Lasco who was an amazing recruit and still continues to get better? Ignorant ass comment
If you payed attention to swimming the summer of 2021, you would’ve known that Jett was going to be a stud when he got to Berkeley. Swimswam just dropped the ball not ranking him. Sure, he has continued to develop well but let’s not act like he was some nobody coming in