With last week’s #1 team USC dropping a Top 5 battle with then #4 UC Santa Barbara on Week 2 of NCAA men’s water polo action, the Trojans have been bumped to #5 in the September 18 Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 poll.
Assuming the #1 spot was last week’s #3 team, Stanford, the 2018 NCAA runnerup. Stanford is 5-0 on the season in NCAA play after topping then #18 San Jose State 16-5 on Friday ahead of a group of exhibition matches.
With the victory over USC, UC Santa Barbara climbed two spots into a tie with UCLA at #2, its highest ranking since 2012, after posting a 5-0 mark at the Inland Empire Classic. The Gauchos also downed Fresno Pacific (25-5), Occidental (22-7), Redlands (18-4) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (15-4) to move to 9-0 on the year, marking the best start in program history. Cole Brennan turned in 15 goals across the team’s five wins, while Seth Nangle added 11 and Logan Sutter chipped in 10.
Checking in at #4 is Pacific, which moved up two spots from #6 after upsetting then #5 Cal 14-12 in its lone match of the week behind a four-goal effort by Jeremie Cote.
Cal, meanwhile, dropped to #8 with that loss as well as an overtime affair with #11 UC Davis (L 16-13). The Aggies made the biggest jump in the poll, moving up four spots from #11 to #7. UC Davis registered two goals in the final 30 seconds of regulation to send the game to overtime before George Kuesis put in the eventual game winner with six seconds left in the first extra period.
St. Francis Brooklyn climbed three spots from 17 into a four-way tie for #14 with Loyola Marymount, George Washington and Princeton. The Terriers went 2-2 at the Princeton Tiger Invitational, besting Wagner (17-13) and #15 George Washington (10-6) and falling to #9 UC San Diego and Fordham (19-14).
The number of teams receiving votes jumped to eight with Fordham, Concordia (Irvine), Cal Lutheran and Whittier earning mention alongside Pomona-Pitzer, Navy, Air Force and Santa Clara.
2019 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 2/September 18) |
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| Rank | Team | Week 1 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Stanford University | 3 | 96 |
| 2 (T) | University of California-Los Angeles | 2 | 94 |
| 2 (T) | University of California-Santa Barbara | 4 | 94 |
| 4 | University of the Pacific | 6 | 84 |
| 5 | University of Southern California | 1 | 83 |
| 6 | Pepperdine University | 8 | 70 |
| 7 | University of California-Davis | 11 | 69 |
| 8 | University of California | 5 | 65 |
| 9 | Long Beach State University | 7 | 64 |
| 10 | University of California-Irvine | 9 (T) | 55 |
| 11 | University of California-San Diego | 9 (T) | 51 |
| 12 | Harvard University | 12 (T) | 50 |
| 13 | Bucknell University | 14 | 36 |
| 14 (T) | Loyola Marymount University | 16 | 24 |
| 14 (T) | George Washington University | 15 | 24 |
| 14 (T) | Princeton University | 12 (T) | 24 |
| 14 (T) | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 17 | 24 |
| 18 | San Jose State University | 18 | 18 |
| 19 | California Baptist University | 20 | 10 |
| 20 | Brown University | 19 | 9 |
| RV | Fordham University | NR | 5 |
| RV | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | RV | 4 |
| RV | United States Naval Academy | RV | 2 |
| RV | Concordia University | NR | 2 |
| RV | United States Air Force Academy | RV | 1 |
| RV | California Lutheran University | NR | 1 |
| RV | Whittier College | NR | 1 |
| RV | Santa Clara University | RV | 1 |