Photo Courtesy: Joon Baik
BRIDGEPORT, Pennsylvania, September 24. THE reign of Stanford University as the No. 1 team in the nation is over as the University of California-Los Angeles, Whittier College and Princeton University now rank in the top spots as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2014 Men’s Varsity Week 3/September 24 National Top 20, Division III Top 10 and CWPA Top 10 Polls.
In the National Top 20 rankings, the Bruins of UCLA dispatched Stanford by a 9-7 final score in the title game of the NorCal Tournament at the University of the Pacific to terminate the Cardinal’s Preseason, Week 1 and Week 3 reign on top of the game of water polo to rate the unanimous top choice in this week’s balloting with 100 points. Stanford (95 points) falls back to No. 3, with the University of California (90 points) jumping over the University of Southern California (85 points), a team the Golden Bears dispatched 11-10 at NorCals, to take over at No. 3.
In the Division III ranks, Whittier sees its lead for the top position shrink from 13-points to just five as the Poets picked up 99 points to edge out Johns Hopkins University (94 points) for No. 1 position among small college institutions.
Similar to the Division III Top 10 poll, the CWPA Top 10 experiences a closing of the gap between No. 1 and 2 as the Tigers of Princeton (98 points), which fell to Johns Hopkins by a 10-9 final on the road last weekend, now hold a narrow two-point lead over Harvard University (96 points) for top billing in the league.
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 3)
The University of California-Los Angeles (100 points) knocked off Preason and Week 1 top-billed Stanford University (95 points) in the title game of the NorCal Tournament hosted by the University of the Pacific to become the unanimous No. 1 selection in the Week 3/September 24 National Top 20 Poll.
UCLA, which downed Stanford by a 9-7 final score, leads a Top 20 in which only the University of California-San Diego retains its ranking from last week as upsets abounded over the past seven days to shift the national water polo scene.
Behind UCLA and Stanford, the University of California (90 points) leapfrogs the University of Southern California (90 points) thanks to an 11-10 defeat of the defending National Champions in the Third Place game at NorCals. The tournament had a dramatic impact on the remainder of the Top 10 as the University of California-Santa Barbara (80 points) climbs to No. 5 on the back of a 9-7 victory over former No. 6 Pacific. Long Beach State University (75 points) and Pacific (71 points) ball back to No. 6 and 7, respectively, while UC-San Diego (65 points), which was tied with Princeton University at No. 8 last week, is the sole team to retain its ranking.
The University of California-Irvine (59 points) and the University of California-Davis (51 points) both improve one position to take over at No. 9 and 10 to complete the Top 10 and continue a trend of change throughout the Top 20.
Pepperdine University (47 points) jumps two places to take over at No. 11, while Princeton (37 points), on the heels of a 10-9 loss on the road at Johns Hopkins University, slips to No. 12.
Santa Clara University (37 points), Brown University (29 points) and the United States Air Force Academy (28 points) rise to take over at No. 13-to-15, respectively, while Harvard University (23 points) slides to No. 16.
Loyola Marymount University (18 points), the United States Naval Academy (15 points) and Whittier College (9 points) ride the changes in the remainder of the Top 20 to claim the No. 17-to-19 positions, while George Washington University (6 points) and Johns Hopkins (6 points) are tied at No. 20 to place 21 teams among the 20 best squads in the land.
California Baptist University (5 points), Concordia University (4 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (1 point) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 3)
The Poets of Whittier College (99 points), which are now ranked at No. 19 in the National Top 20 Poll, remain at No. 1 in the Week 3/September 24 National Division III Top 10 Poll.
However, the days of the team’s unanimous selection as the best Division III team in the land are over as the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins University (94 points) picked up one first place vote and a 10-9 victory over former No. 8-ranked Princeton University over the weekend to shave a 13-point lead by the Poets for the top spot last week down to five points through Week 3 action.
Similar to the National Top 20, change is the norm and not the exception following Week 3 competition as adjustments to the Top 10 occur from No. 2-to-10.
The University of La Verne (87 points) rises two positions to take over at No. 3, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (79 points), which was tied with Johns Hopkins for the runner-up spot in the Week 2/September 17 voting, falls back to No. 4.
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (73 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (73 points) move into a tie at No. 5 after ranking at No. 6 and 7 last week.
The University of Redlands (69 points), Chapman University (68 points), California Lutheran University (65 points) and Washington & Jefferson College (33 points) round out the Top 10.
Connecticut College (24 points) and Occidental College (11 points) also received votes.
2014 Men’s Varsity CWPA Top 10 (Week 3)
The Tigers of Princeton University suffered a 10-9 loss at Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Southern Division-East Region rival Johns Hopkins University, but the Black & Orange continue as the top rated team in the league as the squad picked up 98 points to once again lead the Week 3/September 24 CWPA Top 10 Poll.
Princeton (98 points), which finished second to St. Francis College Brooklyn last season in the CWPA Championship title game and was ranked No. 1 in the wake of both the Preseason, Week 1 and Week 2 ballots, sees its lead over Ivy League nemesis/Northern Division front-runner Harvard University (96 points) shrink from six points down to a meager two as the Crimson continue an assault to garner the first No. 1 billing in the league polls (men and/or women) in the history of the institution.
Brown University (89 points), which is tied with Harvard for the lead in the Northern Division, follows in Third Place, while the United States Naval Academy (87 points) stays just off the pace of the Tigers, Crimson and Bears to fall back into Fourth Place following a tie with Brown for Third Place last week.
The best team in the Baltimore/D.C. Metro area remains in question as George Washington University (73 points) and Johns Hopkins (73 points) are deadlocked for the Fifth Position with both teams continuing to make a case for potential Southern Division Championship runs in the weeks to come.
Fordham University (70 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (70 points), which were tied at No. 6 last week, now rate at No. 6 and 7, respectively, while Bucknell University (61 points), which knocked off George Washington 14-8 over the weekend, takes over at No. 9.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (59 points) completes the Top 10.
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