The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) has released the Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NEWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Week 6/October 11 Polls for the 2017 season.
The University of Southern California remains at No. 1 this week as the first 11 positions in the National Top 20 remain unchanged from the Week 5/October 4 voting.
The Division III Top 10 Poll experiences radical changes with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges acquiring sole possession of the No. 1 spot after former equal Whittier College suffered a loss to Johns Hopkins University last week.
Defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Bucknell University hangs onto the top spot in the MAWPC Top Five rankings as a unanimous top selection, while Princeton University narrowly holds off St. Francis College Brooklyn to top the NWPC Top Five for the second time in as many weeks.
Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, NEWPC, Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), SCIAC and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls will be compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
2017 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 6/October 11)
The University of Southern California remains the top-ranked team in the nation as the Trojans stick at No. 1 in the Week 5/October 11 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 Poll for the second week in a row.
USC (99 points) jumped ahead of former No. 1 the University of California-Los Angeles (95 points) last week after the Bruins took a 9-8 loss against the University of California-Irvine last week. The gap between USC and UCLA does shrink significantly this week as the Trojans held a 99-93 margin last week.
Overall, the first 11 positions in the Top 20 experience no changes as defending National Champion the University of California (91 points), Stanford University (86 points), University of the Pacific (79 points), UC-Irvine (76 points), Long Beach State University(70 points), the University of California-Santa Barbara (66 points), Pepperdine University (60 points), the University of California-Davis (56 points) and Princeton University (47 points) hold firm at No. 3-to-11, respectively.
The first change comes at No. 12 as the University of California-San Diego (42 points) gains company in the position from former No. 13 St. Francis College Brooklyn (42 points).
Harvard University (37 points) stays at No. 14, Brown University (25 points) clings to the No. 15 berth for another week, San Jose State University (24 points) rises two spots to No. 16 and California Baptist University (26 points) drops back to No. 17.
Bucknell University (17 points) slips to No. 18, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (8 points) and Fordham University (5 points) shatter a tie at No. 19 from last week to rate at No. 19 and 20, respectively, through six weeks of action.
2017 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 6/October 11) |
|||
| Rank | Team | Week 5 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California | 1 | 99 |
| 2 | University of California-Los Angeles | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | University of California | 3 | 91 |
| 4 | Stanford University | 4 | 86 |
| 5 | University of the Pacific | 5 | 79 |
| 6 | University of California-Irvine | 6 | 76 |
| 7 | Long Beach State University | 7 | 70 |
| 8 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 8 | 66 |
| 9 | Pepperdine University | 9 | 60 |
| 10 | University of California-Davis | 10 | 56 |
| 11 | Princeton University | 11 | 47 |
| 12 (T) | University of California-San Diego | 12 | 42 |
| 12 (T) | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 13 | 42 |
| 14 | Harvard University | 14 | 37 |
| 15 | Brown University | 15 (T) | 25 |
| 16 | San Jose State University | 18 | 24 |
| 17 | California Baptist University | 15 (T) | 23 |
| 18 | Bucknell University | 17 | 17 |
| 19 | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 19 (T) | 8 |
| 20 | Fordham University | 19 (T) | 5 |
| RV | George Washington University | RV | 3 |
| RV | United States Air Force Academy | RV | 2 |
| RV | Loyola Marymount University | RV | 1 |
| RV | Whittier College | NR | 1 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 6/October 11)
The Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remain as the last team standing from a three-way tie at No. 1 in the Week 3 Division III Top 10 as the squad retains its position on top of the Week 6/October 11 Men’s Varsity Division III poll.
Pomona-Pitzer (99 points), which was tied with Whittier College and the duo of the Poets and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology two weeks ago, acquires solo-billing on top of the lastest rankings thanks in part to a 17-10 loss by Whittier to Johns Hopkins University over the weekend at the Gary Troyer Tournament hosted by Pomona-Pitzer and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.
The loss, combined with an 11-10 victory by the University of Redlands over Johns Hopkins at the Troyer Tournament, shakes up the Division III rankings.
MIT (95 points), which was third last week behind then co-No. 1 selections Pomona-Pitzer and Whittier, moves up to No. 2 with Redlands (84 points) and Johns Hopkins (84 points) ascending from No. 6 and 7, respectively, to tie at No. 3.
Whittier (81 points) and Chapman University (81 points) readjust to tie at No. 5, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (71 points), California Lutheran University (66 points), the University of La Verne (60 points) and the California Institute of Technology (45 points) complete a radically rearranged Top 10.
2017 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 6/October 11) |
|||
| Rank | Team | Week 5 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 (T) | 99 |
| 2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 3 | 95 |
| 3 (T) | University of Redlands | 6 | 84 |
| 3 (T) | Johns Hopkins University | 7 | 84 |
| 5 (T) | Whittier College | 1 (T) | 81 |
| 5 (T) | Chapman University | 4 | 81 |
| 7 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 5 | 71 |
| 8 | California Lutheran University | 8 | 66 |
| 9 | University of La Verne | 9 | 60 |
| 10 | California Institute of Technology | 10 | 45 |
| RV | Penn State Behrend | NR | 11 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 6/October 11)
Bucknell University retains its Preseason, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 selection as the No. 1 team in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) as the Bison top the Week 6/October 11 Top Five Poll.
The 2016 MAWPC Champion Bison (100 points) are once again a unanimous top selection after previously earning 100 points in the Preseason, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4 and Week 5 polls.
Fordham University (95 points), George Washington University (88 points), Wagner College (85 points) and the United States Naval Academy (48 points) complete the Top Five.
2017 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 6/October 11) |
|||
| Rank | Team | Week 5 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Bucknell University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Fordham University | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | George Washington University | 3 | 88 |
| 4 | Wagner College | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | United States Naval Academy | 5 | 48 |
| RV | Johns Hopkins University | RV | 34 |
2017 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 6/October 11)
Princeton University retains the No. 1 position in the Week 6/October 11 Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five Poll.
Following three weeks of trailing Harvard University by one point, the Tigers (98 points) went in front of the 2016 NWPC Champion Crimson last week to take over the top spot in the rankings. However, Princeton’s run as a unanimous top selection is short-lived as St. Francis College Brooklyn (96 points) moves within two points of tying for the No. 1 position.
Harvard (91 points), Brown University (85 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (80 points) round out the Top Five.
2017 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 6/October 11) |
|||
| Rank | Team | Week 5 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 1 | 98 |
| 2 | St. Francis College Brooklyn | 2 | 96 |
| 3 | Harvard University | 3 | 91 |
| 4 | Brown University | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 5 | 80 |
Press release courtesy of Collegiate Water Polo Association.
What’s perhaps surprising is that USA Water Polo’s new computer ranking – the Freeman Ratings System – still has UCLA as #1. There are some who think this is a GOOD thing, as in: why do BOTH polls have to be the same?
One question: which poll will be used to determine at-large bids for NCAAs? AND, is it safe to assume that the Freeman poll is more closely aligned with RPI—which may be the truest measure of all when it comes to comparing teams?
Here’s the link: http://www.usawaterpolo.org/genrel/100917aaa.html
M. Randazzo