2024 Men’s Varsity Week 3/September 25 Polls Released; The University of California-Los Angeles & Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Remain No. 1

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of California-Los Angeles and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges remain favored to claim the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and USA Water Polo Division III National Champions, respectively, as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the official 2024 Men’s Varsity Week 3/September 25 National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls.

UCLA – which finished second in the final 2023 poll after dropping a 13-11 contest with the University of California for the 2023 NCAA title – retains top billing in the National Top 20, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – which took down the University of Redlands by a 6-5 score last year to capture the USA Water Polo Division III crown – continues as the top-ranked team in the Division III Top 10.

Defending MAWPC champion Fordham University and NWPC champion Princeton University retain the crowns of No. 1 teams in their leagues’ Top Five rankings.

Voted on by a panel of coaches, 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.

2024 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 3/September 25)

The University of California-Los Angeles continues as a unanimous top pick in the 2024 Week 3/September 25 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.

UCLA (100 points) – which became a unanimous top selection last week – holds a six-point lead over new runner-up the University of Southern California (94 points).

USC displaces Stanford University (91 points) at No. 2 after clipping the Cardinal 12-11 over the weekend in the semifinals of the Overnght/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational at the University of California.

Pepperdine University (82 points), University of the Pacific (80 points), California (77 points), Princeton University (71 points) and the University of California-Irvine (61 points) remain steady at No. 4-to-8, respectively, with San Jose State University (56 points) acquiring company at No. 9 from previously No. 10-ranked Long Beach State University (56 points) and Fordham University (56 points).

The University of California-Santa Barbara (46 points) and the University of California-Davis (35 points) exchange the No. 12 and 13 positions with Harvard University (34 points) hanging on at No. 14.

Loyola Marymount University (31 points) gains sole control at No. 15 after tying with the University of California-San Diego (29 points) last week

The United States Naval Academy (16 points), Santa Clara University (14 points), Brown University (11 points) and California Baptist University (9 points) again conclude the Top 20.

2024 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 3/September 25)

Defending USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges retains the lead position in the 2024 Week 3/September 25 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

The Stags (100 points) increase their point total this week to become unanimous top selection, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (92 points) gains sole custody of the No. 2 position after tying with the University of Redlands (89 points) last week.

Chapman University (85 points), California Lutheran University (79 points), Whittier College (77 points), Occidental College (68 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (67 points), Johns Hopkins University (52 points) and the University of La Verne (44 points) account for the remainder of the Top 10.

2024 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 3/September 25)

Fordham University – which claimed the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Championships – remains on the path to a potential four-peat as the Rams top the 2024 Week 3/September 25 MAWPC Top Five Poll.

The Rams (100 points) return to rating as a unanimous top selection and now hold a five-point margin over runner-up the United States Naval Academy (95 points).

Bucknell University (89 points) stays at No. 3 with Wagner College (81 points) and George Washington University (66 points) trading the No. 4 and 5 spots.

2024 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 3/September 25)

Three-time defending Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University maintains its lead in the 2024 Week 3/September 25 NWPC Top Five Poll.

The 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 NWPC Champion Tigers (100 points) march on as a unanimous No. 1 selection with three-time (2016, 2017, 2019) NWPC Champion Harvard University (95 points), Brown University (90 points), Iona University (85 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (80 points) also holding their prior positions to complete the Top Five.