2024 Men’s Varsity Week 7/October 23 Polls Released; University of California-Los Angeles & Pomona-Pitzer Colleges Take Over at No. 1 in National Top 20 & Division III Top 10

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of California-Los Angeles and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges ascend to No. 1 in the National Top 20 and Division III Top 10 rankings as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the official 2024 Men’s Varsity Week 7/October 23 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 dislodges Stanford University at No. 1 in the National Top 20, while Pomona-Pitzer removes the University of Redlands from the lead spot in the Division III rankings by a single-point.

Defending MAWPC champion Fordham University remains a unanimous No. 1 pick in its league rankings, while Princeton University leapfrogs Harvard University to assume the top berth in the Northeast Water Polo Conference voting.

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 7/October 23)

The University of California-Los Angeles returns to the No. 1 position in the 2024 Week 7/October 23 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.

UCLA (99 points) – which rated at No 1 prior to a two week run at No. 1 by Stanford University – reclaims its prior title as the best team in the nation.

The University of Southern California (93 points) follows the Bruins up the rankings as the Trojans take over at No. 2 with Stanford (91 points) slipping back to No. 3 following a 13-11 loss to the University of California last week.  University of the Pacific (88 points) continues at No. 4, while Fordham University (78 points) breaks a tie with Pepperdine University to assume sole control at No. 5.

Princeton University (71 points) inches up one position to No. 6 following wins over California (11-9 W) and Pepperdine (12-11 W) with California (11-9 W) and moves the Waves and Golden Bears into a tie at No. 7 with both programs earning 65 points.

The University of California-Irvine (58 points) and the University of California-Davis (54 points) come in at No. 9 and 10, respectively, to complete the upper echelon of the Week 7 poll.

Long Beach State University (50 points), San Jose State University (49 points) and Harvard University (44 points) rearrange to rate at No. 11-to-13 with the University of California-San Diego (33 points) and California Baptist University (33 points) tying at No. 14.

The University of California-Santa Barbara (26 points) stays at. 16 for another seven-day stretch with Santa Clara University (19 points) and Loyola Marymount University (19 points) tying at No. 17.

Brown University (9 points) and the United States Naval Academy (7 points) conclude the Week 7 Top 20.

2024 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 7/October 23)

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges tenure at No. 1 in the Division III rankings comes to an end as previously top-billed the University of Redlands reclaims the lead position in the 2024 Week 7/October 23 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

Redlands (98 points) – which dropped behind Pomona-Pitzer by a 95-to-94 count last week – returns to No. 1 on the strength of a 13-6 defeat of the Sagehens last week.  Pomona-Pitzer (95 points) drops back to No. 2 with California Lutheran University (88 points) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (86 points) rising and falling to No. 3 and 4.

Whittier College (75 points) remains at No. 5 with Chapman University (72 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (70 points), the University of La Verne (61 points), Occidental College (57 points) and Johns Hopkins University (37 points) transitioning to No. 6-to-10.

2024 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 7/October 23)

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 continue to top the 2024 Week 7/October 23 MAWPC Top Five Poll.

The Rams (100 points) expand their lead to eight-points lead over George Washington University (92 points) with the United States Naval Academy (88 points), Bucknell University (87 points) and Wagner College (83 points) accounting for the remainder of the Top Five.

2024 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 7/October 23)

Four-time Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University overcomes three-time winner Harvard University for the No. 1 position in the 2024 Week 7/October 23 NWPC Top Five Poll.

The 2018, 2021, 2022 and 2023 NWPC Champion Tigers (98 points) edge out the 2016, 2017 and 2019 NWPC Champion Crimson (97 points) by a single point to lead the NWPC Top Five poll for the first time since the Week 4 voting.

Brown University (90 points), Iona University (85 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (80 points) maintain their prior positions to complete the Top Five.