2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Water Polo Championship Field Set; No. 3 Fordham University & No. 6 Princeton University to Face No. 8 Long Beach State University & No. 2 Stanford University
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Committee announced today the eight teams vying for the 2024 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. Six conferences have been granted automatic qualification into the bracket and two teams were selected at large. The championship will take place on Friday-Sunday, December 6-8 at the Avery Aquatic Center, hosted by Stanford University. First-round games and the semifinals will be streamed live on NCAA.com, and the national championship final will air live on ESPNU.
The 2024 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. The first-round games will be contested Friday, December. 6, where No. 1-ranked/top seed/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) runner-up the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) will play Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion Salem University in Game 1 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific. Rounding out the bracket will be No. 2/No. 2 seed/MPSF Third Place finisher Stanford University taking on No. 6/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Princeton University in Game 2 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific, No. 3/No. 3 seed/MPSF Champion the University of Southern California competing against No. 16/West Coast Conference (WCC) Champion California Baptist University in Game 3 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific and No. 3/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University facing No. 8/Big West Conference Champion Long Beach State University in Game 4 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific.
The victors of Games 1 and 2 will meet in the semifinals on Saturday, December 7, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific while the victors of Games 3 and 4 take to the water at 7;00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific.
The National Championship game is slated for 6:00 p.m. Eastern/3:00 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, December 8, with coverage on ESPN.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Big West Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, Northeast Water Polo Conference, West Coach Conference, and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2023, the University of California defeated UCLA by a 13-11 score to win the program’s third consecutive championship and capture its 17th overall national title.
