USA Water Polo

USC Men Climb Back Into Top Spot Of Varsity Top 20 With NCAA Championships Starting Saturday

12/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

In other selections, due to no Division III teams competing this week, the November 24 Division III and Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 polls are final.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and administrators from around the country during the preseason and each week of the season based on the cumulative results of each team, the Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 polls are released on Wednesday during the season until the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

Men's Varsity Top 20

The University of Southern California returns to the No. 1 position in the national polls for the first time since October 13 as the Trojans garnered 99 points to top the Week 13/December 1 Men's Varsity National Top 20.

USC went 3-0 last week in the MPSF Championship tournament defeating the University of California-Santa Barbara (10-2 W) and the University of California-Los Angeles (10-5 W) before handling Stanford University 8-7 in sudden death overtime for the conference title. 

The No. 1 team in the September 22, September 29, October 6 and October 13 polls, the Trojans' return to the top position ends a five week run by the University of California on top of the varsity collegiate water polo world as the Bruins fell to Stanford (8-6 L) in the MPSF semifinals. 

California, which  garnered 95 points to edge out the University of California-Los Angeles by a single point (95-to-94) in the preseason rankings, previously ranked No. 1 as a unanimous choice in the September 8, September 15, October 20, October 27, November 3, November 10 and November 17 polls.

This week, the Golden Bears and Stanford are tied for second in the poll as both programs garnered 93 points. 

Stanford's ranking marks a three place improvement for the Cardinal as the squad ranked fifth last week.

Due to Stanford's climb into the top three positions in the poll, UCLA drops to No. 4 with the University of California-Irvine and UC-Santa Barbara inching up to fifth and sixth after rating at sixth and seventh, respectively, a week ago.

The University of the Pacific moves back to No. 7, while Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) champion Loyola Marymount University, Pepperdine University and Long Beach State University remain locked in at No. 7-10 for another week.

Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) champion St. Francis College (N.Y.) climbs one place to No. 11, with the University of California-Davis moving to No. 12.  Santa Clara University and the University of California-San Diego exchange positions at No. 13 and 14 from the November 24 balloting, with the United States Naval Academy, Princeton University, California Baptist University and Bucknell University remaining firm at No. 15-18.

Concordia University (Calif.) returns to the Top 20 at No. 19, with the United States Air Force Academy rounding out the Top 20 selections in the final position.

Collegiate