2022 Men’s Varsity Week 14/December 7/Final Polls Released; University of California & University of Redlands Wrap-Up 2022 at No. 1

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship Third Place finisher the University of California and Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship runner-up the University of Redlands lost the fight for their conference titles, but won the war for the National Championships as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Water Polo Championship receive top billing in the 2022 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 and Division III Top 10 Week 14/December 7/Final Polls.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), SCIAC and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the National Top 20, Division III Top 10, MAWPC Top Five and NWPC Top Five polls were compiled and released on Wednesday during each week of the season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

2022 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 14/December 7/Final)

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion University of California Golden Bears – which claimed Third Place at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championship on Sunday, November 20 – concludes the year as a unanimous No. 1 pick in the Week 14/December 7/Final National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.

California (100 points) – which topped MPSF Champion the University of Southern California by a 13-12 score at home in  the Spieker Aquatics Complex on Sunday, December 4, to capture the NCAA Championship – leads a season-concluding Top 20 which experiences few changes from the Week 13/November 30 balloting.

USC (95 points) slips to No. 2 with the University of California-Los Angeles (90 points) and Stanford University (84 points) holding down the Top Four positions once again.  University of the Pacific (82 points) leapfrogs the University of California-Davis (75 points) to take over at No. 5 as the Tigers topped the Aggies, 11-7, during NCAA Championship tournament competition last week.

Princeton University (69 points) – which held its own in an 11-8 loss to USC in NCAA Championship action – moves up once place to No. 7 with Long Beach State University (68 points) taking over at No. 8.

The University of California-Santa Barbara (60 points), the University of California-San Diego (56 points), the University of California-Irvine (48 points), Loyola Marymount University (46 points), Pepperdine University (41 points) and San Jose State University (34 points) continue at No. 9-to-14, respectively, with the duo of Fordham University (25 points) and St. Francis College Brooklyn (25 points) entering the off-season tied at No. 15.

Harvard University (19 points), Santa Clara University (18 points) and California Baptist University (14 points) remain at No. 17-to-19 with the United States Air Force Academy (4 points) acquiring sole possession of the No. 20 position after tying with Bucknell University (3 points) and George Washington University (2 points) last week.

2022 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 14/December 7/Final)

Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Championship runner-up the University of Redlands concludes the season with a National Championship and a No. 1 ranking as the 2022 USA Water Polo Division III Collegiate Water Polo Champion Bulldogs assume the No. 1 spot in the Week 14/December 7/Final Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.

Redlands (100 points) – which dropped an 8-5 decision to host California Lutheran University on November 20 in the SCIAC title game – avenged the conference title tilt defeat with a National Championship game victory as the Bulldogs handled the host Kingsmen by an 11-6 score on December 4 for the Division III National Championship.

The majority of the rankings from last week also experience changes with several ties broken as Cal Lutheran (95 points) slips to No. 2 with Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (87 points) and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (84 points) retaining the No. 3 and 4 spots, respectively.

Chapman University (78 points) and Occidental College (75 points) broke out of a tie with Johns Hopkins University to stand at No. 5 and 6, while Whittier College (68 points) and Division III Championship Third Place finisher the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (67 points) conclude the year at No. 7 and 8.

The University of La Verne (60 points) remains at No. 9 with Johns Hopkins (39 points) dropping to No. 10.