INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Water Polo Committee announced the nine teams vying for the 2026 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship. Seven teams have been placed in the bracket; the remaining two teams will compete for the last berth in the bracket via an opening-round game.
The championship, hosted by the University of California-San Diego, will have the opening round game played on April 22 with the championship weekend following on Friday-Sunday, April 24-26. The first round, semifinal and championship games will be played at the Canyonview Pool in La Jolla, California. The 2026 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament.
In the opening-round game on April 22, No. 22-ranked/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Champion Wagner College (15-12) will play Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion Concordia University-Irvine (20-9) at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific, with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play No. 2/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion Stanford University (14-1) in Game 1 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific on Friday, April 24. Rounding out the bracket on April 24 will be No. 4 the University of California (14-7) taking on No. 6/Big West Champion the University of Hawaii (16-5) in Game 2 at 5:00 p.m Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific, No. 3 the University of California-Los Angeles (20-4) competing against No. 10/Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion Harvard University (26-3) in Game 3 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific and No. 1 the University of Southern California (22-3) facing No. 8/Golden Coast Conference Champion Loyola Marymount University (23- 4) in Game 4 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific.
The semifinals take place at 7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. Pacific on Saturday, April 25, prior to the National Championship game on Sunday, April 26, a 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification include the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining three teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
The first round and semifinal games will be streamed on NCAA.com. The national championship game will take place on Sunday, April 26, with coverage available on ESPNU.
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