BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The road to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship and USA Water Polo Division III Championship continues to run through the Golden State as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the official 2026 Men’s Varsity National Top 20, Division III Top 10, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Top Five and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Week 1/September 2 Polls.
Defending NCAA Champion the University of California and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remain at No. 1 in the National Top 20 and Division III Top 10 balloting, while defending Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) champion Fordham University and defending Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) titlist Princeton University lead their respective league’s Top Five rankings.
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.
2026 Men’s Varsity National Top 20 (Week 1)
Coming off 2024 and 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship runs, the University of California-Los Angeles remains the dominant force at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 1/September 2 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.
UCLA (100 points) moves from one vote shy of reigning as a unanimous top choice in the preseason voting to standing as the undisputed top team per the pollsters this week. In addition, the Bruins expand their lead over No. 2 the University of Southern California (95 points) to five points – two better than a 99-to-96 lead in the preseason voting..
Stanford University (89 points), the University of California (86 points), Fordham University (86 points), the University of California-Davis (73 points) and Long Beach State University (71 points) remain steady at No. 3-to-7, respectively, as the front pack in the race for the National Championship remains unchanged through the opening weekend of intercollegiate competition.
The inaugural change comes at No. 8 as the University of California-San Diego (62 points) breaks into the Top 10. Pepperdine University (53 points) backs up to No. 9 with the duo of San Jose State University (51 points) and University of the Pacific (51 points) sharing the final spot in the Top 10.
Princeton University (44 points) slips to No. 12 with the pairing of the University of California-Irvine (39 points) and the University of California-Santa Barbara (39 points) tying at No. 13.
Loyola Marymount University (31 points) improves to No. 15 with California Baptist University (19 points) and Brown University (19 points) equal at No. 16.
Harvard University (17 points) and Santa Clara University (13 points) slide to No. 18 and 19 prior to a tie between the United States Naval Academy (8 points) and first-year varsity program Saint Mary’s University of California (8 points) concluding the Top 20.
2026 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 1) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Preseason Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of California-Los Angeles |
1 | 100 |
| 2 |
University of Southern California |
2 | 95 |
| 3 | Stanford University | 3 | 89 |
| 4 | University of California | 4 | 86 |
| 5 | Fordham University | 5 | 81 |
| 6 |
University of California-Davis | 6 | 73 |
| 7 | Long Beach State University | 7 | 71 |
| 8 | University of California-San Diego | 12 | 62 |
| 9 |
Pepperdine University | 8 | 53 |
| 10 (T) | University of the Pacific | 11 | 51 |
| 10 (T) | San Jose State University | 9 | 51 |
| 12 |
Princeton University | 10 | 44 |
| 13 (T) | University of California-Santa Barbara | 15 | 39 |
| 13 (T) | University of California-Irvine | 13 (T) | 39 |
| 15 |
Loyola Marymount University | 16 | 31 |
| 16 (T) | California Baptist University |
13 (T) | 19 |
| 16 (T) | Brown University |
20 (T) | 19 |
| 18 | Harvard University | 17 | 17 |
| 19 | Santa Clara University | 18 | 13 |
| 20 (T) | United States Naval Academy | 19 | 8 |
| 20 (T) | Saint Mary’s University (Calif.) | 20 (T) | 8 |
| RV | United States Air Force Academy | NR | 4 |
| RV | Bucknell University | NR | 2 |
| RV | Long Island University | NR | 1 |
| RV | Wagner College | RV | 1 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 1)
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges continues at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 1/September 1 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.
The Saghens (99 points) – which held the No. 1 position in the preseason poll with 98 points compared to 97 points for runner-up/defending USA Water Polo Division III Champion Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges – begins to pull away from the field as Pomona-Pitzer expands its spread to three points compared to CMS (96 points) following the opening weekend of intercollegiate competition.
The University of Redlands (90 points) and Occidental College (83 points) remain at No. 3 and 4 with Chapman University (76 points) gaining company at No. 5 from Johns Hopkins University (76 points).
Whittier College (73 points) and California Lutheran University (52 points) come in at No. 7 and 8, while the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (47 points) and Augustana College (47 points) tie at No. 9.
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 1) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Preseason Poll | Points |
| 1 |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 | 98 |
| 2 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 2 | 96 |
| 3 | University of Redlands | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | Occidental College | 4 | 83 |
| 5 (T) | Chapman University |
5 | 76 |
| 5 (T) | Johns Hopkins University | 7 | 76 |
| 7 | Whittier College | 6 | 73 |
| 8 | California Lutheran University | 8 | 52 |
| 9 (T) | Augustana College | 10 | 47 |
| 9 (T) | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 9 | 47 |
| RV |
University of La Verne | RV | 36 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 1)
Five-time (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025) Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University remains favored to repeat as the Rams top the 2026 Week 1/September 2 MAWPC Preseason Top Five Poll.
A unanimous No. 1 selection, the Rams (100 points) maintain a five-point lead over the United States Naval Academy (95 points).
George Washington University (89 points) and Bucknell University (84 points) exchange the No. 3 and 4 positions with Mount St. Mary’s University (50 points) concluding the Top Five.
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 1) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Preseason Poll | Points |
| 1 | Fordham University |
1 |
100 |
| 2 |
United States Naval Academy |
2 | 95 |
| 3 | George Washington University |
4 | 89 |
| 4 |
Bucknell University | 3 | 84 |
| 5 | Mount St. Mary’s University | 5 | 50 |
| RV | Wagner College | RV | 32 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 1)
Six-time Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University stays at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 1/September 2 NWPC Top Five Poll.
The 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 NWPC Champion Tigers (99 points) see their lead over three-time (2016, 2017, 2019) NWPC Champion Harvard University (95 points) and Brown University (91 points) shrink to four and eight points, respectively.
Long Island University (84 points) breaks into the rankings at No. 4 with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (48 points) hanging on at No. 5.
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 1) |
|||
| Rank | Team | 2026 Preseason Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 1 | 99 |
| 2 |
Harvard University |
2 |
95 |
| 3 | Brown University |
3 | 91 |
| 4 | Long Island University |
RV | 84 |
| 5 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
5 | 48 |
| NR | Iona University | 4 | 33 |
