BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The road to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship and USA Water Polo Division III Championship continues to run through Southern California 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 4/September 23 Polls.
Defending NCAA Champion the University of California, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Fordham University and Princeton University maintain their prior top rankings in the National Top 20, Division III Top 10, MAWPC Top Five and NWPC Top Five, respectively.
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 4)
2024 and 2025 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion the University of California-Los Angeles remains at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 4/September 23 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll.
UCLA (100 points) becomes a unanimous No. 1 selection following a defeat of Stanford University in the title game of the 2026 Overnght/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Invitational over the weekend. Stanford (95 points) supplants the University of Southern California (90 points) at No. 2 with the Trojans slipping back to No. 3.
The University of California (82 points) acquires company at No. 4 as Fordham University (82 points) ties the Golden Bears, while Long Beach State University (76 points) gains sole control of the No. 6 position. The University of California-San Diego (70 points), the University of California-Irvine (64 points) and San Jose State University (60 points) improve to No. 7-to-9, respectively, with Princeton University (57 points) dropping back to No. 10.
Loyola Marymount University (49 points), University of the Pacific (44 points) and Pepperdine University (41 points) rate at No. 11-to-13, the University of California-Santa Barbara (34 points) remains at No. 14 with California Baptist University (32 points), the University of California-Davis (26 points) and Santa Clara University (20 points) taking over at No. 15-to-17.
The United States Naval Academy (15 points) and Saint Mary’s University of California (6 points) move up to No. 18 and 19 with California State University-Fullerton (4 points) and Brown University (4 points) tying for the final position in the Week 4 rankings.
2026 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 4) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of California-Los Angeles |
1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Stanford University | 3 | 95 |
| 3 | University of Southern California | 2 | 90 |
| 4 (T) | University of California | 4 | 82 |
| 4 (T) | Fordham University | 5 | 82 |
| 6 | Long Beach State University | 6 (T) | 76 |
| 7 | University of California-San Diego | 9 | 70 |
| 8 | University of California-Irvine | 13 | 64 |
| 9 |
San Jose State University | 11 (T) | 60 |
| 10 | Princeton University | 8 | 57 |
| 11 | Loyola Marymount University | 15 | 49 |
| 12 | University of the Pacific | 10 | 44 |
| 13 | Pepperdine University | 11 (T) | 41 |
| 14 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 14 | 34 |
| 15 |
California Baptist University | 16 | 32 |
| 16 | University of California-Davis | 6 (T) | 26 |
| 17 | Santa Clara University |
17 | 20 |
| 18 | United States Naval Academy | 19 | 15 |
| 19 | Saint Mary’s University (Calif.) | 20 | 6 |
| 20 (T) | California State University-Fullerton | NR | 4 |
| 20 (T) | Brown University | 18 | 4 |
| RV | Harvard University | RV | 2 |
| RV | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | NR | 1 |
| RV | Johns Hopkins University | NR | 1 |
| RV | Bucknell University | NR | 1 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 4)
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges continues as a unanimous top selection in the 2026 Week 4/September 23 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.
The defending USA Water Polo Division III Champion, CMS (100 points) leads a Division III Top 10 which experiences multiple changes.
The University of Redlands (90 points) – which tied Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (89 points) at No. 2 last week – gains sole possession of the position this week, while Pomona-Pitzer drops into a tie with Johns Hopkins University (89 points) at No. 3.
Chapman University (82 points) hangs on at No. 5, California Lutheran University (72 points) rises to No. 6 and the University of La Verne (69 points) slides to No. 7.
Whittier College (62 points), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (51 points) and Occidental College (48 points) complete the Top 10.
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 4) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 |
Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | University of Redlands | 2 (T) | 90 |
| 3 (T) | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 2 (T) | 89 |
| 3 (T) | Johns Hopkins University | 4 | 89 |
| 5 | Chapman University |
5 | 82 |
| 6 | California Lutheran University | 8 | 72 |
| 7 | University of La Verne | 6 | 69 |
| 8 | Whittier College | 9 (T) | 62 |
| 9 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 9 (T) | 51 |
| 10 | Occidental College | 7 | 48 |
| RV |
Augustana College | RV | 23 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 4)
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 4/September 23 MAWPC Top Five Poll.
A unanimous No. 1 selection once again, the Rams (100 points) lead a Top Five which experiences one change as the United States Naval Academy (95 points) maintains the No. 2 slot prior to George Washington University (87 points) and Bucknell University (87 points) entering a tie at No. 3
Mount St. Mary’s University (49 points) finishes out the Week 4 Top Five.
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 4) |
|||
| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Fordham University |
1 |
100 |
| 2 |
United States Naval Academy |
2 | 95 |
| 3 (T) | George Washington University |
3 | 87 |
| 3 (T) | Bucknell University | 4 | 87 |
| 5 | Mount St. Mary’s University | 5 | 49 |
| RV | Wagner College | NR | 32 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 4)
Six-time Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University stays at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 4/September 23 NWPC Top Five Poll.
The 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 NWPC Champion Tigers (100 points), Brown University (94 points), three-time (2016, 2017, 2019) NWPC Champion Harvard University (91 points), Long Island University (68 points) and Iona University (65 points) complete a Top Five which experiences no changes from the Week 3 voting.
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 4) |
|||
| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 3 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Brown University |
3 | 94 |
| 3 | Harvard University |
2 | 91 |
| 4 | Long Island University |
4 | 68 |
| 5 | Iona University | 5 | 65 |
| RV | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | RV | 32 |
