BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The lead position in one poll stays the same and the other sees the return of the defending National Champions 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 8/October 21 Polls.
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges retains top billing in the Division III Top 10, while the defending National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) regains the No. 1 spot in the National Top 20 after trailing Stanford University the past two weeks.
On the East Coast, Fordham University and Princeton University maintain their prior top rankings in the MAWPC Top Five and NWPC Top Five.
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 8)
The University of California-Los Angeles returns to the No. 1 position in the 2026 Week 8/October 21 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll following a 12-8 loss by previously No. 1 Stanford University to the University of California over the weekend..
Defending National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Champion UCLA (100 points) – which ranked at No. 1 in the Preseason and Week 1-to-5 polls prior to slipping behind Stanford (93 points) the past two weeks – exchanges positions with the Cardinal which fall back to No. 2. The University of Southern California (89 points), California (87 points) and Fordham University (81 points) stay at No. 3-to-5, while Princeton University (72 points) pulls even with the University of California-Irvine (72 points) to create a tie at No. 6.
Loyola Marymount University (63 points) achieves sole custody of the No. 8 berth after tying for the position with the University of California-San Diego last week. Long Beach State University (60 points) and the University of California-Davis (55 points) complete the Top 10 as the duo move up from No. 10 and 12, respectively, to take at No. 9 and 10.
UC-San Diego (47 points) slips to No. 11 with the University of California-Santa Barbara (45 points), University of the Pacific (42 points), California Baptist University (33 points), San Jose State University (31 points), Pepperdine University (26 points), the United States Naval Academy (20 points), Harvard University (17 points), Santa Clara University (14 points) and Brown University (3 points) completing the Top 20.
2026 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 8) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 7 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of California-Los Angeles | 2 | 100 |
| 2 |
Stanford University | 1 | 93 |
| 3 | University of Southern California | 3 | 89 |
| 4 | University of California | 4 | 87 |
| 5 | Fordham University | 5 | 81 |
| 6 (T) | Princeton University | 7 | 72 |
| 6 (T) | University of California-Irvine | 6 | 72 |
| 8 | Loyola Marymount University | 8 (T) | 63 |
| 9 | Long Beach State University | 10 | 60 |
| 10 | University of California-Davis | 12 | 55 |
| 11 | University of California-San Diego | 8 (T) | 47 |
| 12 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 14 (T) | 45 |
| 13 | University of the Pacific | 11 | 42 |
| 14 | California Baptist University | 14 (T) | 33 |
| 15 | San Jose State University | 16 | 31 |
| 16 | Pepperdine University | 13 | 26 |
| 17 | United States Naval Academy | 17 | 20 |
| 18 | Harvard University | 19 | 17 |
| 19 | Santa Clara University | 18 | 14 |
| 20 | Brown University | RV | 3 |
| RV | California State University-Fullerton | RV | 2 |
| RV | Saint Mary’s College (Calif.) | 20 | 2 |
| RV | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | NR | 1 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 8)
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges – which downed previously top-ranked Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges by a 10-9 score three weeks ago to take over the top spot in the Week 6 rankings – stays at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 8/October 21 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.
The Sagehens (99 points) – which return to falling one point shy of being a unanimous lead pick after standing as a unanimous selection last week – are followed by Claremont-Mudd-Scrpps (64 points) with Johns Hopkins University (89 points) surpassing the University of Redlands (86 points) to take over at No. 3.
Redlands falls to No. 4 with the duo of California Lutheran University (78 points) and Whittier College (75 points) continuing at No. 5 and 6.
Chapman University (66 points), the University of La Verne (65 points), Occidental College (60 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (49 points) conclude the Week 8 Division III rankings.
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 8) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 7 Poll | Points |
| 1 |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 | 99 |
| 2 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 2 | 96 |
| 3 | Johns Hopkins University | 4 | 89 |
| 4 | University of Redlands | 3 | 86 |
| 5 | California Lutheran University |
5 | 78 |
| 6 | Whittier College | 6 | 75 |
| 7 | Chapman University | 9 | 66 |
| 8 | University of La Verne | 7 | 65 |
| 9 | Occidental College | 10 | 60 |
| 10 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 8 | 49 |
| RV |
Augustana College | RV | 12 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 8)
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 8/October 21 MAWPC Top Five Poll.
A unanimous No. 1 selection once again, the Rams (100 points) lead a Top Five once more experiences radical changes behind the lead two positions as the United States Naval Academy (95 points) remains anchored at No. 2 for another seven-day run.
George Washington University (86 points) pulls into a tie with Bucknell University (86 points) at No. 3, while Wagner College (51 points) descends to No. 5.
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 8) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 7 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Fordham University |
1 |
100 |
| 2 |
United States Naval Academy |
2 | 95 |
| 3 (T) | George Washington University |
5 (T) | 86 |
| 3 (T) | Bucknell University | 3 | 86 |
| 5 | Wagner College | 4 | 51 |
| RV | Mount St. Mary’s University | 5 (T) | 32 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 7)
Six-time Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University stays at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 8/October 21 NWPC Top Five Poll.
The 2018, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025 NWPC Champion Tigers (100 points) lead a Top Five which experiences no changes with three-time (2016, 2017, 2019) NWPC Champion Harvard University (93 points), Brown University (92 points), Long Island University (83 points) and Iona University (82 points) remaining in line at No. 2-to-5 behind Princeton.
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 8) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 7 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Princeton University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Harvard University |
3 | 93 |
| 3 | Brown University |
2 | 92 |
| 4 | Long Island University |
4 | 83 |
| 5 | Iona University | 5 | 82 |
