BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The University of California-Los Angeles and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges continue to reign supreme 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 9/October 28 Polls.
The Bruins and Sagehens stand as unanimous top picks in the Top 20 and Division III Top 10 rankings, while Fordham University and Princeton University continue as the undisputed top teams 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 9)
The University of California-Los Angeles maintains its prior position as the lead program in the 2026 Week 9/October 28 National Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll..
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 climbing back on top of the rankings last week – leads a Top 20 which experiences significant shits following competition during Week 8 of the season.
Stanford University (94 points) continues at No. 2 with the University of California (88 points) improving to tie the University of Southern California (88 points) at No. 3. Fordham University (80 points) remains at No. 5, while Princeton University (74 points) breaks a tie with the University of California-Irvine to acquire sole custody of the No. 6 berth.
The University of California-San Diego (68 points), UC-Irvine (63 points), the University of California-Davis (57 points) and Loyola Marymount University (54 points) complete the Top 10.
The University of California-Santa Barbara (52 points), Long Beach State University (47 points), University of the Pacific (13 points), San Jose State University (32 points) and California Baptist University (29 points) rearrange to No. 11-to-15, while Pepperdine University (24 points) gains company at No. 16 from the United States Naval Academy (24 points).
Santa Clara University (18 points) surpasses Harvard University to take over at No. 18. Harvard (7 points) and Saint Mary’s College of California (4 points) complete the Top 20.
2026 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 9) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 8 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of California-Los Angeles | 1 | 100 |
| 2 |
Stanford University | 2 | 94 |
| 3 | University of California | 4 | 88 |
| 4 | University of Southern California | 3 | 88 |
| 5 | Fordham University | 5 | 80 |
| 6 | Princeton University | 6 (T) | 74 |
| 7 | University of California-San Diego | 11 | 68 |
| 8 | University of California-Irvine | 6 (T) | 63 |
| 9 | University of California-Davis | 10 | 57 |
| 10 | Loyola Marymount University | 8 | 54 |
| 11 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 12 | 52 |
| 12 | Long Beach State University | 9 | 47 |
| 13 | University of the Pacific | 13 | 45 |
| 14 | San Jose State University | 15 | 32 |
| 15 | California Baptist University | 14 | 29 |
| 16 (T) | Pepperdine University | 16 | 24 |
| 16 (T) | United States Naval Academy | 17 | 24 |
| 18 | Santa Clara University | 19 | 18 |
| 19 | Harvard University | 18 | 7 |
| 20 | Saint Mary’s College (Calif.) | RV | 4 |
| RV | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | NR | 3 |
| RV | Brown University | 20 | 3 |
| RV | California State University-Fullerton | RV | 1 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 9)
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges continues to reign as the lead program in the 2026 Week 9/October 28 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 Poll.
The Sagehens (100 points) – which return to being a unanimous top pick after falling one point shy last week – stand on top of a Top 10 which experiences no changes in the first six positions as Claremont-Mudd-Scrpps Colleges (94 points), Johns Hopkins University (89 points), the University of Redlands (87 points), California Lutheran University (78 points) and Whittier College (75 points) retain their previous rankings.
The University of La Verne (67 points) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (61 points) rise to No. 7 and 8 with Chapman University (53 points) and Occidental College (37 points) settling at No. 9 and 10.
2026 Men’s Varsity Division III Top 10 (Week 9) |
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| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 8 Poll | Points |
| 1 |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 2 | 94 |
| 3 | Johns Hopkins University | 3 | 89 |
| 4 | University of Redlands | 4 | 87 |
| 5 | California Lutheran University |
5 | 78 |
| 6 | Whittier College | 6 | 75 |
| 7 | University of La Verne | 8 | 67 |
| 8 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 10 | 61 |
| 9 | Chapman University | 7 | 53 |
| 10 | Occidental College | 9 | 37 |
| RV |
Austin College | NR | 34 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 9)
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 9/October 28 MAWPC Top Five Poll.
A unanimous No. 1 selection once again, the Rams (100 points) lead a Top Five once stays consistent with the United States Naval Academy (95 points) anchored at No. 2.
Bucknell University (87 points) is the lone team to improve its standing as the Bison gain sole control of the No. 3 position after tying with George Washington University last week. George Washington (86 points) and Wagner College (50 points) complete the Top Five.
2026 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 9) |
|||
| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 8 Poll | Points |
| 1 | Fordham University |
1 |
100 |
| 2 |
United States Naval Academy |
2 | 95 |
| 3 | Bucknell University |
3 (T) | 87 |
| 4 | George Washington University | 3 (T) | 86 |
| 5 | Wagner College | 5 | 50 |
| RV | Mount St. Mary’s University | RV | 32 |
2026 Men’s Varsity Northeast Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 9)
Six-time Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) champion Princeton University stays at No. 1 in the 2026 Week 9/October 28 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 9) |
|||
| Rank | Team | 2026 Week 8 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 |
