BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — 2014, 2015 and 2016 Men’s National Collegiate Club Champion Lindenwood University remains the No. 1 team in the country as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2017 Men’s National Collegiate Club Top 20 Preseason Poll.
The Lions (100 points) stand as a unanimous preseason No. 1 selection and will seek to continue a string of dominance which has seen Lindenwood capture back-to-back-to-back National Championships. Long Beach State University (95 points), San Diego State University (90 points), the University of Michigan (85 points), the University of Colorado (80 points), the University of California (75 points), Pennsylvania State University (59 points) and California Polytechnic State University (57 points) stand at No. 2-to-8, respectively, with Grand Valley State University (52 points) and the University of California-Los Angeles (52 points) tying at No. 9 to complete the Top 10.
Due to McKendree University moving to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) ranks, the final positions in the Top 20 experience a shift from the teams’ final 2016 positions as the University of California-Santa Barbara (46 points), Boston College (45 points), the University of California-San Diego (39 points), Texas A&M University (36 points) and the United States Military Academy (35 points) each rise one position to take over at No. 11-to-15.
Florida State University (31 points) stands at No. 16, with the University of Notre Dame (20 points) and Duke University (20 points) rating in a tie at No. 17. The University of Utah (9 points) begins the new season at No. 19, while the trio of Clemson University (6 points), Dartmouth College (6 points) and Georgetown University (6 points) share the No. 20 slot.
Rank
|
Team
|
Final 2016 Poll
|
Points |
| 1 | Lindenwood University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Long Beach State University | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | San Diego State University | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | University of Michigan | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | University of Colorado | 5 | 80 |
| 6 | University of California | 6 | 75 |
| 7 | Pennsylvania State University | 7 | 59 |
| 8 | California Polytechnic State University | 8 | 57 |
| 9 (T) | Grand Valley State University | 9 (T) | 52 |
| 9 (T) | University of California-Los Angeles | 9 (T) | 52 |
| 11 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 12 | 46 |
| 12 | Boston College | 13 | 45 |
| 13 | University of California-San Diego | 14 | 39 |
| 14 | Texas A&M University | 15 | 36 |
| 15 | United States Military Academy | 16 | 35 |
| 16 | Florida State University | 17 (T) | 31 |
| 17 (T) | University of Notre Dame | 17 (T) | 20 |
| 17 (T) | Duke University | 19 | 20 |
| 19 | University of Utah | 20 (T) | 9 |
| 20 (T) | Clemson University | 20 (T) | 6 |
| 20 (T) | Dartmouth College | 20 (T) | 6 |
| 20 (T) | Georgetown University | RV | 6 |
| RV | University of Washington | RV | 2 |
| RV | University of Florida | RV | 2 |
| RV | University of Oregon | RV | 1 |
