BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2026 Women’s Collegiate Club Top 20 and Division III Top 10 Preseason Polls.
2026 Women’s Collegiate Club Top 20 (Preseason)
The University of Michigan – which finished second to the University of California-Santa Barbara at the 2025 Women’s National Collegiate Club Championship – will start the new season at No. 1 in the country as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the 2026 Women’s Collegiate Club Top 20 Preseason Poll.
A two-time (2023, 2024) Women’s Collegiate Club National Champion, Michigan (96 points) clips defending National Champion UC-Santa Barbara (95 points) by a point for the top spot. San Diego State University (90 points), California Polytechnic State University (85 points), the University of California-San Diego (81 points), the University of California-Davis (75 points), the University of California-Los Angeles (73 points), Yale University (63 points), Northeastern University (62 points) and the University of Colorado (53 points) complete the Top 10.
The University of Notre Dame (47 points), Grand Valley State University (45 points), Texas A&M University (41 points), the University of California (39 points) and Pennsylvania State University (27 points) rate at No. 11-to-15, while the University of Wisconsin (24 points) and Michigan State University (24 points) tie at No. 16.
Florida State University (8 points), the University of California-Santa Cruz (7 points) and West Chester University (5 points) complete the Top 20 heading into the first weekend of the 2026 women’s collegiate club season.
2026 Women’s Club Top 20 (Preseason) |
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| Rank | Team | Final 2025 Poll |
Points |
| 1 | University of Michigan | 2 | 96 |
| 2 | University of California-Santa Barbara | 1 | 95 |
| 3 | San Diego State University | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | California Polytechnic State University | 4 (T) | 85 |
| 5 | University of California-San Diego | 4 (T) | 81 |
| 6 | University of California-Davis | 6 | 75 |
| 7 | University of California-Los Angeles | 7 | 73 |
| 8 | Yale University | 8 | 63 |
| 9 | Northeastern University | 9 | 62 |
| 10 | University of Colorado | 10 | 53 |
| 11 | University of Notre Dame | 11 (T) | 47 |
| 12 | Grand Valley State University | 11 (T) | 45 |
| 13 | Texas A&M University | 13 | 41 |
| 14 | University of California | 14 | 39 |
| 15 | Pennsylvania State University | 15 | 27 |
| 16 (T) | University of Wisconsin | 16 (T) | 24 |
| 16 (T) | Michigan State University | 16 (T) | 24 |
| 18 | Florida State University | 19 | 8 |
| 19 | University of California-Santa Cruz | 18 | 7 |
| 20 | West Chester University | RV | 5 |
| RV | University of Washington | 20 (T) | 4 |
| RV |
Cornell University | 20 (T) | 4 |
| RV |
Virginia Poly. Institute & State University | RV | 1 |
| RV |
University of Florida | RV | 1 |
2026 Women’s Collegiate Club Division III Top 10 (Preseason)
The University of California-Santa Cruz starts the 2026 season where the Banana Slugs wrapped up 2024 and 2025 – at No. 1 – in the Women’s Collegiate Club Division III Top 10 Preseason Poll.
The preseason rankings mirror the final 2025 voting as unanimous top choice UC-Santa Cruz (100 points) is followed by Washington University in St. Louis (93 points), New York University (92 points), the United States Coast Guard Academy (83 points), Middlebury College (80 points), Carnegie Mellon University (77 points), Tufts University (70 points), Emory University (62 points), Bowdoin College (61 points) and Colby College (57 points).
2026 Women’s Club Top 10 (Preseason) |
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| Rank | Team | Final 2025 Poll |
Points |
| 1 | University of California-Santa Cruz | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Washington University in St. Louis | 2 | 93 |
| 3 | New York University | 3 | 92 |
| 4 | U.S. Coast Guard Academy | 4 | 83 |
| 5 | Middlebury College | 5 | 80 |
| 6 | Carnegie Mellon University | 6 | 77 |
| 7 | Tufts University | 7 | 70 |
| 8 | Emory University | 8 | 62 |
| 9 | Bowdoin College | 9 | 61 |
| 10 | Colby College | 10 | 57 |
