2021 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship Schedule
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the seeding for the 2021 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship slated for Friday-Sunday, November 12-14, and hosted by the University of Alabama at the Huntsville Aquatic Center in Huntsville, Alabama.
Based on the order of finish at the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship hosted at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, seeding for the 2021 event is not seeded by ability, since there is no equitable means to determine the respective strength of the teams. Too few teams play outside of their division schedules to create an accurate seeding. The host region (Southeast) receives two automatic bids, one of which is assumed by the division champion and the other by the host site or division runner-up (the 16th position) if the host claims the division title. This ensures the tournament host is always a participant.
Seeding for positions No. 1-11 is based on the results of the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship. As ties for the 13th and 15th positions in the final standings are not played out, the No. 12 and 13 positions are awarded by random draw. The No. 14-15 positions are also awarded by random draw.
Competing in “Rocket City” – the moniker given to Huntsville as Wernher von Braun and his team of fellow German-born rocketeers settled there in the 1950s and the city is home to the United States Army’s Redstone Arsenal and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center – the Missouri Valley Division Champion will hold the No. 1 spot in the field due to former collegiate club team Lindenwood University claiming the 2019 National Championship.
The Pacific Coast, Southwest, Rocky Mountain, Big Ten, Florida, Mid-Atlantic, Sierra Pacific New England and Texas Division champions/representatives will compete out of the No. 2-to-10 positions, while the Great Lakes, New York, Southeast, Atlantic and Northwest Division champions/representatives holding the No. 11-to-15 spots.
Alabama will compete as either the Southeast Division Champion at No. 13 or as the host out of the No. 16 position depending upon the outcome of the division. If Alabama wins the division championship, the runner-up from the Southeast Division will join the field as the No. 16 seed. If Alabama does not win the Southeast crown, then the Crimson Tide will play out of the No. 16 berth.
Since 1993, 12 different institutions have claimed the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship as Northwestern University (1993), the United States Military Academy (1994), the University of Dayton (1995), the University of Michigan (1996, 1998, 2003), Dartmouth College (1997), California Polytechnic State University (1999, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007), Michigan State University (2000, 2006, 2008), Grand Valley State University (2005), the University of California-Los Angeles (2009, 2010, 2013), the University of Southern California (2011, 2012), Lindenwood University (2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019) and San Diego State University (2017) have finished on top.
The 2021 championship marks the first time a national championship water polo event will be hosted in the state of Alabama.
