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INDIANAPOLIS — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Committee announced the eight teams vying for the 2017 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. The top two seeds have been placed in the bracket; the remaining six teams will compete for the last two berths in the bracket via four opening round games. The opening round games will be contested on Saturday, November 25, hosted by Harvard University and the University of the Pacific, and on Thursday, November 30, hosted by Southern California, which will also host the championship on December 2 and 3. The semifinal and championship games will be played at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles and streamed live on NCAA.com.
In the first opening round game, No. 5-ranked/Golden Coast Conference (GCC) Champion Pacific (19-5) will host No. 19/Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Champion Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (24-10). The winner will advance to the third opening round game to play No. 8/Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion the University of California-Davis (22-6), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play No. 3/at-large selection the University of California-Los Angeles (19-4) at Southern California.
In the second opening round game, No. 15/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Harvard (23-7) will host Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion George Washington (17-11). The winner will advance to the fourth opening round game to play No. 4/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Champion USC (25-3), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play No. 2/at-large selection the University of California (20-3). Game times for the opening round games 1:00 p.m. Eastern (10:00 a.m. Pacific) for Harvard-George Washington (East Coast) and Noon Pacific (3:00 p.m. Eastern). The second round games at USC will take place at 5:00/7:00 p.m. Pacific (8:00/10:00 p.m. Eastern).
Game times for the semifinals are 6:00 and 8:15 p.m. ET (3:00/5:15 p.m. Pacific) on Saturday, December 2, and the championship game will be played at 6:00 p.m. Eastern (3:00 p.m. Pacific) on Sunday, December 3.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), Golden Coast Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Northeast Water Polo Conference, Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2016, California defeated USC, 11-8 to capture its 14th national championship title.
Release courtesy National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)
