BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has informed the conferences of clarifications regarding the Winter/Spring 2021 Men’s Water Polo season. The season was moved from the Fall of 2020 due to COVID-19 and was approved by the NCAA Board of Directors, NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee and Division I Council to take place during the Winter/Spring 2021 period.
- Competition may start on January 16, 2021 and each institution must play a minimum of eight contests during the upcoming season.
- If a conference elects to hold a championship tournament to determine its automatic qualifier (AQ), the event must be completed by Sunday, March 7, and the AQ must be determined prior to the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee’s selection meeting. The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee will conduct the selection meeting during the evening of Sunday, March 7, with a tentative start time of 8:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Pacific.
- The NCAA Championship will consist of six automatic qualifiers and zero at-large berths. Automatic qualifying conferences are the Golden Coast Conference, Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC), Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). If a conference foregoes their AQ, similar to the SCIAC’s election in 2019, the NCAA Championship field will adjust to five automatic qualifiers and one at-large berth. NOTE: this exception of possibly gaining an at-large berth is only applicable for the upcoming postponed championship and will not be applicable in future championships.
- Stanford University has committed to hosting the championship in March 2021. The entire NCAA Championship will occur at Stanford with no play-in games occurring at any other site.
- To clarify the dates of the championship:
- Opening Round Games: Two games will occur on Thursday, March 18, 2021 (both to be played on the campus of Stanford
- National Championship Semifinals: Both games will occur on Saturday, March 20, 2021, on the campus of Stanford
- National Championship Game: The National Championship will occur on Sunday, March 21, 2021 on the campus of Stanford
