INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Women’s Water Polo Committee announced the nine teams vying for the 2024 National Collegiate Women’s Water Polo Championship on Wednesday-Sunday, May 8-12, at the University of California in Berkeley, Calif.. Seven teams were placed in the bracket, while the remaining two teams will compete for the last berth in the bracket via an opening-round game.
The opening-round game will be contested on Wednesday, May 8, at California. The first-round, semifinal and championship games will be played at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif.. The 2024 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament.
In the opening-round game, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champion/No. 18-ranked Wagner College (29-4) will play Western Water Polo Association Champion Biola University (14-16), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Champion/No. 1 the University of California-Los Angeles (23-0) in Game 1. Rounding out the bracket will be at-large selection/No. 4 Stanford University (18-6) taking on fellow at-large pick/No. 5 the University of Southern California (18-8) in Game 2, Big West Champion/No. 2 the University of Hawaii (22-3) competes against Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Champion/No. 11 Princeton University (23-6) in Game 3 and the host/at-large selection/No. 3 Golden Bears of California (17-6) face Golden Coast Conference Champion/No. 9 Fresno State University (21-7) in Game 4.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification include the Big West Conference, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining three teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
The first-round and semifinal games will be streamed on NCAA.com. The national championship game will take place at 10 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 12 on ESPNU.
Below is the 2024 bracket:
Click to view the interactive bracket