INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Fans can watch the 2024 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men’s Water Polo Championship on Friday-Sunday, December 6-8, at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatic Center via NCAA.com and ESPN.
First-round games and the semifinals will be streamed live on NCAA.com, and the national championship final will air live on ESPNU.
The 2024 championship will be an eight-team, single-elimination tournament. The first-round games will be contested Friday, December. 6, where No. 1-ranked/top seed/Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) runner-up the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) will play No. 20/Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Champion Salem University in Game 1 at 3:00 p.m. Eastern/Noon Pacific. Rounding out the bracket will be No. 4/No. 2 seed/MPSF Third Place finisher Stanford taking on No. 5/Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) Champion Princeton University in Game 2 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific, No. 1/No. 3 seed/MPSF Champion the University of Southern California competing against No. 9/West Coast Conference (WCC) Champion California Baptist University in Game 3 at 7:00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific and No. 1/Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Champion Fordham University facing No. 6/Big West Conference Champion Long Beach State University in Game 4 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern/6:00 p.m. Pacific.
The victors of Games 1 and 2 will meet in the semifinals on Saturday, December 7, at 5:00 p.m. Eastern/2:00 p.m. Pacific while the victors of Games 3 and 4 take to the water at 7;00 p.m. Eastern/4:00 p.m. Pacific.
The National Championship game is slated for 6:00 p.m. Eastern/3:00 p.m. Pacific on Sunday, December 8, with coverage on ESPN.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Big West Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference, Northeast Water Polo Conference, West Coach Conference, and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
