BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — Over the past 24 hours, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) office has received several inquiries regarding the highest finish in the Men’s Varsity National Top 20 Poll by an East Coast institution.
Following a bit of sleuthing through the league archives and double-checking some numbers, it appears Princeton University equaled the best finish by a men’s program from the East Coast this year by placing Seventh in the final 2022 Men’s Varsity Top 20 Poll released on December 7.
The team the Tigers equaled? The United States Naval Academy which tied with Pepperdine University in the final standings of the 2007 poll. Considering Princeton did not tie for the No. 7 spot in 2022, the Tigers have an arguable claim to the title of the highest finishing East Coast program in the 21st Century.
Top East Coast Ranked Team (2000-to-2022)
- 2000 – United States Naval Academy (11th)
- 2001 – University of Massachusetts (11th – T)
- 2002 – Queens College (11th)
- 2003 – United States Naval Academy (11th)
- 2004 – Princeton University (9th)
- 2005 – St Francis College Brooklyn (11th)
- 2006 – United States Naval Academy (12th)
- 2007 – United States Naval Academy (7th – T / Tied with Pepperdine University)
- 2008 – United States Naval Academy (11th)
- 2009 – Princeton University (10th)
- 2010 – St. Francis College Brooklyn (10th)
- 2011 – Princeton University (10th)
- 2012 – St. Francis College Brooklyn (9th)
- 2013 – St. Francis College Brooklyn (10th)
- 2014 – Brown University (9th- T)
- 2015 – Princeton University (10th)
- 2016 – Harvard University (9th)
- 2017 – Harvard University (11th – T)
- 2018 – George Washington University (11th)
- 2019 – Bucknell University (10th)
- Winter 2021 (only a Top 10 due to COVID-19) – United States Naval Academy & Bucknell University (8th – T)
- 2021 – Princeton University (12th)
- 2022 – Princeton University (7th)
