Winter 2021 Men’s Varsity February 24/Week 5 Top 10 & Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top Five Polls Released

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. — The Golden Bears of the University of California retain the No. 1 position in the nation as the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) releases the Week 5/February 24 Winter 2021 Men’s Varsity National Top 10 and Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five Polls.

In the MAWPC Top Five rankings, the United States Naval Academy attains sole possession of the No. 1 spot after being tied with Bucknell University last week.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from the MAWPC, Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Golden Coast Conference, Western Water Polo Association (WWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the polls are compiled and released on Wednesdays during the abbreviated Winter 2021 season through the week following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship slated for March 18, 20 and 21 on the campus of Stanford in Palo Alto, Calif.

Winter 2021 Men’s Varsity National Top 10 (Week 5)

The University of California stays in front of the field for another week as the Golden Bears top the Week 5/February 24 National Men’s Varsity Top 10 Poll. The National Top 10 is a change from the normally released Top 20 due to a decrease in the number of varsity programs competing during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Changes are not plentiful in the Top 10, but do occur with a pair of ties coming at No. 2 and No. 9.

Behind Cal (97 points), the University of California-Los Angeles (92 points) and Stanford University (92 points) are now squared in the runner-up spot after the Bruins held a three point lead over the Cardinal at 94-to-91 last week.

The University of Southern California (88 points), Pepperdine University (81 points), Loyola Marymount University (74 points), California Baptist University (66 points) and the United States Air Force Academy (60 points) remain at No. 4-to-8, respectively, for another seven-day run.

The United States Naval Academy (56 points) and San Jose State University (56 points) round out the Top 10 as the Midshipmen and Spartans are tied at No. 9.

Winter 2021 Men’s Varsity Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference Top 5 (Week 5)

The back-and-forth between defending league champion Bucknell University and the United States Naval Academy continues with the Midshipmen coming out on the positive end to take over at No. 1 in the Week 5/February 24 Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) Top Five poll.

In a back-and-forth run between the two programs in which Bucknell held solo possession of the No. 1 position in the Preseason and Week 3 Polls and was tied with Navy in the Week 1, 2 and 4 balloting, Navy (99 points) finally pulls ahead over the Bison (94 points) thanks to a split in a pair of matchups over the weekend.

Navy – which fell to Bucknell by a 12-11 count in overtime prior to penning the Bison by a 15-5 count at home in Scott Natatorium – rises to sole possession of the No. 1 spot in a league poll since the CWPA Week 7/October 17 Top 10 voting during the 2012 season.

Bucknell drops back to No. 2, while Fordham University (92 points) remains at No. 3.

The final two positions in the Top Five also experience change as La Salle University (68 points) breaks out of a tie from last week with Iona College (16 points) at No. 5 to attain the program’s all-time best ranking at No. 4.  George Washington University (66 points), which stood at No. 4 last week, slips back to No. 5 with McKendree University (17 points) and Iona also receiving votes.