 | |
| Teams | 8 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Finals site | Uytengsu Aquatics Center Los Angeles, California |
| Champions | UCLA Bruins (11th title, 20th title game, 30th Final Four) |
| Runner-up | USC Trojans (22nd title game, 27th Final Four) |
| Semifinalists |
|
| Winning coach | Adam Wright (3rd title) |
| MVP | Alex Wolf ((UCLA)) |
| Television | NCAA |
The 2017 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from November 25, 2017, to December 3rd in Los Angeles at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. This was the 49th NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Eight teams across from all divisions participated in this championship.
Schedule
| November 25 | November 30 | December 2 | December 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |
Qualification
The six-member selection committee selects eight institutions based on a wide number of factors, primarily number of wins, rigor of schedule, level of availability, an indication of an upward trend or winning consistently, and RPI.[2]
| Institution | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | MPSF | 20–3 | 29th | 2016 |
| George Washington | A-10 | 17–11 | 1st | — |
| Harvard | Ivy League | 23–7 | 2nd | 2016 |
| Pacific | WCC | 19–5 | 3rd | 2013 |
| Pomona–Pitzer | SCIAC | 24–10 | 2nd | 2016 |
| UC Davis | Big West | 22–6 | 6th | 2016 |
| UCLA | MPSF | 19–4 | 33rd | 2016 |
| USC | MPSF | 25–3 | 32nd | 2016 |
Seeding
Likewise with the criteria mentioned above, seeding was based on level of ranking, geographic proximity to the finals site, and a projected low level of academic commitments missed.[2] The pots outlined feature what level in the championship institutions competed in, ranging from competing away in the first round for Pot 4 to skipping to the semifinals in Pot 1.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | UC Davis | Pacific | Pomona–Pitzer |
| California | USC | Harvard | George Washington |
Bracket
The championship featured a knockout format where schools that lost were eliminated from the tournament.[1]
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship | |||||||||||
| 25 November – Stockton | ||||||||||||||
| Pacific | 16 | |||||||||||||
| 30 November – Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| Pomona–Pitzer | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Pacific | 13 | |||||||||||||
| UC Davis | 12 | |||||||||||||
| UC Davis – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 December – Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| UC Davis – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| Pacific | 9 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA | 11 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 3 December – Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA | 7 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 5 | |||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 2 December – Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| California – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| California | 11 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 12 | |||||||||||||
| USC – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 30 November – Los Angeles | ||||||||||||||
| USC – Bye | 0 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 16 | |||||||||||||
| 25 November – Cambridge | ||||||||||||||
| Harvard | 4 | |||||||||||||
| Harvard | 15 | |||||||||||||
| George Washington | 13 | |||||||||||||
Harvard's play-in win over George Washington was the first-ever victory for a school outside California in a non-consolation game in tournament history. (As of 2019, however, California schools still maintain a perfect record against teams outside the state.)
Honors
The following distinctions were distributed concluding the championship to athletes that had superior performance of some kind in the championship.[3]
All-tournament Teams
First Team
| Athlete | Institution |
|---|---|
| Luca Cupido | California |
| Blake Edwards | USC |
| Max Irving | UCLA |
| Matteo Morelli | USC |
| Alex Roelse | UCLA |
| Marko Vavic | USC |
| Alex Wolf (MVP) | UCLA |
Second Team
| Athlete | Institution |
|---|---|
| McQuin Baron | USC |
| Matt Farmer | UCLA |
| John Hooper | California |
| Luke Pavillard | Pacific |
| Nicolas Saveljic | UCLA |
| Ben Stevenson | Pacific |
| James Walters | USC |
Tournament scoring leader
| Athlete | Institution | Goals |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Pavillard | Pacific | 10 |
Team rankings
| Institution | Ranking |
|---|---|
| UCLA | No. 1 |
| USC | No. 2 |
| California | No. 3 |
| Pacific | No. 4 |
| UC Davis | No. 5 |
| Harvard | No. 6 |
| George Washington | No. 7 |
| Pomona–Pitzer | No. 8 |
References
- 1 2 "2018 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship Bracket" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- 1 2 "2017–18 Pre-Championship Manual // NCAA Men's Water Polo" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved 1 July 2018.
- 1 2 "National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championships Records Book" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. Retrieved 1 July 2018.