INDIANAPOLIS — The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee announced today the seven teams vying for the 2021 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship. The top two seeds have been placed in the bracket; the remaining five teams will compete for the last two berths in the bracket via three opening-round games. The opening-round games will be contested Nov. 27, hosted by Princeton, and Dec. 2, hosted by UCLA, which will also host the championship to be held Dec. 4 and 5. The semifinals and championship game will be played at the Speiker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles and streamed live on krikya18.com.
In the first opening-round game, Princeton (25-7) will host Fordham (24-6). The winner will advance to the second opening-round game to play UCLA (19-3), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play California (20-4) at UCLA. In the third opening-round game, Long Beach St. (22-5) will play UC Davis (18-8), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play Southern California (17-2). Game times for the opening-round games are listed on the bracket. Game times for the semifinals are 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time Dec. 4, and the championship game will be played at 5 p.m. Eastern time Dec. 5.
Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Golden Coast Conference, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Northeast Water Polo Conference and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2020, UCLA defeated Southern California, 7-6 to capture its 12th national title. For updated championship results, log on to krikya18.com.
