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CWPA Releases 2008 Men's Collegiate Club Preseason Poll
BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- California Polytechnic State University, the defending National Collegiate Club Championship titleist, is picked to defend its crown as the Mustangs were a unanimous selection at No. 1 in the 2008 Preseason Men's Collegiate Club Poll released by the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA).
Cal Poly, which captured the national title with a 7-6 OT win against Big 10 champion Michigan State University after taking the Pacific Coast Division title, is followed in the poll by the Spartans as Michigan State garnered 95 points to be a unanimous second place selection.
The University of Arizona, the 2007 Southwest Division champion, moved up one place from its final 2007 ranking as the Wildcats earned 87 points to place third, while Miami University, the Missouri Valley Division champion, fell one spot to fourth.
Grand Valley State University and Florida International University, the Great Lakes and Florida Division champions, remained fifth and sixth in the poll, while the University of California-Davis, which placed second to Cal Poly in the Pacific Coast Division a year ago, made a dramatic jump moving up to seventh.
Mid-Atlantic Division champion the University of Pennsylvania, New England Division champion Middlebury College and Rocky Mountain Division champion the University of Utah round out the Top 10 in the preseason poll.
The lone team to break into the Top 20 from the Final 2007 poll was the University of California-Los Angeles as the Bruins earned seven points to claim 19th place.
The Varsity Top 20, CWPA, Division III and National Collegiate Club polls will be released each Wednesday during the season by 5:00 p.m. The next polls will be released on September 10.
2008 Preseason Top 20 Club Poll | |||
Rank
|
Team
|
Final 2007 Poll |
Total |
| 1 | Cal Poly State University | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Michigan State University | 2 | 95 |
| 3 | University of Arizona | 4 | 87 |
| 4 | Miami University (OH) | 3 | 84 |
| 5 | Grand Valley State University | 5 | 80 |
| 6 | Florida International University | 6 | 79 |
| 7 | University of California, Davis | 9 | 68 |
| 8 | University of Pennsylvania | 7 (T) | 63 |
| 9 | Middlebury College | 10 | 60 |
| 10 | University of Utah | 7 (T) | 55 |
| 11 | Purdue University | 12 | 52 |
| 12 | Indiana University | 11 | 43 |
| 13 | University of Southern California | 13 | 40 |
| 14 | University of Oregon | 14 | 39 |
| 15 | University of California, Berkeley | 15 | 30 |
| 16 | University of California, San Diego | 17 | 20 |
| 17 | University of Minnesota | 19 | 18 |
| 18 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 16 | 17 |
| 19 | University of California, Los Angeles | RV | 7 |
| 20 | Lindenwood University | 18 | 6 |
| RV | University of Georgia | NR | 4 |
| RV | California Maritime Academy | 20 | 1 |
| RV | University of Michigan | NR | 1 |
| RV | Villanova University | NR | 1 |
