USC, Redlands, St. Francis & Brown Top Oct. 22 Men's Varsity Polls

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The University of Southern California and the University of Redlands continue to dominate the Varsity and Division III ranks, while Brown University and Saint Francis College (N.Y.) climbed up to tie for first place in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 as the October 22 Men's Varsity National Polls were released by the Collegiate Water Polo Association league office.

In the Varsity Top 20 poll, USC held onto the top spot for another week after claiming the No. 1 ranking four weeks ago for the first time since November 28 of 2007. Like last week, the Trojans garnered 100 points and were a unanimous choice as the top team in the nation.

Overall, the majority of the poll remains unchanged as the Top 11 teams and 11 of the Top 20 teams in the country retained their rankings from last week.

Stanford University, the University of California-Berkeley, the University of California-Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, the University of California-San Diego, the University of California-Santa Barbara, the University of California-Irvine, Long Beach State University and the University of California-Davis remain No. 2 through 11, while the bottom nine of the poll saw minor changes.

Santa Clara University, Saint Francis College (N.Y.) and the University of Redlands climbed one place each to take over positions No. 12 through 14, while Princeton University, which was No. 12 last week, fell back three places to No. 15 on the heels of a loss to Bucknell University.

The United States Naval Academy and the University of the Pacific traded places with the Midshipmen climbing to No. 16, Brown University held firm at No. 18, Bucknell University climbed into the Top 20 at No. 19 and the United States Air Force Academy slipped back to No. 20 to edge out California Baptist University and round out the Top 20 teams in the nation.

Another week, another No. 1 ranking for the University of Redlands which continued its domination of the Division III ranks as the Bulldogs held firm as a unanimous No. 1 selection in the October 22 Division III poll. Johns Hopkins University stayed at No. 2 for another week with 95 points, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges remained at third with 89 points.

California Lutheran University and Chapman University held firm at No. 4 and 5, while Occidental College and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges jumped to No. 6 and 7, respectively, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology fell to No. 8.

Whittier College and the University fo California-Santa Cruz round out the Division III Top 10 at No. 9 and 10, respectively, while the University of La Verne received votes.

In the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10, the North ascended to the top as Northern Division rivals Saint Francis College (N.Y.) and Brown University tied for the top spot with 95 points displacing Princeton University.  Brown, which clinched the No. 1 seed for the Northern Division Championship last week, holds a 9-8 win over Saint Francis from September 27 in their only league meeting of the year.

Two-time defending Eastern champion the United States Naval Academy climbed to No. 3, while Bucknell University, which knocked off Princeton 11-6 last week, moved to No. 4 ahead of the No. 5 Tigers. 

Johns Hopkins University, Mercyhurst College, George Washington University, Iona College and Harvard University finish out the Top 10, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Gannon University received votes.