September 9 Men's Varsity Polls Released; USC Remains No. 1 in the Nation

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The University of Southern California, Johns Hopkins University and Princeton University held onto their positions at No. 1 as the Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 polls for Week 1 of the 2009 men's varsity season were released by the CWPA.

Voted on by a panel of coaches and administrators from around the country during each week of the season and based on the cumulative results of each team, the Varsity Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 polls are released each Wednesday during the season until the Wednesday following the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.

Men's Top 20 Varsity Poll

The University of Southern California, which knocked off Stanford University 7-5 last year at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center to capture the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Men's National Championship, held firm as a unanimous selection as the No. 1 team in the nation.

One of only five teams in the Top 11 to retain its position from the preseason poll, went 4-0 last week by downing University of California-Santa Barbara (15-5 W), Loyola Marymount University (11-6 W), Pomona-Pitzer Colleges (16-2 W) and the United States Air Force Academy (16-5 W) to earn 100 points in the poll.

Stanford also held onto its ranking from the preseason as the Cardinal netted 94 points after going 4-0 at the Navy Open by downing the host Midshipmen (16-7 W), Bucknell University (22-7 W), Johns Hopkins University (20-1 W) and George Washington University (17-2 W).

The remainder of the Top Seven spots in the country saw change this week as University of California moved up one place to No. 3, University of California-Los Angeles slipped to No. 4, Loyola Marymount and UC-Santa Barbara improved one place each to No. 5 and 6, respectively, while Pepperdine University fell two places to No. 7.

University of California-Irvine and Long Beach State University are the only other Top 10 teams to retain their positions as the pair remain locked at No. 8 and 9, respectively, while University of the Pacific rose three places to move into the Top 10 at 10th.

Princeton University, which ranked No. 11 in the preseason, begins the next 10 of the poll as the Tigers did not play and held firm at No. 11 this week to round out the teams that defended their rankings from the preseason balloting.

Air Force, which was ranked No. 19 in the preseason, experienced the largest one-week improvement among previously ranked teams as the Falcons moved up seven places to take over No. 12, one place better than No. 13 University of California-San Diego.

The biggest improvement of the week belongs to Concordia University (Calif.) which used a 5-0 mark at the Navy Open, including an 11-4 win over the previously No. 12 Midshipmen, to go from unranked in the preseason to No. 14 in the season's first week of balloting.

St. Francis College (N.Y.), Santa Clara University, Navy, University of California-Davis, Brown University and Bucknell University round out the Top 20, while California Baptist University and University of Redlands received votes but did not crack the rankings.

2009 Varsity Top 20 (September 9 - Week 1)

Men's Division III Top 10 Varsity Poll

Johns Hopkins University remains No. 1 in the Division III Top 10 poll as the Blue Jays received 100 points to outdistance University of Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges which tied for second place.

Overall, the Top Four positions in the poll are relatively unchanged as Redlands and Pomona-Pitzer were ranked No. 2 and 3 in the preseason, while Whittier College held onto the No. 4 position.

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges improved two places to take over the No. 5 slot, California Lutheran University held at No. 6, Chapman University jumped to No. 7, Massachusetts Institute of Technology dropped back to No. 8, University of La Verne improved one place to No. 9 and Occidental College slipped to No. 10 to wrap up the selections.

Men's Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 Poll

Princeton University, which fell to the United States Naval Academy 9-6 at the 2008 Eastern Championship at Navy, remains No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 poll.

The Tigers, which enter 2009 following a 19-10 season a year ago and the fifth Southern Championship in program history before falling to the Midshipmen in Annapolis, improved on the 98 points they accrued to rank No. 1 in the preseason as Princeton became a unanimous No. 1 selection with 100 points.

Brown Universiy takes over the No. 2 position this week, while the United States Naval Academy slipped to No. 3, one place better than Bucknell University, as the Bears (91), Midshipmen (90) and Bison (89) are separated by only two points in the rankings. 

Johns Hopkins University, Fordham University, Iona College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, George Washington University and Harvard University complete the Top 10 as the teams rank No. 5-10 through one week of competition.