Back at No. 1: USC Climbs to No. 1 in October 14 Men's National Varsity Top 20 Poll

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- For the fourth time during the 2009 season, the Trojans of the University of Southern California are ranked No. 1 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Varsity Top 20 poll, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and Princeton University held on to the No. 1 positions in the Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 polls released on October 14.

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 returns to the top of the collegiate water polo world after ranking first in the Preseason, September 9 and September 16 polls before being replaced by Stanford University the past three weeks.

Last week, the Trojans downed Princeton University (14-3 W), Bucknell University (21-4 W), University of California-Santa Barbara (17-3 W), University of California-Los Angeles (9-8 W) and University of California (7-6 W), while Stanford fell to California (10-8 L) to open up the No. 1 position.

Overall, only two of the teams ranked in the Top 10 last week held onto their positions in the October 14 poll as No. 9 University of California-Irvine and No. 10 Concordia University (Calif.) remain in those spots for another week.

California, which was ranked fourth last week, climbs to No. 2, while Stanford and UCLA slip to No. 3 and 4, respectively.  Pepperdine University jumps into the Top Five at No. 5, with Loyola Marymount University, Long Beach State University and University of California-Santa Barbara completing the Top 10 at No. 6-8.

University of California-San Diego, University of the Pacific, United States Naval Academy, University of California-Davis and United States Air Force Academy account for No. 11-15, while Santa Clara University, Princeton University, Bucknell University, St. Francis College (N.Y.) and Pomona-Pitzer Colleges round out the Top 20 teams in the country.

Overall, 19 of the 20 teams ranked in the October 7 poll remain in this week's selections as former No. 20 California Baptist University slipped into the "Receiving Votes" category.

Men's Division III Top 10 Varsity Poll 

Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, which became the first Division III team besides Johns Hopkins University to rank No. 1 in the country since November 12, 2008 last week, remains the unanimous choice in the October 14 Division III Poll.

Overall, the first six positions in the poll remain unchanged University of Redlands, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Whittier College, Johns Hopkins University and Chapman University held on at No. 2-6, respectively.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology inched in front of California Lutheran Univeristy to take over the No. 7 position for the only change in the Top 10 poll this week.

Occidental College and Washington & Jefferson College finish the poll as the teams stayed at No. 9 and 10.

Men's Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 Poll

Princeton University remains the choice as the best team in the Collegiate Water Polo Association as the Tigers received 99 points to hold off the United States Naval Academy and Bucknell University for another week in the CWPA Top 10 poll.

The poll is contradictory to the National Top 20 poll which ranks Navy at No. 13 and Princeton at No. 17, as the Midshipmen are ranked second in the league poll this week.

Bucknell, which ranked second a week ago, slips to No. 3 this week, with Johns Hopkins University moving up one place to No. 4. 

Brown University, which fell to Iona College 10-9 over the weekend, is tied with the Gaels for the No. 5 position, while Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Fordham University, George Washington University and Harvard University round out the Top 10 teams in the league, with Mercyhurst College receiving votes.