Collegiate Water Polo Association Releases October 28 Men's Varsity Polls; USC, Whittier & Navy Rank No. 1

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Trojans of the University of Southern California remains the No. 1 team in the nation and returns to being a unanimous pick in the October 28 Men's Water Polo Varsity Collegiate Top 20 Poll, while the Poets of Whittier College and the Midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy top the Division III and Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) Top 10 Polls.

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 hosted by Princeton University in early December.

Men's Top 20 Varsity Poll

The sun continues to shine on the University of Southern California as the Trojans picked up their fifth No. 1 placement of the season after previously rating first in the Preseason, September 9, September 16, October 14 and October 21 polls.

However, unlike last week in which the Trojans garnered only 99 points after earning all 100 in the October 14 poll, USC returns to being the unanimous and unquestioned No. 1 selection in the country with 100 points this week.

Overall, 18 of the 20 teams in the poll held their ranking from last week's balloting, including the first 12 picks and positions No. 17-20. 

The only change in the poll occurred at No. 13 and 16 as Santa Clara University, which was ranked No. 16 a week ago, used victories over No. 15 United States Air Force Academy (11-4 W), No. 20 California Baptist University (11-6 W), No. 19 Saint Francis College (15-10 W) and  Brown University (10-8 W) to move up to No. 13.

Previous No. 13-ranked University of California-Davis slips to No. 16 this week as the Aggies defeated Fresno Pacific University (9-8 W) and Brown (8-4 W), but dropped decisions to No. 15 Air Force (8-7 L OT) and No. 10 Concordia University (7-4 L) to fall out of the Top 15.

Men's Division III Top 10 Varsity Poll 

Change is constant, at least in the Division III poll.

For the third time in four weeks a new team takes over the No. 1 position in the Division III Top 10 Poll as Whittier College garnered 99 points to move up from No. 3 and rate as the best small college team in the country.

Whittier replaces University of Redlands thanks to an 11-8 victory over the Bulldogs last week.  The Bulldogs slip to second this week, while Chapman University drops one place to No. 3.

The change continues a trend of turnover in the poll as Redlands took over No. 1 last week from 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 two weeks ago. However, Pomona-Pitzer dropped a 10-5 game to Chapman two weeks ago to end the Sagehens time as the nation's best.

This week, Pomona-Pitzer moves up a spot to No. 4, while Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges slips to No. 5 to round out the changes in the poll as Johns Hopkins , California Lutheran University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Occidental College and Washington & Jefferson College continue to rank No. 6-10. 

Men's Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 Poll

The United States Naval Academy garnered 100 points for a second consecutive week to retain its position as a unanimous top selection in the Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 Poll.

Navy, which earned 100 points to rate as the consenus No. 1 team in the league last week, leads a string of CWPA Southern Division teams which held their rankings in the top half from the October 21 poll as  Princeton University, Bucknell University and Johns Hopkins University continue to rate No. 2-4.

Overall, the CWPA poll has seen only two teams rank No. 1 this season as Princeton rated No. 1 in the Preseason, September 9, October 7 and October 14 polls, while Navy previously topped the standings on September 16, September 23, September 30 and October 21.

The first change in the poll occurs at No. 5 and 6 as Brown University inched in front of Iona College 78-77 to take possession of the fifth spot and force the Gaels back to No. 6. 

Fordham University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology held firm at No. 7 and 8, respectively, for another week, while Harvard University jumped in front of George Washington University to take over at No. 9.