National Champion UCLA Finishes Year at No. 1 in Final Men's Collegiate Club Poll

BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- 2009 Men's National Collegiate Club Champion the University of California-Los Angeles opened the season ranked No. 5 in the Preseason Poll, but concludes it as the top team in the nation in the water and the eyes of the nation's coaches as the Bruins conclude the year ranked No. 1 in the November 19 and final Men's National Collegiate Club Top 20 Poll.

UCLA, which knocked off Florida International University 10-8 last weekend in the title game of the National Collegiate Club Championship on the campus of the University of Florida, is followed by the Golden Panthers and the University of Arizona which placed second and third at Nationals.

University of California-Berkeley, which lost out to UCLA in the Pacific Coast Division, Michigan State University, Lindenwood University, University of Utah, University of California-Santa Barbara, Arizona State University and University of Texas round out the Top 10 teams in the poll.

The biggest mover of the week was Lindenwood which placed fifth at the National Collegiate Club Championship and jumped 13 places to No. 6 this week after ranking No. 19 in the November 12 poll.

University of Washington, University of California-Irvine, University of Michigan, Yale University and California Polytehnic State University account for positions No. 11-15, while California State University-Chico, Pennsylvania State University, University of Colorado, University of California-Davis and Columbia University finish the year at No. 16-20, respectively.

Voted on by a panel of coaches from around the country during each week of the season and based on the cumulative results of each team, the National Collegiate Club Top 20 Poll is relased each Thursday during the season until the week following the National Collegiate Club Championship.