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BRIDGEPORT, Pa. – The defending national champion UCLA men's water polo team will open the season on top of the sport as the squad holds the No. 1 position in the 2018 Preseason National Men's Varsity Top 20 Poll as announced by the CWPA today.
The Bruins, who claimed the 2017 NCAA Championship, fell one point shy of rating as a unanimous preseason No. 1 selection as UCLA picked up 99 points. USC (96 points) remains at No. 2 after finishing as the runner-up at the NCAA Championship, while California (89 points), Stanford (86 points) and Pacific (81 points) ranked third through fifith, respectively, as the top five spots in the final 2017 poll remain consistent entering the 2018 season.
Long Beach State (71 points) is the first program to improve upon its position from the final 2017 balloting as the squad starts the new year at No. 6, a two place improvement over its final 2017 slot. UC Davis (68 points) and Pepperdine (63 points) assume the No. 7 and 8 spots with UC Irvine (60 points) and UC Santa Barbara (59 points) completing an All-West Coast Top 10.
Harvard (50 points) is the first non-Golden State institution to appear in the Top 20 as the Crimson hold down the No. 11 spot. UC San Diego (43 points), Princeton (40 points), San Jose State (37 points) and Brown (34 points) follow at No. 12 to 15.
Cal Baptist (24 points), Pomona-Pitzer (18 points), George Washington (12 points) and St. Francis Brooklyn (10 points) are holding down the 16-19 spots. Air Force (4 points), Bucknell (4 points) and Wagner (4 points) round out the top 20, all tied for 20th.
2018 MEN'S VARSITY TOP 20 (PRESEASON) |
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| Rank | Team | Final 2017 Poll | Points |
| 1 | UCLA | 1 | 99 |
| 2 | USC | 2 | 96 |
| 3 | California | 3 | 89 |
| 4 | Stanford | 4 | 86 |
| 5 | Pacific | 5 | 81 |
| 6 | Long Beach State | 7 | 71 |
| 7 | UC Davis | 8 | 68 |
| 8 | Pepperdine | 9 | 63 |
| 9 | UC Irvine | 6 | 60 |
| 10 | UC Santa Barbara | 10 | 59 |
| 11 | Harvard | 11 (T) | 50 |
| 12 | UC San Diego | 13 | 43 |
| 13 | Princeton | 14 | 40 |
| 14 | San Jose State | 11 (T) | 37 |
| 15 | Brown | 15 | 34 |
| 16 | Cal Baptist | 16 | 24 |
| 17 | Pomona-Pitzer | 18 | 18 |
| 18 | George Washington | 17 | 12 |
| 19 | St. Francis Brooklyn | 19 | 10 |
| 20 (T) | Air Force | RV | 4 |
| 20 (T) | Bucknell | 20 | 4 |
| 20 (T) | Wagner | RV | 4 |
| RV | Concordia | RV | 2 |