University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
The Bruins begin their title defense with Princeton on Friday, Dec. 5 at 4:00 p.m. PT.
UCLA Earns At-Large Berth, Seeded Second for NCAA Championship
November 24, 2025 | Men's Water Polo
INDIANAPOLIS – The UCLA men's water polo team (24-2) has earned an at-large bid into the 2025 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship and was seeded second, placing the Bruins in the third quarterfinal game as announced by the NCAA Men's Water Polo Committee Monday morning on its Selection Show.
The eight teams vying for the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship will be in competition Dec. 5-7 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. UCLA will be seeking its 14th NCAA title in the sport and the school's 125th overall.
The top four seeds were placed in the bracket with the MPSF Tournament champions, USC (21-3), grabbing the top seed, and NCAA Championship hosts, Stanford (17-7), getting the nod as the three seed on the Bruins' side of the bracket. Fordham (25-3) was the only other seeded team and they were placed on the Trojans' side in the four spot.
UCLA will face the Princeton Tigers (23-9) in the first quarterfinal game on Friday, Dec. 5 at 4:00 p.m. PT. The Bruins defeated Princeton earlier this year, 23-10, at home on Oct. 11. UCLA is 22-0 all-time against Princeton.
The first game of the tournament will see USC take on Concordia University Irvine (22-12) at 12:00 p.m. PT on Friday, Dec. 5. The Golden Eagles are making their first-ever appearance in the NCAA Championship. Fordham will then face San Jose State (14-7) in the second quarterfinal at 2:00 p.m. Then after the UCLA/Princeton contest, the home team, Stanford, will close out the day with UC Davis (14-12) at 6:00 p.m. PT.
The semifinals will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. The NCAA Championship will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7 live on ESPNU.
Six teams earned automatic selections to this year's NCAA Championship by winning their respective conference tournaments. They include USC (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), San Jose State (West Coast Conference), Princeton (Northeast Water Polo Conference), Fordham (Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference), UC Davis (Big West Conference), and CUI (Western Water Polo Association). The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2024, UCLA defeated USC 11-8 to capture its 13th overall national title..
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