1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

Tournament details
Dates	December 1973
Teams	8
Final positions
Champions	California (1st title)
Runner-up	UC Irvine (1st title game)
Third place	USC
Fourth place	UCLA
Tournament statistics
Matches played	12
Goals scored	151 (12.58 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Bruce Kocsis, USC (8)
←  1972 1974  →

The 1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the fifth annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1973. ^[1]

California defeated UC Irvine in the final, 8–4, to win their first national title.

The leading scorer for the tournament was Bruce Kocsis from USC (8 goals). The award for Most Outstanding Player was not given out this year, but an All-Tournament Team was named.

Qualification

Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.

Team	Appearance	Previous
California	2nd	1969
Long Beach State	4th	1971
New Mexico	3rd	1972
San José State	4th	1972
UC Irvine	5th	1972
UC Santa Barbara	4th	1972
USC	4th	1972
UCLA	5th	1972

Bracket

• Site: Belmont Plaza Pool, Long Beach, California

	Fifth place					Consolation semifinals					First round					Championship semifinals					Championship
											California		8
											New Mexico		7
						New Mexico		7								UCLA		2
						UC Santa Barbara		12								California		4
											UCLA		14
											UC Santa Barbara		2
	UC Santa Barbara		5																		California		8
	San José State		6																		UC Irvine		4
											UC Irvine		7
											Long Beach State		5
	Seventh place					Long Beach State		3								UC Irvine		9			Third place
						San José State		7								USC		5
	New Mexico		5								USC		7								UCLA		5
	Long Beach State		7								San José State		5								USC		7

All-tournament team

• Bruce Kocsis, USC
• Bruce Black, UC Irvine
• Jim Kruse, UC Irvine

See also

• NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

References

1. "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 26, 2015.