 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | December 5–6, 2015 |
| Teams | 6 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | UCLA |
| Runner-up | USC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 6 |
| Best player | Ryder Roberts, UCLA |
The 2015 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 47th annual championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Spieker Aquatics Center at UCLA in Los Angeles, California from December 5–6, 2015. [1] UCLA defeated USC for the 2015 title 10–7. [2]
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. Under the new format, six teams were invited to contest this single-elimination tournament. The play-in games was played December 3, hosted by Southern California, and the championship will be held December 5 and 6, hosted by UCLA. [3]
| Play-in | Semifinals | Finals | ||||||||||||
| 1 | UCLA (28-0) | 17 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | UCSD (14-13) | 12 | 5 | UC San Diego (15-13) | 4 | |||||||||
| 4 | Princeton (22-4) | 7 | 1 | UCLA | 10 | |||||||||
| 3 | USC | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | California (23-6) | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | USC (20-6) | 20 | 3 | USC (21-6) | 9 | |||||||||
| 6 | Claremont McKenna (21–7) | 5 | Third place | |||||||||||
| 5 | UC San Diego | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | California | 20 | ||||||||||||
The NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship is an annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Beginning in 1969, it has been held every year except 2020, when it was postponed to March 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a limited number of NCAA water polo programs at the national level, all men's teams, whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III, are eligible to compete each year in the National Collegiate tournament. The tournament was expanded from a four-team bracket in 2013 by adding two play-in games that are contested by the bottom four seeds, effectively creating a six-team bracket with a first-round bye for the top two teams. This makes it the sport with the fewest teams reaching the NCAA tournament; this is because there are only 43 men's water polo teams between all three NCAA divisions.
The NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship has existed since the 2001 season. Seven conferences have teams competing in women's water polo: the Big West Conference, the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the single-sport Golden Coast Conference, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). Some teams compete at Division III either as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference or independently. Teams qualify by either winning their respective conference tournament or receiving one of the few at large bids available. Unlike most NCAA sports, only one National Collegiate championship is held each season with teams from Division I, Division II, and Division III competing together.
The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF). For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I. UCLA is second to only Stanford University as the school with the most NCAA team championships at 121 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
The USC Trojans are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the Trojans, the women's athletic teams are referred to as either the Trojans or Women of Troy. The program participates in the Pac-12 Conference and has won 136 team national championships, 112 of which are National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) national championships. USC's official colors are cardinal and gold. The Trojans have a cross-town rivalry in several sports with UCLA. However, USC's football rivalry with Notre Dame predates the UCLA rivalry by three years. The Notre Dame rivalry stems mainly from the annual football game played between these two universities and is considered the greatest intersectional rivalry in college football. The Trojans also enjoy a rivalry with the Stanford Cardinal. The USC Trojans are considered one of the most successful college athletic programs of all time.
The UCLA–USC rivalry is the American collegiate athletics rivalry between the UCLA Bruins sports teams of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and USC Trojans teams of the University of Southern California (USC).
The Spieker Aquatics Center is a 2,500-capacity stadium in Los Angeles, California used by UCLA water polo, swimming, and diving teams. The $14-million center was built in 2009 and is named for Tod and Catherine Spieker. Tod was a student-athlete at UCLA, competing from 1968 to 1971 in swimming.
The 2014 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 46th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center, La Jolla, California from December 6–7, 2014. UCLA defeated USC 9–8 to win the National Championship, its ninth NCAA men's water polo title and 112th NCAA title in school history. Danny McClintick was named the NCAA Tournament MVP.
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The 2016 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship was the 16th annual tournament to determine the national champion of NCAA women's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at the UCLA Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, California from May 13–15, 2016. The USC Trojans defeated the 2015 champions, the Stanford Cardinal, 8-7 to win their fifth national title, while finishing the season 26-0.
The 2016 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 48th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Spieker Aquatics Complex at the University of California in Berkeley, California from December 3–4, 2016. The five conferences receiving automatic qualification were: the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). California defeated USC 11–8 to win the national title in double overtime.
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