The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) is a college athletic conference with members located mostly in the western United States, although it now has members as far east as Pennsylvania. The conference participates at the NCAA Division I level, primarily in Olympic sports that are not directly sponsored by a school's home conference.
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 Big Ten 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 123 NCAA team championships. UCLA offers 11 varsity sports programs for men and 14 for women.
Moriah van Norman is an American water polo player who has played for the University of Southern California and the National team, who won the Peter J. Cutino Award in 2004, recognized as the best female collegiate player in the nation. Her position is two-meter offense.
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 Big Ten 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.
Adam Krikorian is an American water polo coach and the head coach of the United States women's national water polo team. He coached the team to gold medals at the 2012 Olympic Games, 2016 Olympic Games, and 2020 Olympic Games. He was named the United States Olympic Committee's Coach of the Games for 2016. He won 15 NCAA national championships as player, assistant coach, and head coach at UCLA.
Brandon Brooks, who played water polo as a goalie for UCLA and the 2004 and 2008 United States National teams, was the head coach of the women's water polo team at UCLA until 2017. The women's team won the 2008 and 2009 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, and one of his players, Courtney Mathewson, captured the Peter J. Cutino Award as the player-of-the year in 2008.
Adam Wright is an American water polo player and a college water polo head coach. He was a member of the United States men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, defeated by Hungary.
James W. "J.W." Krumpholz is an American water polo player. He is a member of the United States men's national water polo team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the championship game, the USA team won the silver medal, defeated by Hungary.
The Uytengsu Aquatics Center is a 2,500-seat outdoor aquatics venue located on the campus of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, US. The facility features two pools: a long course pool, and a diving well with towers. The facility is the home pool for the USC Trojans swimming and diving teams.
The Rose Bowl Aquatics Center is a pool facility located in Pasadena, California, adjacent to the Rose Bowl Stadium. It is best known as the training facility for the Rose Bowl Aquatics swim club, as well as Rose Bowl Masters swimming, Rose Bowl diving teams, and the Rose Bowl water polo club.
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. UCLA defeated USC for the 2015 title 10–7.
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.
Canyonview Aquatic Center is an is an aquatics complex in La Jolla, California, located on the campus of the University of California San Diego. The complex is home of the UC San Diego Tritons men's and women's water polo, swimming and diving teams. It comprises two Olympic-size swimming pools, bleacher seating, and fitness facilities.
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.
Stephania Haralabidis was born in Athens, Greece. Haralabidis is a Greek American water polo player who played at USC and currently playing for Ethnikos and the U.S. national team. Haralabidis also has two sisters, her twin Ioanna and older sister Anastaia. Ioanna was also on the USC women's water polo team.
The 2020 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from March 18–21, 2021 in Los Angeles, California, at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. This was the 52nd NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Six teams participated in this championship. Although this was the 2020 championship, it was played in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rankings before the tournament: No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 California, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 USC.
The 2021 NCAA National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship was the 19th edition of the NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship, the annual tournament to decide the championship of NCAA women's collegiate water polo. The tournament was held May 14–16, 2021, at the Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, California, hosted by the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
The 2021 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from December 4–5, 2021 in Los Angeles, California at the Spieker Aquatics Center. This was the 53rd NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Seven teams participated in this championship. Opening round game-one was played at Princeton University. The UCLA Bruins were the defending national champions and the 2021 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) champions. The rankings before the tournament: No. 1 University of California, No. 2 University of Southern California, No. 3 University of California Los Angeles, No. 4 Stanford University, No. 5 Long Beach State University.
