Which college teams surprised you in 2025, in a good way? Basically teams that over performed compared to where people expected.
I’ll start, in no order.
USC - Hard to say a preseason top 3 surprised, but for me it was the way they performed against UCLA multiple times.
CMS - Most knew they would be a tough D3 team. Seeing them beat UCI was not a preseason expectation, maybe more because of where we thought UCI would be.
CBU - Coming into the year losing all but 1 starter to graduation or transfer, most expected them to be #6 in WCC. They had some great performances and getting to WCC final again was unexpected by most.
UCSB - Only putting them in here based on their GW loss. Many assumed that was the end and they bounced back nicely.
If you put CBU and UCSB among pleasant season surprises you better mention UC Davis as well. CBU was ranked 13th in the preseason poll, UC Davis -14th, and UCSB- 15th. It looks like UC Davis has had a better season than CBU, UCSB, and quiet a few other programs
I don’t think anyone with knowledge about the sport is ever surprised by Davis. That pre season poll is always garbage. UCSB had some impressive moments and outperformed my expectations (which were zero). I had CBU as my pre season surprise team given the notable transfers. I had a feeling Rosa would have that team humming regardless. It’s too bad we didn’t get to see the full returning team at CBU. I have a feeling they would have made the tournament. Can’t say the same for Long Beach
I think you may be confusing this with a ranking. I actually don’t need to mention UC Davis at all because I had higher expectations of them than some pre season poll may have. Remember, this is about teams that surprised you based on expectations. Putting CBU nd UCSB on my list has no reflection on the season UC Davis is having.
@Rbpolo I also would’ve liked to see them at full strength yesterday. SJSU is a very very good team so the outcome could’ve been the same, but it’s unfortunate what happened.
Perhaps so. But even on this board, our very knowledgeable colleague Jeff asked " What is going on with Davis?" after the preseason poll was published. So perhaps a few people were pleasantly surprised. In any case, Davis is a young team. I am happy for them.
I am not confusing anything Good for you that you had higher expectations of Davis. But the fact is that they were ranked as #14 in the preseason poll and definitely outperformed it.
Regarding Davis. It is hard to say. I knew that they would be a young team. When they signed Palavra and Vinos, I probably expected that the Croatian center might contribute more. He definitely has frame but it might take a little bit more time for him to fully flourish and dominate. I recall that Nir Gross, for example, was dominant even as a freshman. Vinos is definitely very good but, perhaps, Aleix, Ido, and Sasa did even better their freshmen years.
Ok. I’m leaving them off my list because preseason voters were not driving my thought on who I put there. They may or may not be on your list. I’m not sure why you are debating who surprised ME. It’s actually funny as you are not committing to them being on YOUR list. Them not being on my list is actually a compliment, but you seem to be taking offense to it.
Oh boy, I am not taking offense to anything- these lists are just that … lists.
All I mentioned that, quite probably, some people expected less. Anyway, who cares.
No worries at all. You want to provide your list of teams that surprised you in a good way? I actually am sincerely curious from people on who they put up there.
I had a few surprises but more from a mixed category. I did not expect UCLA to be outplayed by USC in their head-to-head games. Kudos to Pinta, but I am very curious to see what happens on December 7th if both teams make it that far.
I was pleasantly surprised, but definitely not shocked, with CBU beating UOP in the conference semis. UCSB did play better after a poor start but, for example, in the Davis game on Nov 1, young Davis squad basically gave that game away.
GW beating UCSB and Navy
Stanford was ranked outside top 4 to start the season, beating Cal 3x is no small feat in any season.
Claremont beating UCI
Santa Clara beating Pacific was a good sign for them
LMU beating UCSD also a great sign
Harvard surprised us given their roster size beating Pepperdine
Been a year of wonderful water polo and parity all around!
