# NCAA men 2026 Season

**URL:** <https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528>\
**Category:** College - Mens\
**Created:** [July 13, 2026, 1:12pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528 "2026-07-13T13:12:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 39

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**Author:** ![WaterPolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@WaterPolo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WaterPolo)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 7:45pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/788 "2026-09-28T19:45:11Z")

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Herzer must have gotten the starting goalie position over his kid or something in 14U. 😆

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**Author:** ![Mikepigg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Mikepigg](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Mikepigg)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/789 "2026-09-28T19:46:02Z")

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Because we all know the 5m penalty is an offensive main course whereas 6v5, and natural goals account for very little.

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**Author:** ![flipturn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@flipturn](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/flipturn)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/790 "2026-09-28T20:19:35Z")

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> [@H17Polo](#):
>
> I was surprised to see no player from UCSD, Princeton, or Irvine, despite representation from Brown and Harvard.

I think everyone knows the list is a joke and that this is a desperate attempt to make it show that the sport is growing outside California. The unwritten rule for the cutino winner is on the winning team at the end of the season and/or will be an Olympian.

With that said, this is more of a compliment to those teams than a diss. Shows they have a collection of players and not just a stand alone guy. Usually when everyone on your team has the play style of a role player you tend to get the cleanest style of water polo. That’s because it’s easier to get everyone to buy in to the team, and play with a “nothing to lose” mentality. With UCI you probably make the case that Francisco is their best player. However, I don’t think you could pinpoint who “the guy” is on Princeton and UCSD.

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**Author:** ![Wapomama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@Wapomama](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Wapomama)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 8:21pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/791 "2026-09-28T20:21:15Z")

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You clearly have something against him personally. You’ve made that obvious. Herzer is a fantastic goalie and keeps getting better.

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**Author:** ![WaterPoloTrevor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9de0a6/32.png) [@WaterPoloTrevor](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WaterPoloTrevor)\
**Post date:** [September 28, 2026, 11:56pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/792 "2026-09-28T23:56:43Z")

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Fordham is in a good position but that Princeton/Navy doubleheader will be hard. Even if the games are on Rose Hill (in front of what will likely be a packed house).

To me what makes 10/10 so important is because that second game against Princeton is literally walking into a Tiger’s Den. Princeton is 11-1 and playing Fordham home and home gives them a real chance at the four seed. The Princeton home game is going to be one of the great water polo watches of the year. I can only assume the game was put at 6:00 on a Friday night to ensure a huge student turnout.

On Luca, I would note he is playing a facilitator role. I bet he ends up with over 100 assists again. He is a Captain and I think he does a good job of getting guys involved. What was interesting about this weekend was the defense outpaced the offense. I did not see that coming.

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**Author:** ![H17Polo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@H17Polo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/H17Polo)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 12:09am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/793 "2026-09-29T00:09:36Z")

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Good take re seeding. Princeton has a lot more work to do if they want to play a non big four team in the first round of NCAAs for the first time since 2023. They may need to take one of the two against Fordham.

But more importantly, they need to do very well in their second CA trip (which includes a game at Pacific and the Julian Fraser Memorial tournament, where they play UC Davis, CBU, and Santa Clara) and not drop any games against Brown or Harvard.

In another season, it may be okay to drop one conference game, but considering Harvard is 3-9 and has a loss to Concordia, and Brown has a loss to Fullerton, so losses to either team could be detrimental to Princeton.

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**Author:** ![DaddyGroovy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@DaddyGroovy](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/DaddyGroovy)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 2:11am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/794 "2026-09-29T02:11:44Z")

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Just like the NCAA Championship the Cutino award winner will be from the Big 4 players. The non-Big 4 players on the list are just window dressing.

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**Author:** ![H17Polo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f1d935/32.png) [@H17Polo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/H17Polo)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/795 "2026-09-30T20:10:47Z")

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> **[2026 Men's Varsity Polls - Week 5/September 30 - Collegiate Water Polo...](https://collegiatewaterpolo.org/polls/2026-mens-varsity-polls-week-5-september-30/)**
>
> 2026 Men’s Varsity Top 20 (Week 5) Rank  Team 2026 Week 4 Poll Points 1  University of California-Los Angeles 1 100 2  Stanford University 2 95 3  University of Southern California 3 90 4  University of California 4 (T) 85 5  Fordham University 4 (T)...

Pretty crazy to see UCI at No.6 in this week’s poll. I do like how the voters kept LBSU above Pacific. It’s easy to look at Pacific and say they’ve only lost to 1-5 and beat everyone else, so they belong at 6, but the eye test and how they’ve looked in those losses do not reflect that.

My problem with the CWPA poll has always been that it is too reactive and based off one week of results. There is no way on earth that any sane individual can put Pepperdine over UCSD at the moment. UCSD is 2-0 against Pepperdine and has a win over UCI and a sudden-death overtime loss to LBSU. One loss to LMU should not bump them below Pepperdine.

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**Author:** ![H2Opolo10](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/2acd7d/32.png) [@H2Opolo10](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/H2Opolo10)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:24pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/796 "2026-09-30T20:24:20Z")

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Yea that is wild. UCSD has beat Pepperdine twice and has a win over UCI. Pepp and SD are both 0-1 vs LMU. Pepp’s best win is UCSB. There is no justification for Pepp being ahead of SD

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**Author:** ![flipturn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@flipturn](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/flipturn)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 10:11pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/797 "2026-09-30T22:11:37Z")

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UCI jumps up to #6 after a good win against #14 then 1 goal wins against #15 and #18 and UCSD drops behind 2 teams that they have the head to head advantage. This is highway robbery. 🤣

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**Author:** ![WPpops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7cd45c/32.png) [@WPpops](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPpops)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 10:37pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/798 "2026-09-30T22:37:38Z")

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It is suspect. Atleast it doesn’t mean anything.

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**Author:** ![Pastprime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/258eb7/32.png) [@Pastprime](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Pastprime)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 1:11am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/799 "2026-10-01T01:11:48Z")

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Best I can say is the coaches’ heads are spinning. They don’t have the time to think this thru. That said the parity is great. 5-18 will be a wild ride thru the end of the season.

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**Author:** ![polo86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@polo86](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polo86)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 2:35am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/800 "2026-10-01T02:35:34Z")

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PP up 4-3 @ CMS at half

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**Author:** ![WPpops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7cd45c/32.png) [@WPpops](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPpops)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:21am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/801 "2026-10-01T03:21:20Z")

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6 goal 4th quarter for the win for Pomona! Great game.

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**Author:** ![WPpops](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7cd45c/32.png) [@WPpops](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/WPpops)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:28am UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/802 "2026-10-01T03:28:08Z")

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So Pepperdine, who is 6-9, has one game they lose of course since UCLA, and they move up 2 spots? Yeah right. LMU and UCSD are obvious choices there. But a few other teams went undefeated last weekend and dropped? Some with ranked wins.

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**Author:** ![DaddyGroovy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@DaddyGroovy](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/DaddyGroovy)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/803 "2026-10-01T15:04:22Z")

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Shout out to Alex Lopez for being named Big West Player of the Week! Former Mt. Sac Mountie!!!

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**Author:** ![Gopolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/67e7ee/32.png) [@Gopolo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Gopolo)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/804 "2026-10-01T15:13:47Z")

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I was at this game last night. It was an electric atmosphere, really a spirited match for both the teams and the fans. There’s something special about a night game for a big DIII rivalry. It was a great experience

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**Author:** ![polo86](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@polo86](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/polo86)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 4:36pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/805 "2026-10-01T16:36:32Z")

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My kids love attending these games. Can’t wait for the next one on 11/4

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**Author:** ![Gopolo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/67e7ee/32.png) [@Gopolo](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/Gopolo)\
**Post date:** [October 1, 2026, 5:29pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/806 "2026-10-01T17:29:10Z")

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That was my first time, hopefully not my last. I know this is old news but I was really impressed with the level of play from both teams. Strong defense, great goalies, impressive 2m play, just an all-around fun evening of water polo.

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**Author:** ![clark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@clark](https://waterpoloexchange.com/u/clark)\
**Post date:** [October 3, 2026, 4:46pm UTC](https://waterpoloexchange.com/t/ncaa-men-2026-season/2528/807 "2026-10-03T16:46:55Z")

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Big games this weekend, put your live reactions here:  
[https://waterpoloexchange.com/chat/c/watch-party-oct-3-4-weekend/183](https://waterpoloexchange.com/chat/c/watch-party-oct-3-4-weekend/183)

🙂

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