Princeton University Athletics
Men's Water Polo Ranked 11th in Preseason Poll
August 19, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
The Princeton men's water polo team will enter the 2009 season ranked 11th in the CWPA Men's Varsity Top 20 Preseason Poll. Princeton is the first team ranked that does not call California home. The Tigers ended 2008 ranked 13th in the nation.
Princeton is also ranked first in the CWPA regional poll, ahead of defending-CWPA champion Navy and Brown. The Tigers hope the rankings hold true as Princeton hosts the 2009 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship at DeNunzio Pool and the Tigers would like to be the CWPA's representatives at the event.
Defending National Champion USC tops the poll with Stanford, UCLA, Cal and Pepperdine completing the Top 5. As it stands now, the Tigers have six of the Top 20 scheduled for 2009, with more potential games once the ECAC and SoCal Tournament schedules are finalized. Princeton opens the season on Sept. 11 against third-ranked UCLA in a nationally-televised game on ESPNU and hosts 15th-ranked Santa Clara the following day. Princeton also has top-ranked USC, 12th-ranked Navy, 17th-ranked Brown and 18th-ranked Bucknell on the schedule this season.
The Tigers begin the preseason on Friday and will practice for the three weeks before the Sept. 11 season opener.
|
2009 Varsity Top 20 (Preseason) |
|||
|
Rank |
Team |
Final 2008 Poll |
Points |
|
1 |
University of Southern California |
1 |
100 |
|
2 |
Stanford University |
3 |
95 |
|
3 |
University of California, Los Angeles |
4 |
88 |
|
4 |
University of California, Berkeley |
7 |
83 |
|
5 |
Pepperdine University |
2 |
80 |
|
6 |
Loyola Marymount University |
5 |
77 |
|
7 |
University of California, Santa Barbara |
6 |
71 |
|
8 |
University of California, Irvine |
8 |
67 |
|
9 |
Long Beach State University |
9 |
58 |
|
10 |
University of California, San Diego |
10 |
54 |
|
11 |
Princeton University |
13 |
48 |
|
12 |
US Naval Academy |
11 |
41 |
|
13 |
University of the Pacific |
16 |
40 |
|
14 |
University of California, Davis |
12 |
37 |
|
15 |
Santa Clara University |
15 |
32 |
|
16 |
St. Francis College (NY) |
14 |
23 |
|
17 |
Brown University |
17 |
19 |
|
18 |
Bucknell University |
RV |
14 |
|
19 |
US Air Force Academy |
20 |
12 |
|
20 |
California Baptist University |
18 |
6 |
|
RV |
University of Redlands |
19 |
5 |
|
RV |
Johns Hopkins University |
NR |
5 |
|
RV |
Whittier College |
NR |
1 |