The NCAA men's water polo championship is an annual tournament organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association to determine the national champion of men's collegiate water polo among its member programs in the United States. It has been held every year since 1969, except 2020 when it was postponed to March 2021 due to 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, were eligible to compete each year. In 2019, Division III separated and created its own national championship, despite there only being 17 Division III schools that sponsor men's water polo. Currently, there are only 37 men's water polo teams between Division I and Division II.

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. Starting with the 2023 tournament, the number of teams was increased to eight teams. Even with this expansion, the men's water polo tournament remains the smallest across all NCAA sports.

While the championship often includes teams from around the country, most programs are located within the state of California, and no school from outside California has ever surpassed third place or participated in the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship game.

The four California based power conference schools have been the most successful. The University of California, Berkeley is the most successful program with 17 titles, followed by UCLA with 14 titles, Stanford (11 titles), and USC (10 titles). One of these four schools has won the championship every year since 1998.

Results NCAA Men's Water Polo ChampionshipYear SitePool/NatatoriumChampionship ResultsChampionScoreRunner-up 1969 Long Beach, CA Belmont Plaza Pool UCLA 5–2 California 1970 UC Irvine 7–6 (3OT) UCLA 1971 UCLA 5–3 San Jose State 1972 Albuquerque, NM Armond H. Seidler Natatorium UCLA 10–5 UC Irvine 1973 Long Beach, CA Belmont Plaza Pool California 8–4 UC Irvine 1974 California 7–6 UC Irvine 1975 California 9–8 UC Irvine 1976 Stanford 13–12 UCLA 1977 Providence, RI Smith Swim Center California 8–6 UC Irvine 1978 Long Beach, CA Belmont Plaza Pool Stanford 7–6 (3OT) California 1979 UC Santa Barbara 11–3 UCLA 1980 Stanford 8–6 California 1981 Stanford 17–6 Long Beach State 1982 UC Irvine 7–4 Stanford 1983 California 10–7 USC 1984 California 9–8 Stanford 1985 Stanford 12–11 (2OT) UC Irvine 1986 Stanford 9–6 California 1987 California 9–8 (OT) USC 1988 California 14–11 UCLA 1989 Indianapolis, IN Indiana University Natatorium UC Irvine 9–8 California 1990 Long Beach, CA Belmont Plaza Pool California 8–7 Stanford 1991 California 7–6 UCLA 1992 California 12–11 (3OT) Stanford 1993 Stanford 11–9 USC 1994 Stanford 14–10 USC 1995 Stanford, CA deGuerre Pool Complex UCLA 10–8 California 1996 La Jolla, San Diego, CA Canyonview Pool UCLA 8–7 USC 1997 Fort Lauderdale, FL International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatics Complex Pepperdine 8–7 (2OT) USC 1998 Newport Beach, CA Marian Bergeson Aquatic Center USC 9–8 (2OT) Stanford 1999 La Jolla, San Diego, CA Canyonview Pool UCLA 6–5 Stanford 2000 Malibu, CA Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool UCLA 11–2 UC San Diego 2001 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center Stanford 8–5 UCLA 2002 Los Angeles, CA Burns Aquatics Center Stanford 7–6 California 2003 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center USC 9–7 (2OT) Stanford 2004 UCLA 10–9 (OT) Stanford 2005 Lewisburg, PA Kinney Natatorium USC 3–2 Stanford 2006 Los Angeles, CA Burns Aquatics Center California 7–6 USC 2007 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center California 8–6 USC 2008 USC 7–5 Stanford 2009 Princeton, NJ DeNunzio Pool USC 7–6 UCLA 2010 Berkeley, CA Spieker Aquatics Complex USC 12–10 (OT) California 2011 USC 7–4 UCLA 2012 Los Angeles, CA McDonald's Swim Stadium USC 11–10 UCLA 2013 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center USC 12–11 (2OT) Pacific 2014 La Jolla, San Diego, CA Canyonview Pool UCLA 9–8 USC 2015 Los Angeles, CA Spieker Aquatics Center UCLA 10–7 USC 2016 Berkeley, CA Spieker Aquatics Complex California 11–8 (2OT) USC 2017 Los Angeles, CA Uytengsu Aquatics Center UCLA 7–5 USC 2018 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center USC 14–12 Stanford 2019 Stockton, CA Chris Kjeldsen Pool Complex Stanford 13–8 Pacific 2020 Los Angeles, CA Uytengsu Aquatics Center UCLA 7–6 USC 2021 Spieker Aquatics Center California 13–12 USC 2022 Berkeley, CA Spieker Aquatics Complex California 13–12 USC 2023 Los Angeles, CA Uytengsu Aquatics Center California 13–11 UCLA 2024 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center UCLA 11–8 USC 2025 Stanford, CA Avery Aquatic Center UCLA 11–10 USC2026La Jolla, San Diego, CACanyonview Pool2027Davis, CASchaal Aquatics Center Notes

Champions

Team titles Team # Years 17 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 2006, 2007, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023 14 1969, 1971, 1972, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2020, 2024, 2025 11 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1985, 1986, 1993, 1994, 2001, 2002, 2019 10 1998, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2018 3 1970, 1982, 1989 1 1997 1979

Appearances by team Key National Champion National Runner-up Semifinals Quarterfinals (8 teams 1969 to 1994, 2023-Present, 2 teams 2013 to 2022) Opening Round (1 or 2 teams since 2015, except for 2020)

School Conference # QF SF CG CH MPSF 33 33 33 25 17 MPSF 40 40 37 24 14 MPSF 36 36 32 22 11 MPSF 40 40 35 27 10 Big West 22 22 18 8 3 West Coast 13 13 9 1 1 Big West 12 12 5 1 1 West Coast 5 5 4 2 - West Coast 6 6 3 2 - Big West 15 15 10 1 - Big West 14 14 5 1 - West Coast 8 8 8 - - CWPA 14 14 5 - - defunct 7 7 5 - - CWPA 11 10 4 - - defunct 4 4 4 - - West Coast 10 10 3 - - CWPA 5 3 2 - - Big West 2 2 2 - - defunct 2 2 2 - - West Coast 8 8 1 - - CWPA 3 2 1 - - CWPA 12 12 - - - defunct 10 10 - - - CWPA 8 7 - - - defunct 3 3 - - - defunct 3 3 - - - defunct 2 2 - - - defunct 2 2 - - - defunct 2 2 - - - defunct 2 2 - - - defunct 2 2 - - - SCIAC 2 2 - - - West Coast 2 2 - - - SCIAC 3 1 - - - CWPA 2 1 - - - defunct 1 1 - - - defunct 1 1 - - - defunct 1 1 - - - SCIAC 1 1 - - - WWPA 1 1 - - - WWPA 1 1 - - - WWPA 1 1 - - -

Recent championships 2009 Semifinals scores (Princeton University, December 5, 3:00 pm and 5:00 pm (ET)): #1 USC 13 vs. #4 Princeton 3; #2 UCLA 9 vs. #3 Loyola Marymount 8 (2 OT)

National Championship (Princeton University, December 6, 2:00 pm (ET)): #1 USC (25–2) vs. #2 UCLA (23–6)

2009 NCAA All-Tournament Teams:

First-Team – Shea Buckner, USC; Scott Davidson, UCLA; Ben Hohl, UCLA; Tibor Forai, LMU; J. W. Krumpholz, USC; Andy Stevens, LMU; Jordan Thompson, USC (MVP) Second-Team – Edgaras Asajavicius, LMU; Matt Hale, Princeton; Cullen Hennessy, UCLA; Chay Lapin, UCLA; Matt Sagehorn, USC; Josh Samuels, UCLA; Eric Vreeland, Princeton; Griffin White, UCLA; Mark Zalewski, Princeton

2010 Semifinals (December 4, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California) USC def. St. Francis (NY) 10–7 California def. Loyola Marymount 7–6 Championship (December 5, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California) USC def. California 12-10 (OT)

2010 NCAA All-Tournament Teams:

First-Team – Peter Kurzeka, USC (MVP); Ivan Rackov, CAL; Zachary White, CAL; Tibor Forai, LMU; Nikola Vavic, USC; Andy Stevens, LMU; Brian Dudley, CAL Second-Team – Boris Plavsic, SFC; Ikaika Aki, LMU; Marko Gencic, SFC; Jeremy Davie, USC; Joel Dennerley, USC; Matt Burton, USC; Cory Nasoff, CAL

2011

Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining team was selected at-large without geographical restrictions.

Semifinals (December 3, 2011, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California) USC (22–3) def. Princeton (21–9) 17–4 UCLA (23–4) def. UC-San Diego (17–9) 10–1 Championship (December 4, 2010, Spieker Aquatics Complex, University of California, Berkeley, California) Third-place game, Princeton def. UC San Diego 9–7 Championship game, USC def. UCLA 7–4

2011 NCAA All-Tournament Teams: First-Team – Joel Dennerley (MOP), Peter Kurzeka and Nikola Vavic, USC; Josh Samuels and Cullen Hennessy, UCLA; Thomas Nelson, Princeton and Graham Saber, UC San Diego. Second-team – Matt Rapacz, Griffin White and Cristiano Mirarchi, UCLA; Jeremy Davie and Mace Rapsey, USC; Drew Hoffenberg, Princeton, and Brian Donohoe, UC San Diego.

2012 The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 1 and 2, 2012 at Southern California's McDonald's Swim Stadium. Conferences receiving automatic qualification included the Collegiate Water Polo Association, the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and the Western Water Polo Association. The remaining team was selected at-large without geographical restrictions. All four championship games will be streamed live on www.NCAA.com.

Semifinals - December 1, 2012 Southern California (27–0) vs. Air Force (19–10) 4 p.m. ET UCLA (27–4) vs. St. Francis (N.Y.) (16–8) 6:12 p.m. ET

Finals - December 2, 2012 Third-place game played at 4 p.m. ET The championship game played at 6:12 p.m. ET.

2013 The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 7 and 8, 2013 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. This season marked the introduction of an expanded format. Six teams were seeded into the tournament, with the bottom four participating in Play-in games to fill the four team bracket. Four conferences received automatic qualification: the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions. The tournament was seeded by the Men's Water Polo Committee on December 1. Conference representatives were Southern Cal (MPSF), Whittier College (SCIAC), UC San Diego (WWPA), and St. Francis College Brooklyn (CWPA).

Play-in – December 5, 2013 Game 1: #5 St. Francis College Brooklyn (22–10) def. #4 UC San Diego (14–13) 6–5 Game 2: #3 Stanford (21–5) def. #6 Whittier College (19–12) 20–3

Semifinals – December 7, 2013 1 p.m. – Seed No.1 Southern Cal (26–4) def. #5 St. Francis College Brooklyn (23–10) 10–3 2:45 p.m. – Seed No. 2 Pacific (22–4) def. #3 Stanford (22–5) 11–10 Finals – December 8, 2013 Third-place game played at 1 p.m. The championship game played at 3 p.m.

2014

The NCAA men's water polo championship was held December 6 and 7, 2014 at UC San Diego's Canyonview Aquatic Center, La Jolla, CA. The tournament continued with the new format by adding two more teams to play in the four-team play-in games. Conferences received automatic qualification were the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA), the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF), Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC), and the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). The remaining teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions. They were selected by the Men's Water Polo Committee on November 23, 2014.

Play-in – November 29, 2014 Game 1: #4 UC San Diego (15–9) def. #5 Brown University (26–6) 12–7 Game 2: #3 USC (22–6) def. #6 Whittier (23–12) 19–4

Semifinals – December 6, 2014 Game 3, 1:00 PM PT: #1 seed UCLA (27–3) def. #4 seed UC San Diego (16–9) 15–6 Game 4, 3:12 PM PT: #3 seed USC (23–6) def. #2 seed Stanford (25–3) 12–11 in triple OT

Championship Dec. 7, 2014 Third-place game, 1:00 p.m. PT: #2 seed Stanford def. #4 seed UC San Diego 20–11 National Championship Game, 3:12 p.m. PT: #1 seed UCLA def. #3 seed USC 9–8

2015