Nov. 20, 2016 Tickets (Dec. 3-4 Only) | NCAA Release/Bracket
INDIANAPOLIS - The NCAA Men's Water Polo Committee announced its pairings on Sunday evening, and UC Davis will compete in the first of two play-in contests at California's Spieker Aquatics Complex on Thursday, December 1. A win in that game would advance the Aggies to the semifinal round of the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship.
In all, seven teams will vie for the four-team championship bracket, with USC and UCLA earning the top two seeds, respectively. Harvard will host Bucknell in a November 26 play-in game. That winner will face the Aggies, champions of the Western Water Polo Association, in the first of two play-in contests at Spieker on December 1. The host Golden Bears will host Pomona-Pitzer following UC Davis' game that Thursday. The winners of the two December 1 play-in games then advance to the four-team championship tourney. The UC Davis/Harvard/Bucknell victor will face USC at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 3, while the Cal/Pomona-Pitzer winner will take on defending-champ UCLA at 5:12 that evening. The championship game is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday, December 4. Five teams earned automatic qualifiers to the national championship and its play-in games. UC Davis defeated UC San Diego to represent the WWPA, USC dispatched UCLA to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, Harvard upset Brown to claim the Northeast Water Polo Conference, Bucknell downed George Washington in the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference finale, and Pomona-Pitzer clipped Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to win the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. UCLA and California earned at-large berths to the NCAA bracket. This is UC Davis' fifth overall trip to the NCAA postseason, and the first with head coach
Daniel Leyson at the helm. The Aggies placed fifth in 1974 and eighth in 1975 under the tutelage of Jerry Hinsdale, then took fourth in 1996 and third in 1997 for Tom Elson. UC Davis previously reached but lost the WWPA title game in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2015.
UPDATE: The times for each play-in game have been finalized and are listed below. Tickets for the Dec. 1 games are only available on a day-of-game, walk-up basis. Advance tickets for the Dec. 3-4 portion of the tournament are available via the Cal Ticket Office (see above for link). Live video and live stats are available only for the semifinals and finals at NCAA.com.
2016 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE MEN'S WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP All games at Spieker Aquatics Complex except for Nov. 26 play-in game
SATURDAY, NOV. 26 - PLAY-IN GAME (CAMBRIDGE, MASS.) Harvard (24-6) vs. Bucknell (23-4), 1 p.m. EST
THURSDAY, DEC. 1 - PLAY-IN GAMES UC Davis (23-5) vs. Harvard/Bucknell winner, 4:30 p.m.
California (20-4) vs. Pomona-Pitzer (21-8), 6:30 p.m.
SATURDAY, DEC. 3 - SEMIFINALS Southern California (23-1) vs. UC Davis/Harvard/Bucknell winner, 3 p.m.
UCLA (25-2) vs. California/Pomona-Pitzer winner, 5:12 12 p.m.
SUNDAY, DEC. 4 - FINAL Semifinals winners, 3 p.m.
