DAVIS, Calif. — UC Davis men's water polo and 14-year head coach Daniel Leyson enter a new era in the West Coast Conference, with the 2026 schedule being announced by the team on Saturday, Aug. 1.

Last season's Big West Champions open the new year across the country in Rhode Island as they participate in the Brown Invitational from Aug. 28-30. The Aggies begin the tournament against Wagner before playing Iona and host Brown on day two. Opening weekend wraps up on Aug. 30 against Fordham.

The next weekend, UC Davis opens Schaal Aquatics Center at the annual Aggie Roundup on Sept. 5 and 6. Games and participating teams will be announced at a later date. Davis stays home the next Sunday, Sept. 13, to take on Cal.

Following the MPSF Overnght Invite hosted at Stanford from Sept. 18 to 20, the Aggies host the Cardinal on Sept. 27 to close out non-conference play and the month of September.

The Aggies WCC era begins at Santa Clara on Oct. 9 against the Broncos. The team will stay in the Bay when they face San Jose State two days later.

The first of four home conference games will be hosted on Oct. 16, when Northern California rival Pacific comes to town. That game will be followed by the teams first matchup with Air Force since 2023, facing the Falcons on Oct. 18.

Davis will take a break from conference play on Oct. 24 and 25 when they play in the Julian Fraser Memorial, hosted by Santa Clara and San Jose State. Action begins with a doubleheader on Oct. 24 against UC Merced and Harvard and wraps up the next day against Princeton, marking four Ivy League schools the Aggies will face in 2026, the most in a season since 2016.

Following a road trip to Pepperdine on Oct. 30, the regular season wraps up with home games against first year team Saint Mary's and LMU. The Aggies will host the Gaels on Nov. 1 and the Lions on Nov. 8.

The 2026 WCC Men's Water Polo Championships will be held from Nov. 20 to 22 on the campus of Santa Clara.

The full 2026 UC Davis Men's Water Polo schedule can be found below:

• Aug. 28 vs. Wagner at 2:00 pm (Brown Invitational)
• Aug. 29 vs. Iona at 9:40 am (Brown Invitational)
• Aug. 29 at Brown at 1:40 pm (Brown Invitational)
• Aug. 30 vs. Fordham at 8:40 am (Brown Invitational)
• Sept. 5-6 vs. Aggie Roundup
• Sept. 13 vs. Cal at 12:00 pm
• Sept. 18-20 vs. MPSF Overnght Invite (at Stanford)
• Sept. 27 vs. Stanford at 12:00 pm
• Oct. 9 at Santa Clara* at 2:00 pm
• Oct. 11 at San Jose State* at 12:00 pm
• Oct. 16 vs. Pacific* at 7:00 pm
• Oct. 18 vs. Air Force* at 12:00 pm
• Oct. 24 vs. UC Merced at 10:20 am (Julian Fraser Memorial)
• Oct. 24 vs. Harvard at 2:20 pm (Julian Fraser Memorial)
• Oct. 25 vs. Princeton at 8:00 am (Julian Fraser Memorial)
• Oct. 30 at Pepperdine* at 12:00 pm
• Nov. 1 vs. Saint Mary's* at 1:00 pm
• Nov. 8 vs. LMU* at 1:00 pm
• Nov. 20-22, WCC Championships (TBA)

Home Games in BOLD
* Denotes West Coast Conference matchup

ABOUT UC DAVIS ATHLETICS: 

UC Davis, ranked No. 2 among public universities by the Wall Street Journal in the value of a college degree, is home to 40,000 undergraduate students and 12,000 employees. Ranked top in the United States in agriculture and forestry as well as No. 1 in veterinary medicine, UC Davis is located in a true California college town nestled between world-class destinations such as the San Francisco Bay Area, Napa Valley and Lake Tahoe. Over 650 Aggie student-athletes compete in 25 Division I varsity sports, with 16 sports transitioning to the Mountain West Conference beginning in 2026–27. 

For more information, visit https://ucdavisaggies.com/.