NCAA Men’s Water Polo Final Four Preview

With the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship Final Four set to commence on Saturday, December 6, emotions are running high. Four teams head into the most important tournament of their season and potentially their career. UCLA, Stanford, USC and UC San Diego are in the lineup to play in the semifinals, with #1 UCLA facing #4 UC San Diego at 1:00 PM PST, and #2 Stanford facing #3 USC at 3:00 PM PST. All games are taking place at UC San Diego’s Canyonview Aquatics Center. Below is a preview of the four teams, many of which have had to face adversity both in the water and out this year.

#1 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, LOS ANGELES

UC San Diego to host the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Final Four December 6-7.

UCLA is, clearly, the number one seed going into the Final Four. The road was somewhat predictable for the Bruins, who posted a 27-3 record heading into this weekend. The team is consistent when they are winning, but also consistent when they are losing. The Bruins saw their undefeated season squashed on October 12, when they not only lost to USC, but  four hours later to Stanford as well at the SoCal Tournament. UCLA slowly climbed its way back on top of the polls, entering the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference championships as the top seed. Surprisingly, UCLA lost to Long Beach State in the semifinals (whom they previously beat one week earlier by 8 goals). The Bruins went on to face USC in the third place game, beating them 10-5.

Although this team faced untimely loses this season, they will be hungry for the national championship final. I like their overall consistent, powerful play, and even though they crept into the final four by being granted an at-large berth, this team is ready to redeem themselves and show they are the number one team in the country.

Keys to victory

UCLA needs to score double digits both days to get the wins and take home the crown. With their outstanding offense and solid defense, double digit scoring will most likely produce a national championship.

#2 STANFORD UNIVERSITY

Stanford has been on a similar path as UCLA this season, posting a 25-3 record heading into the national championships. Two of their three losses have come from the Bruins, most recently losing only by 1 goal in their last meeting. Unlike UCLA, however, Stanford won their conference (MPSF) by beating Long Beach state 9-8, earning an automatic qualifier to the final four. This team will be a contender; however, UCLA seems to have their number every time they face each other. If both UCLA and Stanford make it to the NCAA Championship game, Stanford will have to be mentally tough to overcome this strong UCLA team. Bottom line: this team is a force to reckoned with and will not back down to any challenge. The key to Stanford’s success will be their offense.

Keys to victory

Similar to UCLA, when Stanford scores less than 10 goals, they lose. They need to make sure their offense is on-point and that they are putting up at least 11 goals to ensure a win. If they do that, they will be hard to beat.

Canyonview Aquatics Center-UC San Diego

#3 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

USC has encountered many ups and downs for a team at this stage, seeing six loses over the course of the season. With a record of 26-6, five of their six loses have been from UCLA and Stanford, with the most recent loss coming from Stanford in the semifinals of the MPSF conference championship tournament. The following day they lost to UCLA in the third place game. Although they have endured more losses to teams of higher seeds, USC has a unique past leaving me to believe we should not count them out.

The Trojans have been the reigning national champions the past six years in a row. Since 2002, Coach Jovan Vavic has taken home nine National Championships and two runner-ups back to the USC campus. This team knows how to win – and they know when to win. The Trojans have not only shown how physically tough they are, but emotionally and mentally tough as well.

In January, USC men’s water polo lost a teammate, sophomore Jon Walters, who passed away unexpectedly. As projected, the news hit the team hard. The have recovered both emotionally and mentally and will be wearing #6 on their caps in memory of Walters. Although almost a year has passed, the memory of Walters is very much alive: his younger brother James is a freshman on the USC team. It is absolutely remarkable how these young adults have rebounded from such a loss, and channeled their energy in a positive direction. USC is my wild card in the bunch, being incredibly unpredictable. They are playing with a heavy heart.

Keys to victory

With emotion running as high as I’m sure it is, anything can happen with USC this year — including some really good things. The Trojans will need to control and focus all the emotion that is sure to be there in order to dominate and bring home their seventh championship in a row.

#4 UC SAN DIEGO

This particular Triton team is two years in the making. Coach Denny Harper took a very unconventional approach in the spring of 2013, when he chose to have his top two would-be seniors, including 2012 conference MVP Josh Stiling, redshirt the 2013 campaign. Both student-athletes were supportive of the idea, knowing that it would create opportunity for the incoming juniors. Now, over a year later, this team is one of the best UC San Diego teams I have seen in a great while. With very experienced upperclassmen who have played with each other now for at least three years, this team is extremely close, can read each other well, and are committed to their coaches and to each other.

Although UC San Diego comes into the national championship tournament with a 16-9 record, all their losses have come from top ranked teams. This final four will be a fairly challenging one for the Tritons, but the program has always thrived on being the underdog. In 2000, UC San Diego faced USC in the NCAA National Championship semifinal game, beating the Trojans 9-8 and surpassing all expectations the water polo community had for the them. The Tritons ultimately fell to UCLA in the championship game, but it was the first ever national runner-up the program ever saw. Although a long shot, this Triton team is the host this year and should be up for any challenge. Great defense with a consistent offense from UC San Diego will be the key to knocking off the number 1 seed in the semis. UCLA’s three losses have come when they couldn’t convert more than six goals.

Keys to victory

If the Tritons can somehow hold the Bruins to six goals or less, their chances of winning the semi-final game increases dramatically, repeating their 2000 NCAA efforts.