BRIDGEPORT, Pa. -- The University of Southern California, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and the University of Michigan will enter the season as the No. 1 teams in the nation as the 2009 Women's Varsity Preseason Top 20, Division III Top 10 and Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 10 polls were released by the CWPA league office.
USC, which concluded the 2008 season at No. 2 in the final poll, garnered 99 points to return to the No. 1 spot in the nation for the first time since February 6, 2007. The Trojans were ranked No. 1 in the 2007 preseason poll, released on January 24, 2007, and held the position for two weeks until the February 7 poll.
The ranking is historically relevant as the Trojans displaced longtime No. 1 pick and 10-time NCAA Champion (1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008) the University of California-Los Angeles which had held the top ranking in the nation for 622 days since the May 2, 2007 poll.
The Trojans are followed in the 2009 preseason poll by Stanford University and UCLA as the Cardinal moved up from a third place finish in the final 2008 poll, while the na
tional champion Bruins slipped back to third.
Overall, the ranking marks the first time UCLA is not in the top two teams in the nation since the April 18, 2006 poll, as the Bruins saw their string of 1,001 days ranked as one of the top two programs in the nation snapped by the Trojans and Cardinal.
In addition, it equals the lowest the Bruins have been ranked in the last decade as UCLA has been ranked third or higher since at least the 1999 season.
In other rankings, the University of Hawaii held onto fourth place, while the University of California-Berkeley, San Diego State University, San Jose State University and Arizona State University all moved up to No. 5-8 after ranking sixth through ninth in the final 2008 poll.
The University of California-Davis slipped back to No. 9, while the University of Michigan and Loyola Marymount University held firm at No. 10 and 11, respectively, from the '08 balloting.
Hartwick College jumped two places to No. 12, the University of California-Irvine and California State University-Northridge come in at No. 13 and 14, with Long Beach State University, Princeton University, the University of California-Santa Barbara, California State University-Bakersfield, the University of California-San Diego and Santa Clara University rounding out the Top 20.
2009 Varsity Top 20 (Preseason)
|
Rank | Team | Final 2008 Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Southern California | 2 | 99 |
| 2 | Stanford University | 3 | 94 |
| 3 | University of California, Los Angeles | 1 | 92 |
| 4 | University of Hawaii | 4 | 85 |
| 5 | University of California, Berkeley | 6 | 73 |
| 6 | San Diego State University | 7 | 72 |
| 7 | San Jose State University | 8 | 66 |
| 8 | Arizona State University | 9 | 62 |
| 9 | University of California, Davis | 5 | 60 |
| 10 | University of Michigan | 10 | 57 |
| 11 | Loyola Marymount University
| 11 | 54 |
| 12 | Hartwick College | 14 | 48 |
| 13 | University of California, Irvine | 12 | 43 |
| 14 | California State University, Northridge
| 13 | 36 |
| 15 | Long Beach State University | 15 | 30 |
| 16 | Princeton University | 17 | 18 |
| 17 | University of California, Santa Barbara | 19 | 15 |
| 18 | California State University, Bakersfield | RV | 13 |
| 19 | University of California, San Diego | 16 | 11 |
| 20 | Santa Clara University
| 18 | 10 |
| RV | Brown University | 20 | 5 |
| RV | Indiana University | NR | 3 |
| RV | Marist College | RV | 2 |
| RV | University of Maryland | RV | 2 |
Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, which concluded the 2008 season as a unanimous No. 1 selection in the final Division III Poll, once again earned 100 points to be a unanimous No. 1 pick in the 2009 Preseason Division III Poll.
Pomona-Pitzer, which took over the No. 1 spot in the polls on April 30, is followed by California Lutheran University, California State University-East Bay, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Occidental College, the University of Redlands, Chapman College, the University of California-Santa Cruz, Whittier College and the University of LaVerne in the Top 10.
2009 Division III Poll (Preseason) |
| Rank | Team | 2008 Final Poll | Points |
| 1 | Pomona-Pitzer Colleges | 1 | 100 |
| 2 | California Lutheran University | 3 | 91 |
| 3 | California State University-East Bay | 2 | 90 |
| 4 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges | 5 | 84 |
| 5 | Occidental College | 6 | 81 |
| 6 | University of Redlands | 8 | 73 |
| 7 | Chapman College | 7 | 70 |
| 8 | University of California, Santa Cruz | 4 | 66 |
| 9 | Whittier College | 9 | 61 |
| 10 | University of LaVerne | 10 | 34 |
| RV | Grove City College | NR | 14 |
| RV | Carthage College | NR | 11 |
2008 CWPA Eastern Champion the University of Michigan is a unanimous selection to repeat as the league champion in 2009 as the Wolverines garnered 100 points in the Preseason Collegiate Water Polo Association Poll.
The top three spots from the final 2008 poll remain unchanged with Hartwick College and Princeton University following in second and third place, respectively, while the University of Maryland climbed one spot to No. 5 in the preseason balloting.
Indiana University jumped two places to No. 5, Brown University and Bucknell University slipped to No. 6 and 7, Harvard University and George Washington University moved up to No. 8 and 9 and Gannon University broke into the Top 10.
2009 CWPA Poll (Preseason) |
Rank | Team | 2008 Final Poll | Points |
| 1 | University of Michigan
| 1 | 100 |
| 2 | Hartwick College
| 2 | 95 |
| 3 | Princeton University | 3 | 90 |
| 4 | University of Maryland | 5 | 82 |
| 5 | Indiana University
| 7 | 80 |
| 6 | Brown University | 4 | 78 |
| 7 | Bucknell University | 6 | 70 |
| 8 | Harvard University | 9 | 64 |
| 9 | George Washington University | 10 | 59 |
| 10 | Gannon University
| NR | 44 |
| RV | Mercyhurst College
| 8 | 13 |
