UCLA Set to Host 2021 NCAA Championship
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INDIANAPOLIS – The UCLA men's water polo team (19-3) is set to host the 2021 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship but did not receive a national seed despite winning the MPSF Championship, the NCAA Men's Water Polo Committee announced late Sunday night via press release.
The seven teams vying for the National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championship will be in competition Dec. 2-5 at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center. The UCLA Bruins, the defending NCAA Champions and current MPSF Champions, will be seeking their 13th NCAA title in the sport and the school's 120th overall.
The top two seeds (No. 1 USC and No. 2 California) were placed in the bracket with the remaining five teams left to compete for the last two berths in the bracket via three opening-round games. The opening-round games will be contested Nov. 27, hosted by Princeton, and Dec. 2, hosted by UCLA. The semifinals and championship game will be played at the Spieker Aquatics Center and streamed live on ncaa.com.
In the first opening-round game, Princeton (25-7) will host Fordham (24-6). The winner will advance to the second opening-round game to play UCLA (19-3) on Thursday, Dec. 2 at 3:00 p.m. PST. The winner will advance to the championship bracket to play California (20-4) at UCLA.
In the third opening-round game, Long Beach State (22-5) will play UC Davis (18-8), with the winner advancing to the championship bracket to play USC (17-2). Game times for the opening-round games are listed on the bracket. Game times for the semifinals are 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Pacific time Dec. 4, and the championship game will be played at 2 p.m. Pacific time Dec. 5.
Five teams earned automatic selections to this year's NCAA Championships by winning their respective conference tournaments. They include UCLA (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), Long Beach State (Golden Coast Conference), Princeton (Northeast Water Polo Conference), Fordham (Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference), and UC Davis (Western Water Polo Association). The remaining two teams were selected at-large without geographical restrictions.
In 2020, UCLA defeated Southern California, 7-6 to capture its 12th national title. For updated championship results, log on to ncaa.com.