So who wins it all? Stanford has an absolutely brutal draw.
UCLA over Salem
Stanford over Princeton
USC over CBU
LBST over Fordham
Stanford over UCLA
USC over LBST
USC over Stanford
Your predictions are as good as any and probably better than mine. I just spent a day beating the drum for the Stanford over Pacific–and as an East coast guy who likes underdogs, it’s time for me to switch back to factory settings.
UCLA crushes Salem.
I think Stanford/Princeton is a toss-up as the seeding would indicate. If Princeton gets hot, they can win this game. Their goalie was outstanding against Brown, but will face better shooting from Stanford.
USC beats Cal Baptist.
Fordham beats Long Beach State–though see my note above about how long it has been since Fordham played a tough game.
UCLA over Princeton
USC over Fordham. Fordham might have one good game in them, but not two against great teams. USC is rolling and I think can hold them off.
UCLA over USC.
Round 1:
UCLA over Salem
Stanford over Princeton*
USC over Cal Baptist
LBSU over Fordham**
*Stanford will have to play a dogfight to get out of this game but I forsee them winning.
**Fordham will face a high pressure and competitive match after winning 31 straight, there is a lot of room to go wrong and LBSU is a solid team with solid attackers and goalies that I believe will shut down Fordham.
Round 2:
Stanford over UCLA*
USC over LBSU
*UCLA may not be as focused as they would be if they faced Stanford in the finals, look at MPSF where UCLA lost to USC in the semifinals of MPSF, and I see Flacks finding a way here and pulling out a clutch win through strategy. Will be the best game of the series so far though.
Championships:
Stanford over USC*
*USC will have played the easiest schedule to make the finals which itself is an outrage but either way, if Stanford can pull past UCLA in the semifinals, I see no world where they don’t win it all.
Prediction: Stanford is the National Champion this year with a UCLA 3-peat on the way for next year…
I’m going with a USC/UCLA final. Stanford has the home advantage but I think Ryder Dodd will put up a massive game in the Semis and Stanford won’t be able to shut him down. UCLA is gonna need huge goalie play though from whoever gets the nod
I don’t believe the possible USC vs Fordham will be cakewalk
1 Like
I think Princeton will give Stanford a good game, but in the end Stanford will play lockdown defense and win a low scoring game
I’m going to stick with Fordham although LB is coming on strong and I won’t be surprised if they win.
UCLA will be well rested and will beat Stanford
Fordham plays tough in the first half but USC pulls away in the second for a 3 goal win.
UCLA beats USC by 2
I think the matchups are great, storylines are set. There should be some close games, UCLA-STANFORD will be a battle. It will be interesting to see how Fordham matches against USC, after all they will get their wish to play a big 4 team at the biggest stage. Most likely UCLA- USC for another exciting final.
WPolo9,
I am not completely sure that Fordham “will get their wish to play a big 4 team at the biggest stage”. LBSU has been playing well lately.
That might need a CBS special on its own!
LB has gelled in the last 5-6 games. 12 and 21 have cooler heads now, Francisco, Stanley, Cain are lethal and do not sleep on their freshman lefty, he’ll punish you.
1 Like
For real, the lefty doesn’t seem like a big threat to score but saw him put away timely goals this weekend
I agree, they have become a new team after their overtime loss to UCSB. Sometimes you need a tough loss to inspire greatness. I could see them making a push against USC, however USC is on the same trajectory.
It hasn’t been mentioned that Tempkin played at Princeton for two years. While Litvak certainly knows his tendencies, Tempkin faced most of Princeton’s best shooters everyday at practice. I think this gives Stanford the edge and they win by two.
I do believe that Fordam beats LB and then gets by USC who overlooks them.
UCLA by three in the final.
Lopez Duart is going to have a field day against Fordhams defense. I looked at Fordhams schedule, and they allow a lot of goals against bottom ranked teams. Sorry!
USC gave up two goals in the last 56 seconds of the championship game at the MPSF tournament and nearly gave up a third, they need to fix this to have a chance to beat UCLA.
UCLA > Salem
Princeton > Stanford
Fordham > LB State
CBU > USC
Princeton > UCLA
Fordham > CBU
Fordham takes it all over Princeton❗️
1 Like
That would be a trip
2 Likes
someone will scream “The fix is in”
1 Like
As an East Coaster, that would indeed be a trip to see. But after watching all the tournaments- especially the MPSF - every team is going to have to give their best shot to beat those MPSF teams. I don’t think any of these games is far from 2:1 odds for the favorite - except UCLA- Salem.
With a couple weeks to prepare and how hard they’ve worked, I would guess every team is going to be ready to give it their best shot and not look past anyone. Look at SC vs CBU. Granted they probably have to play their best to beat SC, but I really don’t think SC can win with their “B” game.
Plus this is water polo. You’re only two bad calls from real peril (see that Stanford - Cal game last week. The refs were like Oprah: “you get a kick out! You get a red card! They gave a kickout to West for excessive celebration!! 
).
Knowing some of the people involved and watching them all year, I’m sure both Princeton and Fordham will come ready to play. And with no disrespect to Salem, 7 of those 8 teams can make a case for getting to the finals. Ultimately it’ll come down to offensive execution, defensive intensity and perhaps a little luck!
3 Likes
As a thought experiment, imagine you were given $1 million that you could bet on one team – a single team – to win the NCAA tournament. Who would you put the money on?
(The big number is designed to stop people from simply betting on their favorite team. It’s also a bet on results, not who’s the “best” team. You have to take into account seeding, momentum, coaching, etc.)
Personally, I think I’d put the $1 million on USC. They’ve got an easier path to the finals IMHO, and they’re on a roll. UCLA, in my view, is the best team, but they’ll likely have to go through Stanford. (Not that Fordham will be easy either, nor that Stanford will necessarily get through Princeton.)
If I could split the money any way I saw fit, I’d probably put 40% on USC, 30% on UCLA, 20% on Stanford, and 10% split between the other teams (except Salem; sorry). I think that’s an income- and risk-maximizing strategy. (As well as roughly what the oddsmakers in Vegas would do if there were big bets on water polo.)