Let’s start with everyone’s prediction for the top 10 teams heading into the season. The preseason poll is set to release in a week.
I wish Cal and USC would post their rosters for 2024 so we can see who is coming back for sure.
1 UCLA
2 USC
3 Cal
4 Stanford
Beyond that it is a 10 way tie for now
1- UCLA
2-nobody even close
2a- CAL
3- Stanford
4- UOP
5- USC
6- Princeton
7- UCI
8- Pepperdine
9- UC Davis
10-LBSU
Next 5- LMU, UCSB, UCSD, Fordham, SJSU
Upset 5 - Santa Clara, Harvard, Cal Baptist, Navy, Air Force.
I have not seen rosters from any big four have you?
Stanford and UCLA have theirs up on their web sites
UCI and San Jose as well
This would be my current top 6.
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UCLA - Rafa won’t be an easy player to replace, but with Mo Kenney highlighting a strong returning class along with the addition of Ryder Dodd, Adam Wright has the group necessary to win a national championship come December.
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Stanford - After two consecutive years of missing the tournament under new head coach Brian Flacks, Flacks seem to have the team ready to compete for a national championship. Without major losses and a good incoming first year and transfer class, Stanford can very well win it all at their home pool come December.
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Cal - While the losses of Papa and Weinberg will be very much noticeable, you can never count out the 3 time reigning NCAA champions. Kirk will still have plenty of options and with the European core of Ponferrada, Valera, and Casabella all set to return, Cal will be in the mix yet again.
T-4 - USC - I have a lot of concerns about this USC team. They just lost Bode Brinkema to UCLA who is a top 8 player in the Class of ‘24. There’s rumors swirling around about issues in the locker room. I think this could be the year they miss out on the tournament.
T-4: Princeton - Coming off a NCAA semifinal appearance where they went toe to toe with UCLA for three quarters, Princeton has established themselves as the “ of the rest”. This is the best team they’ve had in the last three seasons and Pozaric is one of the best players in college water polo. Factoring in another strong class and one of the best coaches in the county, I wouldn’t be surprised if this team is higher on this list come early November.
- UOP - Excited to see how the team does with the plethora of talent they have. After UOP, I think you can make the case for many teams to be seeded 7-10, but this is what I have for now.
- UCI 9.
- Pepperdine
- LBSU
T-10. Fordham
T-10. UC Davis
I think Fordham will be one if the bigger stories and surprises of this upcoming season.
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The Fordham-Princeton game might be one of the more underrated/meaningful games of the year if those two teams perform as expected. Princeton is making a one-off trip to Rose Hill on Friday night, September 27th. I hope that game is on ESPN plus because I think you are going to see an incredible crowd. The Rams have had top-end talent over the past few years but they really have supporting depth along with it this season. Roko is obviously amazing on the Princeton side and Princeton is always exceptionally well-coached. Just a shame these teams are only playing once in the regular season when the campuses are only about an hour and a half apart.
The East has four very good teams in Princeton, Fordham, Harvard and Navy. I could see all four spending time in the top 15 as they are all up this year and have the ability to knock each other off. I thought the Princeton-Harvard game at the end of the regular season was the most riveting game I watched all year.
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1 UCLA
2 Stanford
3 Cal
4 USC
5T UOP
5T Princeton
I’m a little surprised by most of the posters above having Cal as their 3rd ranked team. Obviously, the losses to graduation are the most significant of any of the Big 4, but they are still absolutely loaded. Even without knowing what Everist has brought in from Europe in the latest class, their returning group and incoming domestic freshman are talented enough to win a national championship. If I were to pick a preseason favorite for the Cutino, I’d go with Casabella.
I still think UCLA will win it all this year. But until results prove me wrong, I think Cal is still the second best team in the country. Stanford’s roster is fantastic, but a somewhat strange mix of highly experienced upperclassmen and very talented young players. I think they’re a year away from competing for the title. And like others have indicated, there’s a pretty steep drop to USC at 4.
I was initially going to take Cal to win it all but after all the talent UCLA loaded up with it will be hard to pass on them. I’ll still wait to make a preseason prediction until I’ve seen Cal’s 2024 roster. Those are the top two teams in my opinion. UCLA is so balanced and deep. Great goalie, 2 solid lefties, 5 quality centers from my count, Tierney and Voggenthaler added as center defenders, Kenney and Larsen returning plus both Dodd’s and Brinkema.
Re: LBSU → Aaron Wilson (top goalie from UC Davis) joined the team as a grad student and gives them one of the top 1-2 goalies out there.
Cal just posted their 2024 water polo roster. The roster includes Patrik Kolak, a 6’2" attacker from Croatia. Kolak, 20, played for Croatia in the 2022 Youth World Championships and has a lot of high-level international experience.
another 20 year old freshmen… Cal has quite a large roster 5 goalies and 27 field players. 12 of the players being seniors.
Who will be Cal’s goalie this year? Seed?
They will definitley score a lot of goals again this year, but it will be interesting to see how good their defense is.
32 players makes for a big roster. When do the teams have to get down to 24? 2025?
The roster limits go into effect next year.
Based on the 2023 season, Aaron is very unlikely to be a top 2 college goalie this Fall. The guy had a great 2022 season, it is true….And leave it at that.
While we wait for Jeff’s Top 10 ranking we’ll give it a shot. With all the returning 5th years, 2024 could be one of the highest levels ever with depth across conferences.
Tier I (based on final record)
- UCLA for all the reasons mentioned, loaded with talent from freshmen to returning 5th years (+Voggenthaler and Tierney). Over/under on '28 Olympians is around 4 (Dodds, Liechty, Larsen, plus Castillo and a couple of others including Griggs if they continue to improve wow…).
Tier II
2. Stanford and USC too close to call. Both return almost entire lineups with impactful transfers. Massi a loss for USC but played injured last year and his replacement Brankovic played in the Champions league so…Last year, USC had the edge. The 5th year seniors will determine which team leads this year.
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Princeton over Cal here only because one MPSF team is left out of the tourney. Princeton also returns the bulk of its 5th ranked team, has a Cutino finalist and the best and most-experienced two-way defender in the league, plus new Europeans.
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Fifth seems too low for Cal because as people have said, they are probably the one team with the high-level perimeter game to defeat UCLA. They’ll beat Princeton in the regular season but guessing the loss of Papa and Weinberg affects them more than the other MPSF teams and they drop a few games. Doesn’t make sense that a team this good could miss the tourney but it’s close to a pick 'em with Stanford USC and Cal to start.
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UOP top line plays with anyone. It’s their year - but with all the returning players, it’s really everyone’s year and they don’t beat MPSF or Princeton in the semis if they make it.
Tier III
7. UCI also stacked with great experienced players top to bottom. Had some lights out moments in 23 and will be better gelled.
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Pepperdine was rolling at times last year until that puzzling loss in the conference tourney. They have the pieces and will solve the inconsistency.
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LBSU blends new players well and plays tough.
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UCSD over Davis and Fordham here. Princeton has figured out how to blend west coast trips with the east schedule. It will be hard for Fordham to crack the Top 10, as good as its roster is. Always competitive Davis lost more seniors than other programs. UCSD has size in the middle and speed on the outside and will beat several in the Top 10 during the year.
Lot of posters sleeping on Stanford. This is their year, not next year. They have a great senior class, 2 great goalies to choose from, and Dash McFarland is the beast at Center that they’ve been missing. This team will be #1 at some point in the year. Its UCLA and Stanford this year and I might give a slight edge to Stanford. While UCLA is absolutely stacked, they may actually have too much depth (can be a problem and has been in the past at UCLA). What is team chemistry going to be like? Chase Dodd has to re-integrate to the team. Will both Dodd’s be burned out from the Olympics? While I think UCLA has the most talent, I’m leaning Stanford winning it all given the NCAA’s are at Stanford. Now if Ryder Dodd comes in and just dominates (will Adam let him loose or restrict him like he does with everyone?) all bets are off. Thats my tier 1.
Tier 2 is Cal (great starting lineup, but I imagine they are going to have to spend half the season or more figuring out who the goalie will be). Will the centers have an impact post Papa? UOP. This is their stacked team they have once every 4 years. As usual, no idea who their goalie will be. USC…I’d have to see the roster as it is not updated. Is Massimo gone? Any 5th year seniors returning? If I were the USC mens and womens coach i’d be looking over my shoulder and hoping Krikorian doesn’t become available. Princeton, strong team coming back.
Tier 3: everyone else
I agree with Rbpolo here… Stanford is absolutely a legit team and can win a national championship. I’ve been told they’ve been scrimmaging Cal throughout the summer and Stanford has impressed on multiple occasions.
I’m curious to hear everyone’s thoughts. Who do you think will be Stanford’s starter come November?
Temkin or Price?
It’s a shame Temkin didn’t go to Cal as he could have slotted right into the starting job. This would be my only worry about Stanford, and it’s Flacks messing around with playing time too much at goalie. Promises must of been made. Ultimately I think Temkin is in the cage at the end.