SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO – The NCAA announced its 2023 National Collegiate men’s water polo championship field Sunday night. San Jose State men’s water polo drew the sixth seed and will play third-seeded USC on Friday, Dec. 1. The Spartans earned automatic qualification to the championship winning the first-ever WCC Men’s Water Polo Tournament.
It is the first appearance in the tournament for the Spartans since 1973. Brendon Gyapjas was named the WCC All-tournament Most Outstanding Player for his career-high efforts in the cage. Manteja Bosic and Laszlo Szieben were also named to the all-tournament team.
The 2023 NC men’s water polo championship begins Friday, Dec. 1 and continues through Sunday, Dec. 3 at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles. Fans can watch the first round games and the semifinals on ncaa.com, and the championship game will be televised on ESPNU.
First round – Friday, Dec. 1
No. 1 UCLA vs. Biola, 12 p.m. PT
No. 4 Princeton vs. UC Irvine, 2 p.m. PT
No. 2 California vs. Fordham, 4 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC vs. San Jose State, 6 p.m. PT
Second round – Saturday, Dec. 2
UCLA/Biola vs. Princeton/UC Irvine, 2 p.m. PT
California/Fordham vs. USC/San Jose State, 4 p.m. PT
Championship – Sunday, Dec. 3, 6 p.m. PT
While the championship is normally a nine-team, single elimination tournament, with seven conference bids and two at-large selections, the Southern California Athletic Conference declined its automatic qualification for 2023. As a result, the 2023 championship will be comprised of eight teams that qualify directly, instead of having an opening round game to determine the final championship berth.
The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Committee makes its selections and seeds based on team record, strength of schedule, eligibility, and availability of student-athletes for NCAA championships.
The following conferences are granted automatic qualification to the 2023 championship: Big West, Collegiate Water Polo Association, Mountain pacific Sports Federation, Northeast Water Polo Conference, Southern California Intercollegiate*, West Coast Conference, and Western Water Polo Association.
*declined 2023 automatic qualification