SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The West Coast Conference has been granted an automatic qualifier into the 2023 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, as informed recently by the NCAA. The winner of the WCC Men's Water Polo Championship will be headed to the national stage. 
 
The 2023 WCC Men's Water Polo Championship will be hosted by Pepperdine from Nov. 17-19. The 2023 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship, which will take place at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, will consist of a 16-team field.
 
“The West Coast Conference, our coaches and student-athletes, are grateful to the NCAA for granting our men’s water polo programs access to automatic qualification into the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship during our first season of competition,” said WCC Commissioner Stu Jackson. “As we continue to work towards improving the student-athlete experience in the WCC, the NCAA AQ aides that effort by significantly increasing the motivation for our teams to win the WCC Men’s Water Polo Championship and a chance to compete for a national championship.”
 
The WCC added men’s water polo this fall. WCC Institutions that sponsor men’s water polo in the league include, Pacific, Pepperdine, LMU and Santa Clara. With the addition of Air Force, California Baptist and San Jose State as affiliates, the WCC strengthened its number of teams to seven, creating the opportunity for a conference sport.
 
Four current WCC men’s water polo programs finished the 2022 campaign ranked in the Top 14 of the nation highlighted by Pacific, who finished ranked fifth in the country a year ago and made advanced to the semifinals of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship.
 
The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship will take place from Dec. 2-3.