IRVINE, Calif. – The Big West has been informed by the NCAA that its men’s water polo champion will be provided automatic qualification into the 2023 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship.
The winner of the 2023 Big West Men’s Water Polo Championship, hosted on the campus of UC San Diego from Nov. 17-19, will clinch the conference crown, and earn the right to compete on the national stage in the 2023 National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Tournament, which will take place locally in the form of a nine-team bracket hosted at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles, Calif.
“The Big West, our coaches and student-athletes, are excited that men's water polo is once again a conference-sponsored sport for which the conference will earn
automatic qualification into the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship during our inaugural season of competition.” said Big West commissioner Dan Butterly. “As we work daily to improve the student-athlete experience in The Big West, the NCAA AQ significantly increases the motivation for our teams to win the 2023 Big West Men’s Water Polo Championship at UC San Diego with an opportunity to compete for a national championship.”
With Cal State Fullerton’s addition of a men’s water polo program, The Big West bolstered its number of teams playing men’s water polo to six, creating the opportunity to bring back men’s water polo as a conference sport. Institutions that sponsor men’s water polo in the league now include, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UC San Diego, and UC Santa Barbara.
Prior to the Titans’ revival of a men’s water polo program, the five previous institutions finished the 2022 campaign ranked within the Top 11 of the nation representing the Golden Coast Conference (GCC) and Western Water Polo Association (WWPA). UC Davis and UC San Diego combined for nine out of the last 10 WWPA titles. Long Beach State won the GCC Tournament title twice in 2018 and 2021, while UC Santa Barbara won the GCC regular season crown in 2016.
Historically, the Big West has produced three national champions in men’s water polo when the sport was previously sponsored by the league from 1986-1992. UC Santa Barbara captured the first-ever Division I championship in league history in 1979. From there, UC Irvine would claim two national titles in 1982 and '89.
The NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship will take place between December 1-3.