1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

Summary

The 1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the fifth annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1973.[1]

1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
Tournament details
DatesDecember 1973
Teams8
Final positions
ChampionsCalifornia (1st title)
Runner-upUC Irvine (1st title game)
Third placeUSC
Fourth placeUCLA
Tournament statistics
Matches played12
Goals scored151 (12.58 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)Bruce Kocsis, USC (8)
← 1972
1974 →

California defeated UC Irvine in the final, 8–4, to win their first national title.

The leading scorer for the tournament was Bruce Kocsis from USC (8 goals). The award for Most Outstanding Player was not given out this year, but an All-Tournament Team was named.

Qualification edit

Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.

Team Appearance Previous
California 2nd 1969
Long Beach State 4th 1971
New Mexico 3rd 1972
San José State 4th 1972
UC Irvine 5th 1972
UC Santa Barbara 4th 1972
USC 4th 1972
UCLA 5th 1972

Bracket edit

Fifth placeConsolation semifinalsFirst roundChampionship semifinalsChampionship
California8
New Mexico7
New Mexico7UCLA2
UC Santa Barbara12California4
UCLA14
UC Santa Barbara2
UC Santa Barbara5California8
San José State6UC Irvine4
UC Irvine7
Long Beach State5
Seventh placeLong Beach State3UC Irvine9Third place
San José State7USC5
New Mexico5USC7UCLA5
Long Beach State 7San José State5USC7

All-tournament team edit

  • Bruce Kocsis, USC
  • Bruce Black, UC Irvine
  • Jim Kruse, UC Irvine

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 26, 2015.