1973 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
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]
 | |
| Dates | December 1973 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Champions | California (1st title) |
| Runners-up | UC Irvine (1st title game) |
| Third place | USC |
| Fourth place | UCLA |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 151 (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
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
- Site: Belmont Plaza Pool, Long Beach, California
| Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | First round | Championship semifinals | Championship | |||||||||||||||||||
| California | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 7 | UCLA | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 12 | California | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UCLA | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 5 | California | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| San José State | 6 | UC Irvine | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 3 | UC Irvine | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Seventh place | San José State | 7 | USC | 5 | Third place | ||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 5 | USC | 7 | UCLA | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 7 | San José State | 5 | USC | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
All-tournament team
- Bruce Kocsis, USC
- Bruce Black, UC Irvine
- Jim Kruse, UC Irvine
See also
References
- "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 26, 2015.