1969 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

1969 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
Dates December 1969
Teams 8
Champions UCLA (1st title)
Runners-up California (1st title game)
Third place UC Santa Barbara
Fourth place Long Beach State
Matches played 12
Goals scored 145 (12.08 per match)
Top goal scorer(s) Ben Gage, UCSB (14)

The 1969 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the first annual tournament to determine the national championship of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1969.[1]

UCLA defeated California in the final, 5–2, to win their first championship.

The leading scorer for the tournament was Ben Gage, from UC Santa Barbara, with 14 goals. The awards for All-Tournament Team and Most Outstanding Player were given out until 1972.

Qualification

Since there has only 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 1st Never
Colorado State 1st Never
Long Beach State 1st Never
UC Irvine 1st Never
UCLA 1st Never
UC Santa Barbara 1st Never
USC 1st Never
Yale 1st Never

Bracket

  Fifth place Consolation semifinals First round Championship semifinals Championship
                                               
    UCLA 4  
    USC 3  
  USC 13       UCLA 9  
  Yale 3       Long Beach State 6  
  Long Beach State 17
    Yale 1  
  USC 2       UCLA 5
  UC Irvine 3       California 2
    UC Santa Barbara 7  
      Colorado State 3  
Colorado State 4       UC Santa Barbara 4
  Seventh place     UC Irvine 10       California 6     Third place
  Yale 5   California (OT) 5   Long Beach State 8
  Colorado State 9     UC Irvine 4     UC Santa Barbara 12

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 11, 2015.