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]
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | December 1973 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | California (1st title) |
| Runner-up | UC Irvine (1st title game) |
| Third place | USC |
| Fourth place | UCLA |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 12 |
| Goals scored | 151 (12.58 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Bruce Kocsis, USC (8) |
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
editSince 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 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 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Seventh place | Long Beach State | 3 | UC Irvine | 9 | Third place | ||||||||||||||||||
| San José State | 7 | USC | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 5 | USC | 7 | UCLA | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Long Beach State | 7 | San José State | 5 | USC | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
All-tournament team
edit- Bruce Kocsis, USC
- Bruce Black, UC Irvine
- Jim Kruse, UC Irvine
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 26, 2015.