# 1983 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The 1983 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 15th 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 1983.
California defeated USC in the final, 10–7, to win their fifth national title. Coached by Pete Cutino, the Golden Bears finished the season 29–3–2.
Jeff Campbell (UC Irvine), Peter Cutino (California), and Alan Gresham (California) were named the Co-Most Outstanding Players of the tournament. An All-Tournament Team, consisting of eight players, was also named.
The tournament's leading scorer was Dan O'Connell from Loyola–Chicago (11 goals).

## 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. Nonetheless, Slippery Rock became the first team from outside Division I to qualify for the championship tournament.
| Team | Appearance | Previous |
| Brown | 5th | 1982 |
| California | 11th | 1982 |
| UC Irvine | 14th | 1982 |
| Long Beach State | 7th | 1981 |
| Loyola–Chicago | 8th | 1982 |
| Slippery Rock | 1st | Never |
| USC | 7th | 1982 |
| UCLA | 12th | 1982 |

## Bracket

* Site: Belmont Plaza Pool, Long Beach, California
| Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | First round | First round | First round | | Championship semifinals | Championship semifinals | Championship semifinals | | | Championship | Championship | Championship |
| | | | | | | California | California | 15 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Slippery Rock | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Slippery Rock | Slippery Rock | 4 | | | | California | California | 8 | | | | |
| | | | UCLA | UCLA | 15 | | | | | Long Beach State | Long Beach State | 5 | | | |
| | | | | | | Long Beach State (2OT) | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | | | 8 | | | | | | | |
| UCLA | UCLA | 9 | | | | | | | | California | California | | | | 10 |
| Brown | Brown | 3 | | | | | | | | California | | | | | USC | USC | 7 |
| | | | | | | USC | USC | 12 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Brown | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | Brown (2OT) | Brown (2OT) | 13 | | | | USC | USC | 9 | Third place | Third place | Third place | | |
| | | | Loyola–Chicago | Loyola–Chicago | 11 | | | | | UC Irvine | UC Irvine | 8 | | | | | |
| Slippery Rock | Slippery Rock | 5 | | | | UC Irvine | UC Irvine | | | 12 | | | | Long Beach State | Long Beach State | 9 |
| Loyola–Chicago | Loyola–Chicago | 12 | | | | Loyola–Chicago | Loyola–Chicago | 8 | | | | | | | UC Irvine | UC Irvine | 6 |

## All-tournament team

* Jeff Campbell, UC Irvine (Co-Most outstanding player)
* Peter Cutino, California (Co-Most outstanding player)
* Alan Gresham, California (Co-Most outstanding player)
* Jim Birdsell, Long Beach State
* Shaun Cleary, California
* Mike Evans, UC Irvine
* Dan O'Connell, Loyola–Chicago
** Note: O'Connell was the only player from a team outside the state of California to be named to an all-tournament team during its 8-team format
* Mike Spicer, USC