# 2018 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The 2018 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from November 24, 2018, to December 2, 2018, in Stanford, California at the Avery Aquatic Center. This was the 50th NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Eight teams across from all divisions participated in this championship.

## Schedule

| November 24 | November 29 | December 1 | December 2 |
| First Round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Championship |

## Qualification

The six-member selection committee selected eight institutions based on a wide number of factors, primarily number of wins, rigor of schedule, level of availability, an indication of an upward trend or winning consistently, and RPI.
| Institution | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid |
| George Washington | A-10 | 22–6 | 2nd | 2017 |
| Long Beach State | Big West | 13–11 | 12th | 1991 |
| Pomona–Pitzer | SCIAC | 24–8 | 3rd | 2017 |
| Princeton | Ivy League | 19–10 | 6th | 2015 |
| Stanford | MPSF | 20–2 | 32nd | 2014 |
| UCLA | MPSF | 22–4 | 34th | 2017 |
| UC San Diego | CCAA | 19–5 | 15th | 2015 |
| USC | MPSF | 28–3 | 33rd | 2017 |

## Seeding

Likewise with the criteria mentioned above, seeding was based on level of ranking, geographic proximity to the finals site, and a projected low level of academic commitments missed. The pots outlined feature what level in the championship institutions competed in, ranging from competing away in the first round for Pot 4 to skipping to the semifinals in Pot 1.
| Pot 1 | Pot 2 | Pot 3 | Pot 4 |
| USC | UCLA | Princeton | George Washington |
| Stanford | UC San Diego | Long Beach State | Pomona–Pitzer |

## Bracket

The championship featured a knockout format where schools that lost were eliminated from the tournament.
| First Round | First Round | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | | Semifinals | Semifinals | Championship | Championship |
| 24 November – Long Beach | 24 November – Long Beach | | | | | |
| Long Beach State | 12 | | | | | |
| Long Beach State | 12 | 29 November – Stanford | 29 November – Stanford | | | | |
| Pomona–Pitzer | 5 | 29 November – Stanford | 29 November – Stanford | | | |
| Pomona–Pitzer | 5 | Long Beach State | 9 | | | |
| | | UC San Diego | 14 | | | |
| UC San Diego – Bye | 0 | UC San Diego | 14 | | | |
| UC San Diego – Bye | 0 | | | | 1 December – Stanford | 1 December – Stanford | |
| UC San Diego – Bye | 0 | | | | 1 December – Stanford | 1 December – Stanford |
| UC San Diego – Bye | 0 | | | | UC San Diego | 7 |
| | | | | | Stanford | 16 |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | | Stanford | 16 |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | | | |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | |
| | | Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | | | | 2 December – Stanford | 2 December – Stanford |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | | | | 2 December – Stanford | 2 December – Stanford |
| Stanford – Bye | 0 | | | | | | Stanford | 12 |
| | | | | | | | USC | 14 |
| USC – Bye | 0 | | | | | | USC | 14 |
| USC – Bye | 0 | | | | | | | |
| USC – Bye | 0 | USC – Bye | 0 | | | | | |
| | | USC – Bye | 0 | | | | | |
| USC – Bye | 0 | USC – Bye | 0 | | | | | |
| USC – Bye | 0 | | | | 1 December – Stanford | 1 December – Stanford | | |
| USC – Bye | 0 | | | | 1 December – Stanford | 1 December – Stanford | | |
| USC – Bye | 0 | | | | USC | 8 | | |
| | | | | | UCLA | 7 |
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | | | | UCLA | 7 |
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | 29 November – Stanford | 29 November – Stanford | | | | |
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | 29 November – Stanford | 29 November – Stanford | | | |
| UCLA – Bye | 0 | George Washington | 6 | | | |
| 25 November – Princeton | 25 November – Princeton | | George Washington | 6 | | | |
| 25 November – Princeton | 25 November – Princeton | UCLA | 18 | | | |
| Princeton | 13 | UCLA | 18 | | | |
| George Washington | 14 | | | | | |

## Honors

The following distinctions were distributed concluding the championship to athletes that had superior performance of some kind in the championship.

### Team rankings

| Institution | Ranking |
| USC | No. 1 |
| Stanford | No. 2 |
| UCLA | No. 3 |
| UC San Diego | No. 4 |
| Long Beach State | No. 5 |
| George Washington | No. 6 |
| Princeton | No. 7 |
| Pomona–Pitzer | No. 8 |