Top-seeded UCLA will face UC San Diego in the opening semifinal of the NCAA National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship while six-time defending champion USC will face Stanford in the second semifinal today at UCSD.
The Bruins (27-3) received the No. 1 seeding despite a 5-3 loss to Long Beach State in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament semifinal Nov. 22.
The fourth-seeded Tritons (16-9) qualified for the national championship by winning the Western Water Polo Association championship and advanced to the semifinals by defeating Brown, 12-7, in a play-in game last Saturday.
UCLA is 57-2 against UCSD, including 13-5 and 17-5 victories this season. The Bruins have won their last 10 games against the Tritons dating back to 2006.
The third-seeded Trojans (23-6) are 0-2 against the second-seeded Cardinal (25-3) this season, including a 7-4 loss Nov. 22 in an MPSF Tournament semifinal.
The semifinal winners will play for the championship Sunday, while the semifinal losers will play in Sunday’s third-place game.
The UCLA-UCSD semifinal is set to begin at 1 p.m. and the USC-Stanford semifinal at 3:12 pm.
All of today’s and Sunday’s games will be streamed live on NCAA.com.
