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Polls
Who runs the polls?
The polls are administrated by the Collegiate Water Polo
Association. There are four polls
released on a weekly basis by this organization. Other
organizations may also have polls of
their own. The polls released by the CWPA include:
- Top 20 Varsity-any varsity team in the country is eligible (NCAA and NAIA)
- Top 10 Division III-any varsity Division III team in the country is eligible
- Top 20 Collegiate Club-any collegiate club in the country is eligible (Big Ten, CWPA)
- Top 10 CWPA-any varsity CWPA member is eligible
When are the polls released?
Varsity polls are released to nationwide media outlets
and posted on the CWPA website every Wednesday by 5:00 PM EST.
United States Water Polo has permission to reprint the poll on
their website as well. Collegiate Club and CWPA Top 10 polls are
posted on the CWPA website and are not released to media outlets.
Who are the pollsters?
Each poll has a set of pollsters that rank the teams. For
example, there are 10 pollsters that rank the Varsity Top 20 polls.
These pollsters represent all areas of the country and are drawn
from each of the conferences and independents that make up
collegiate water polo. The pollsters must be official
representatives of their institutions and can be either coaches or
staff from the Sports Information office. They maintain their
position unless there are consistent discrepancies in their voting,
demonstrating either an obvious bias or a lack of understanding of
the process. New pollsters are selected through a nomination
process and chosen by the staff of the Collegiate Water Polo
Association. The names of the pollsters are kept in privacy
by the CWPA office to prevent undue influence from being placed on
them and impacting the polling process.
How are the teams
ranked?
Pollsters examine scores and rank teams in light of these
results. They are charged with ranking the teams to the best of
their abilities without considering their subjective feelings about
the strength of a team or individual factors affecting a
team’s performance, such as injury or illness to specific
athletes. Past history may affect the rankings, although the most
recent scores bear more weight than earlier results.
Which scores are considered in the polls?
Only those scores received on Monday are considered for
the week’s poll. Any scores received in the office after this
time are reviewed for the following week’s poll. Scores can
be emailed, faxed or phoned to the office before Monday at 12:00
Noon EST.
Do varsity results against
clubs count towards the poll?
Yes and no. Varsity results against clubs DO NOT count
towards their ranking. Club results against varsity teams are
reported to the club pollsters and bear influence on the poll.
Do varsity/club results
against National Teams or non-collegiate clubs count towards the
poll?
No, only collegiate results count towards the polls.
