BRIDGEPORT, Pa.  - The University of Southern California regained the No. 1 position in the national poll for the first time since November 2007 as the Trojans garnered 99 points to lead the September 24 Men's Varsity National Collegiate Water Polo Poll released by the Collegiate Water Polo Association. 

USC, which last ranked No. 1 in the November 28 poll of the 2007 season, improved to 10-0 on the season as the Trojans knocked off the University of California-Los Angeles (6-5 W), the United States Air Force Academy (19-1 W), the University of California-Irvine (13-1 W) and Stanford University (10-3 W) last week for their fourth straight NorCal Tournament title.

UCLA moved up to second in the poll with 96 points, while Stanford University, which downed former No. 1 the University of California-Berkeley 11-10 in sudden death overtime for third place at NorCals, remained third. 

Overall, the Top 10 saw no team retain their ranking from the September 17 poll as California dropped to fourth and Long Beach State University jumped to fifth.  Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University, the University of California-Irvine slipped to sixth through eighth, respectively, while the University of California-Santa Barbara and the University of California-San Diego exchanged positions at ninth and 10th.

Saint Francis College (N.Y.), which captured the 2008 Eastern College Athletic Conference title earlier this week and ranks first in the Collegiate Water Polo Association poll, jumped one place to 11th.  University of the Pacific, Santa Clara University, the United States Naval Academy and the University of California-Davis round out the Top 15 teams in the poll.

The University of Redlands, which ranks first in the Division III poll, California Baptist University, Johns Hopkins University, Princeton University and the United States Air Force Academy account for the remainder of the Top 20.

For Redlands, it was another week-another No. 1 ranking as the Bulldogs retained their No. 1 position with 99 points.  Johns Hopkins University, which placed second to Saint Francis College at the 2008 ECAC Championship, remained second with 96 points, while Pomona-Pitzer Colleges and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology tied for third with 83 points.  California Lutheran University, Occidental College, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Whittier College and the University of California-Santa Cruz round out the Top 10 as no new teams entered the Top 10 this week.

The Collegiate Water Polo Association rankings experienced dramatic changes this week as Saint Francis College remained a unanimous No. 1, but only three of the remaining nine spots remained unchanged from the September 17 poll.

The United States Naval Academy moved up one place to second with 93 points, Princeton University slipped to third with 88 points, Johns Hopkins University remained at fourth with 87 points and Bucknell University improved to fifth with 80 points to account for the Top 5.

Brown University and George Washington University tied for sixth with 73 points, Iona College jumped one place to eighth with 65 points, Mercyhurst College slipped to ninth with 48 points and Fordham University held firm at 10th with 45 points.