April 28, 2008

2008 NCAA Bracket (PDF)

The USC women's water polo team has secured a fifth consecutive trip to the NCAA Championships thanks to a consistent hold among the nation's top four teams throughout the 2008 season. The runner-up at the recent MPSF Tournament, USC was selected as the No. 3 seed into this year's NCAA tournament, which is set to be held May 9-11 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. The Women of Troy last won the national championship in 2004 and has been a regular selection for NCAA action since. The Trojans finished third in 2005 and 2007 and fell in the 2006 championship to UCLA.

Receiving automatic bids into the 2008 NCAA action are five teams that clinched an NCAA ticket by virtue of conference championships. MPSF champion UCLA along with Pomona-Pitzer (SCIAC) UC Davis (WWPA), Michigan (CWPA) and Marist (MAAC) are this year's automatic qualifiers, joined by three at-large teams all out of the MPSF - Stanford, USC and San Diego State. Defending champion UCLA (30-0) is this year's top seed, followed by host No. 2 Stanford (25-4), No. 3 USC (19-7), No. 4 San Diego State (29-6), No. 5 UC Davis (26-8), No. 6 Michigan (33-9), No. 7 Marist (27-7) and No. 8 Pomona-Pitzer (13-8).

As the No. 3 seed, USC will open the 2008 NCAA tournament against No. 6 seed Michigan at 3:15 p.m. in the opening round on Friday (May 9) in Palo Alto.

At 19-7 overall, the Women of Troy are coming off a second-place finish at the 2008 MPSF Championships, coming up just short of the automatic bid with an 8-7 loss to top-seeded and undefeated UCLA in the championship game on Sunday, April 27.