1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
{{Short description|Water polo tournament season}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox football tournament season
| title = NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
| year = 1979
| other_titles =
| image = NCAA 70s logo.svg
| image_size = 140
| caption =
| dates = December 1979
| num_teams = 8
| winners = UC Santa Barbara (1st title)
| second = UCLA (6th title game)
| third = Stanford
| fourth = California
| matches = 12
| goals = 246
| attendance = 2542
| scoring_leader = Scott Schulte, Bucknell (11)
| award = Greg Boyer, UCSB
| prev_season = 1978
| next_season = 1980
}}
The 1979 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 11th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1979.{{cite web|title=Men's Water Polo Championship Results |url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/m_water_polo_champs_records/2013-14/champs.pdf|work=NCAA|publisher=NCAA.org|accessdate=April 10, 2015}}
UC Santa Barbara defeated UCLA in the final, 11–3, to win their first national title.
Greg Boyer from UC Santa Barbara was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. An All-Tournament Team, consisting of seven players, was also named. For the third consecutive year, the tournament's leading scorer was Scott Schulte from Bucknell (11 goals).
Qualification
Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Team
! Appearance ! Previous |
|---|
| Air Force
|3rd |1978 |
| Brown
|2nd |1977 |
| Bucknell
|3rd |1978 |
| California
|7th |1978 |
| Loyola–Chicago
|5th |1978 |
| Stanford
|7th |1978 |
| UCLA
|9th |1976 |
| UC Santa Barbara
|7th |1976 |
Bracket
{{8TeamBracket-Consols
| team-width=150
| RD3=First round
| RD4=Championship semifinals
| RD2=Consolation semifinals
| RD5=Championship
| RD5b=Third place
| RD1=Fifth place
| RD1b=Seventh place
| RD3-seed1= | RD3-team1=California | RD3-score1=19
| RD3-seed2= | RD3-team2=Air Force | RD3-score2=7
| RD3-seed3= | RD3-team3=UCLA | RD3-score3=17
| RD3-seed4= | RD3-team4=Bucknell | RD3-score4=7
| RD3-seed5= | RD3-team5=UC Santa Barbara | RD3-score5=21
| RD3-seed6= | RD3-team6=Loyola–Chicago | RD3-score6=4
| RD3-seed7= | RD3-team7=Stanford | RD3-score7=13
| RD3-seed8= | RD3-team8= Brown | RD3-score8=5
| RD4-seed1= | RD4-team1=California | RD4-score1=9
| RD4-seed2= | RD4-team2=UCLA | RD4-score2=10
| RD4-seed3= | RD4-team3=UC Santa Barbara | RD4-score3=10
| RD4-seed4= | RD4-team4=Stanford | RD4-score4=9
| RD2-seed1= | RD2-team1=Air Force | RD2-score1=9
| RD2-seed2= | RD2-team2=Bucknell | RD2-score2=11
| RD2-seed3= | RD2-team3=Loyola–Chicago (3OT) | RD2-score3=11
| RD2-seed4= | RD2-team4=Brown | RD2-score4=10
| RD5-seed1= | RD5-team1=UCLA | RD5-score1=3
| RD5-seed2= | RD5-team2=UC Santa Barbara | RD5-score2=11
| RD5b-seed1= | RD5b-team1=California | RD5b-score1=10
| RD5b-seed2= | RD5b-team2=Stanford | RD5b-score2=11
| RD1-seed1= | RD1-team1=Bucknell | RD1-score1=9
| RD1-seed2= | RD1-team2=Loyola–Chicago | RD1-score2=5
| RD1b-seed1= | RD1b-team1=Air Force | RD1b-score1=10
| RD1b-seed2= | RD1b-team2=Brown | RD1b-score2=15
}}
All-tournament team
- Greg Boyer, UC Santa Barbara (Most outstanding player)
- John Dobrott, UC Santa Barbara
- Randy Kalbus, Stanford
- Kevin Robertson, California
- Rick Sherburne, UCLA
- Carlos Steffens, California
- Craig Wilson, UC Santa Barbara
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship}}
{{1979–80 NCAA Division I championships navbox}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ncaa Men's Water Polo Championship}}
Category:1979 in American sports
Category:1979 in sports in California