By James Sutherland on SwimSwam
To no one’s surprise, the four-time defending champion Virginia Cavaliers hold the top spot in the College Swimming & Diving Association of America (CSCAA) pre-season NCAA polls released Thursday.
On the men’s side, after a significant amount of turnover since the conclusion of the 2023-24 season, the Cal Golden Bears rank 1st after Arizona State ran the table last year.
The Sun Devils saw an array of departures in the form of transfers and graduations, plus their biggest star, Leon Marchand, turning pro, resulting in them ranking 6th to open the season.
The @uvaswimdive women and @calmenswim, take the top spots in the CSCAA Division I Dual Meet Polls!@theACC
Check out the full rankings—hit the link in our bio! pic.twitter.com/tF0Pgs8pHX
— CSCAA (@CSCAA) September 26, 2024
For the women, the top five teams from the 2024 NCAA Championships remain the same in the rankings, just with Stanford moving up one spot to 4th, flipping with Tennessee.
The Cal women rank 7th coming into 2024-25 after placing 11th last season, while NC State, which tied for 9th at the 2024 NCAAs, falls out of the top 10 into 11th. Louisville also dropped from a 6th-place showing last year to 9th in the poll.
WOMEN’S RANKINGS
| RK | Prv | Team | Points | Record |
| 1 | NR | Virginia | 375 | 0-0 |
| 2 | NR | Texas | 358 | 0-0 |
| 3 | NR | Florida | 340 | 0-0 |
| 4 | NR | Stanford | 334 | 0-0 |
| 5 | NR | Tennessee | 317 | 0-0 |
| 6 | NR | Indiana | 291 | 0-0 |
| 7 | NR | California | 283 | 0-0 |
| 8 | NR | Southern California | 270 | 0-0 |
| 9 | NR | Louisville | 250 | 0-0 |
| 10 | NR | Ohio State | 244 | 0-0 |
| 11 | NR | NC State | 234 | 0-0 |
| 12 | NR | Michigan | 211 | 0-0 |
| 13 | NR | Georgia | 193 | 0-0 |
| 14 | NR | Wisconsin | 173 | 0-0 |
| 15 | NR | Duke | 167 | 0-0 |
| 16 | NR | Texas A&M | 154 | 0-0 |
| 17 | NR | Auburn | 135 | 0-0 |
| 18 | NR | North Carolina | 123 | 0-0 |
| 19 | NR | Louisiana State | 98 | 0-0 |
| 20 | NR | UCLA | 89 | 0-0 |
| 21 | NR | Arizona State | 65 | 0-0 |
| 22 | NR | Virginia Tech | 46 | 0-0 |
| 23 | NR | Alabama | 39 | 0-0 |
| 24 | NR | Minnesota | 34 | 0-0 |
| 25 | NR | Akron | 17 | 0-0 |
Also Receiving Votes: South Carolina (14), Princeton (8), Purdue (7), Northwestern (5), Florida State (1)
In addition to ASU ranking 6th after winning the NCAA title last year, the Texas men also see a significant change relative to their finish at the 2024 championships, ranking 3rd to open the season after placing 7th last year.
The rest of the top five remained the same from last season with Cal, Florida, Indiana and NC State near the top, while Tennessee comes in ranking 6th to open the year after finishing 9th last season.
With last season’s 10th-place finishing team, Notre Dame, suspended for the season, Georgia takes over a top-10 spot in the national rankings (8th) after placing 11th last year.
MEN’S RANKINGS
| RK | Prv | Team | Points | Record |
| 1 | NR | California | 365 | 0-0 |
| 2 | NR | Florida | 356 | 0-0 |
| 3 | NR | Texas | 343 | 0-0 |
| 4 | NR | Indiana | 337 | 0-0 |
| 5 | NR | NC State | 318 | 0-0 |
| 6 | NR | Arizona State | 298 | 0-0 |
| 7 | NR | Stanford | 273 | 0-0 |
| 8 | NR | Georgia | 259 | 0-0 |
| 9 | NR | Tennessee | 244 | 0-0 |
| 10 | NR | Virginia Tech | 212 | 0-0 |
| 11 | NR | Ohio State | 211 | 0-0 |
| 12 | NR | Texas A&M | 210 | 0-0 |
| 12 | NR | Louisville | 210 | 0-0 |
| 14 | NR | Virginia | 185 | 0-0 |
| 15 | NR | Michigan | 184 | 0-0 |
| 16 | NR | Auburn | 167 | 0-0 |
| 17 | NR | Alabama | 115 | 0-0 |
| 18 | NR | Florida State | 114 | 0-0 |
| 19 | NR | Southern Methodist | 82 | 0-0 |
| 20 | NR | Wisconsin | 79 | 0-0 |
| 21 | NR | Southern California | 74 | 0-0 |
| 22 | NR | Minnesota | 68 | 0-0 |
| 23 | NR | Louisiana State | 62 | 0-0 |
| 24 | NR | Harvard | 47 | 0-0 |
| 25 | NR | Kentucky | 18 | 0-0 |
Also Receiving Votes: Arizona (7), Brigham Young (7), Purdue (7), South Carolina (6), Missouri (5), Princeton (5), Pittsburgh (3), Army (2), Northwestern (1), Georgia Tech (1)
Division I Women’s Poll Committee
Brooks Fail (Southern Cal), Bex Freebairn (Missouri), Jerry Champer (Georgia), Ashley Dell (Illinois-Chicago), Ryan Evans (Kansas), Naya Higashijima (New Mexico), Zach Hinsley (Miami (FL)), Maddy Olson (Minnesota), Pat Roman (Nebraska), Coleman Stewart (Duke), Leah Stancil (Louisiana State), Milana Socha (Dartmouth), Graydon Tedder (Texas Christian), Nathan Lavery (Drexel) Brody Lewis (Utah).
Division I Men’s Poll Committee
Cauli Bedran (Wisconsin), Jim Bolster (Columbia), Patrick Callan (Auburn), Graham Carpenter (Ohio State), Alicia Franklin (Denver), Reed Fujan (Louisville), Josh Huger (California-Berkley), Michael Joyce (Minnesota), Caitlin Kolbus (Kentucky), Brody Lewis (Utah), Jessica Miller Livsey (Old Dominion), Corey Manley (Arizona State), Tamber McCallister (Brigham Young), Eric Posegay (Texas), Bill Roberts (U.S. Naval Academy), Neal Studd (Florida State).
Read the full story on SwimSwam: Virginia Women, Cal Men Hold #1 Spot In Pre-Season CSCAA Polls