The Pacific men’s water polo team is ranked No. 5 in the nation in the preseason coaches’ poll, trailing only water polo’s four traditional national powers.

Pacific is the only team other than Cal, USC, UCLA and Stanford to compete in the national championship game over the past 21 years. Pacific, often called Water Polo U, was the national championship runner-up in 2019 and 2013 – years when they were also ranked No. 5 in the preseason. A member of the Power 4 has won the national title in each of the past 24 years.

"We've been building for this year since the second the national championship game ended in 2019," said Head Coach James Graham. "We had a discussion about this year immediately after that game, so this has been in the works for years, and we've rebuilt the roster. We've put in a lot of work, and we've got a great group of guys that are committed to the shared dream."

Pacific will face off against all four top schools this season, with home matches against No. 2 USC on Sept. 16 and No. 4 Stanford on Oct. 22. The Tigers will play road games against No. 1 Cal on Sept. 9 and No. 3 UCLA on Sept. 30, plus Long Beach State, which was tied with Pacific for No. 5 in the preseason rankings, on Oct. 8.

The Tigers also were selected to win their conference – Golden Coast Conference – in a preseason poll of GCC coaches. Long Beach State was picked to be second.

"It is an honor to be voted preseason number one in a conference full of great teams, but we haven’t done anything yet," Graham said. "We look forward to the challenge of trying to turn that prediction into a reality."

Players to watch this season include seniors Jeremie Cote and Bogdan Djerkovic and sophomore Reuel D'Souza. The trio earned All-American honorable mentions last season.

Cote and Djerkovic also were first-team All-GCC last season while D'Souza was GCC Newcomer of the Year. Cote led the Tigers with 51 goals and 67 points in 22 games. Djerkovic was second on the team with 50 goals and D’Souza was third in points with 52.

D’Souza, a team co-captain this season, said the squad has seen significant growth this summer.

“One thing (co-captain) Jeremie (Cote) and I worked on in the spring was to keep improving a team culture for a very new team,” D’Souza said. “We have tried to bring a sense of professionalism, discipline and work. That is the way to get something you want.”

The Tigers start the new season Sept. 3 against No. 13 California Baptist in a tournament hosted by Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. The first home game is Sept. 16 against USC. View the full schedule. 

The following is the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s preseason coaches’ rankings and points earned:

1.    Cal             98           6. Long Beach State      75
2.    USC            95           7. UC Davis                  70        
3.    UCLA          92           8. UC Santa Barbara     65
4.    Stanford      84           9. San Jose State           55
5.    Pacific         75          10. Pepperdine              52