1980 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship


The 1980 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 12th 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 1980.
Stanford defeated California in the final, 8–6, to win their third national title.
John Gansel and Kevin Robertson were named the Co-Most Outstanding Players of the tournament. An All-Tournament Team, consisting of nine players, was also named.
Robertson and Scott Schulte were the tournament's leading scorers. Schulte is the only men's water polo player to be the leading scorer in four consecutive tournaments.

Qualification

Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.
TeamAppearancePrevious
Bucknell4th1979
California8th1979
Loyola–Chicago6th1979
Pepperdine3rd1978
USC5th1973
Stanford8th1979
UC Irvine11th1978
UC Santa Barbara8th1979

Bracket