2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship


The 2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 34th annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's collegiate water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Burns Aquatic Center on the campus of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California during December 2002.
Stanford defeated rival California in the final, 7–6, to win their tenth national title. The Cardinal were coached by John Vargas.
The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament was again Tony Azevedo from Stanford. Azevedo, along with six other players, also comprised the All-Tournament Team.
Azevedo, along with Queens College's Michael Vieira, were the tournament's leading scorers, with 5 goals each.

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 4 teams were invited to contest this championship.
TeamAppearancePrevious
California23rd1995
UC San Diego9th2000
Queens College 2nd1997
Stanford25th2001

Bracket