| Year: | 2017 |
| Sport: | Men's Water Polo |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Format: | Single-elimination |
| Finals Site: | Uytengsu Aquatics Center Los Angeles, California |
| Champions: | UCLA Bruins (11th title, 20th title game, 30th Final Four) |
| Runner Up: | USC Trojans (22nd title game, 27th Final Four) |
| Semifinal1: | Pacific Tigers (2nd Final Four) |
| Semifinal2: | California Golden Bears (28th Final Four) |
| Coach: | Adam Wright |
| Coach Count: | 3rd |
| Mvp Label: | MVP |
| Mvp: | Alex Wolf |
| Mvp Team: | (UCLA) |
| Television: | NCAA |
| Prev: | 2016 |
| Next: | 2018 |
The 2017 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from November 25, 2017, to December 3rd in Los Angeles at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. This was the 49th NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Eight teams across from all divisions participated in this championship.
The six-member selection committee selects eight institutions based on a wide number of factors, primarily number of wins, rigor of schedule, level of availability, an indication of an upward trend or winning consistently, and RPI.[2]
| Institution | Conference | Record | Appearance | Last bid | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | California | MPSF | 20–3 | 29th | 2016 | |
| align=center style= | George Washington | A-10 | 17–11 | 1st | — | |
| align=center style= | Harvard | Ivy League | 23–7 | 2nd | 2016 | |
| align=center style= | Pacific | WCC | 19–5 | 3rd | 2013 | |
| align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | Pomona–Pitzer | SCIAC | 24–10 | 2nd | 2016 | |
| align=center style= | UC Davis | Big West | 22–6 | 6th | 2016 | |
| align=center style= | UCLA | MPSF | 19–4 | 33rd | 2016 | |
| align=center style= | USC | MPSF | 25–3 | 32nd | 2016 |
Likewise with the criteria mentioned above, seeding was based on level of ranking, geographic proximity to the finals site, and a projected low level of academic commitments missed. The pots outlined feature what level in the championship institutions competed in, ranging from competing away in the first round for Pot 4 to skipping to the semifinals in Pot 1.
| width=15% | Pot 1 | width=15% | Pot 2 | width=15% | Pot 3 | width=15% | Pot 4 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | align=center style= | align=center style= | align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | Pomona–Pitzer | ||||
| align=center style= | align=center style= | align=center style= | align=center style= | George Washington |
The championship featured a knockout format where schools that lost were eliminated from the tournament.
Harvard's play-in win over George Washington was the first-ever victory for a school outside California in a non-consolation game in tournament history. (As of 2019, however, California schools still maintain a perfect record against teams outside the state.)
The following distinctions were distributed concluding the championship to athletes that had superior performance of some kind in the championship.
First Team
| Athlete | Institution | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | California | ||
| Blake Edwards | align=center style= | USC | |
| Max Irving | align=center style= | ||
| Matteo Morelli | align=center style= | USC | |
| Alex Roelse | align=center style= | ||
| Marko Vavic | align=center style= | USC | |
| Alex Wolf (MVP) | align=center style= |
Second Team
| Athlete | Institution | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | USC | ||
| Matt Farmer | align=center style= | ||
| John Hooper | align=center style= | California | |
| Luke Pavillard | align=center style= | Pacific | |
| Nicolas Saveljic | align=center style= | ||
| Ben Stevenson | align=center style= | Pacific | |
| James Walters | align=center style= | USC |
| Institution | Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | No. 1 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 2 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 3 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 4 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 5 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 6 | ||
| align=center style= | No. 7 | ||
| align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | No. 8 |