| Year: | 2018 |
| Sport: | Men's Water Polo |
| Teams: | 8 |
| Format: | Single-elimination |
| Finals Site: | Avery Aquatic Center Stanford, California |
| Champions: | USC Trojans (10th title, 23rd title game, 28th Final Four) |
| Runner Up: | Stanford Cardinal (21st title game, 28th Final Four) |
| Semifinal1: | UCLA Bruins (31st Final Four) |
| Semifinal2: | UC San Diego Tritons (10th Final Four) |
| Coach: | Adam Wright |
| Coach Count: | 3rd |
| Mvp Label: | MVP |
| Mvp: | Jacob Mercep |
| Mvp Team: | (USC) |
| Television: | NCAA |
| Prev: | 2017 |
| Next: | 2019 |
The 2018 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship occurred from November 24, 2018, to December 2, 2018, in Stanford, California at the Avery Aquatic Center. This was the 50th NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship. Eight teams across from all divisions participated in this championship.
The six-member selection committee selected 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= | George Washington | A-10 | 22–6 | 2nd | 2017 | |
| align=center style= | Long Beach State | Big West | 13–11 | 12th | 1991 | |
| align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | Pomona–Pitzer | SCIAC | 24–8 | 3rd | 2017 | |
| align=center style= | Princeton | Ivy League | 19–10 | 6th | 2015 | |
| align=center style= | Stanford | MPSF | 20–2 | 32nd | 2014 | |
| align=center style= | UCLA | MPSF | 22–4 | 34th | 2017 | |
| align=center style= | UC San Diego | CCAA | 19–5 | 15th | 2015 | |
| align=center style= | USC | MPSF | 28–3 | 33rd | 2017 |
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.[2] 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= | USC | align=center style= | UCLA | align=center style= | Princeton | align=center style= | George Washington | |
| align=center style= | Stanford | align=center style= | UC San Diego | align=center style= | Long Beach State | align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | Pomona–Pitzer |
The championship featured a knockout format where schools that lost were eliminated from the tournament.[1]
The following distinctions were distributed concluding the championship to athletes that had superior performance of some kind in the championship.[3]
| Institution | Ranking | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| align=center style= | USC | No. 1 | |
| align=center style= | Stanford | No. 2 | |
| align=center style= | UCLA | No. 3 | |
| align=center style= | UC San Diego | No. 4 | |
| align=center style= | Long Beach State | No. 5 | |
| align=center style= | George Washington | No. 6 | |
| align=center style= | Princeton | No. 7 | |
| align=center style="background-color:#0000FF;color:#FFFFFF;" | Pomona–Pitzer | No. 8 |