BRIDGEPORT, Pa.  -- The University of California-Berkeley, the University of Redlands and the United States Naval Academy, the defending NCAA, Division III and Collegiate Water Polo Association champions, were voted to defend their titles this year as the official 2008 Men's Varsity Preseason Polls were released to the media.

California, which downed the University of Southern California 8-6 in the NCAA Championship Game to capture the 2007 National Championship, will look to defend its title as the Bears enter the new season as the #1 team in the nation according to the pollsters.  Cal, which garnered 98 points to edge out second-ranked the University of Southern California, will seek to finish the season at #1 for the third straight year as the Bears captured the 2006 National Title as well after ranking #1 in the preseason.

Stanford University, which finished the 2007 ranked fourth, moves up one place to third entering the 2008 campaign, while the University of California-Los Angeles and the University of California-Irvine round out the Top Five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The University of California-Santa Barbara, Pepperdine University, Loyola Marymount University and Long Beach State University complete a West Coast domination of the Top Nine places in the poll by ranking sixth through ninth. 

Defending CWPA champion The United States Naval Academy, is the only non-West Coast team in the Top 10 as the Midshipmen, who finished third at the NCAA Championship and placed seventh in the final 2007 poll, placed 10th in the preseason balloting.

The University of California-Davis, Saint Francis College (N.Y.) and University of the Pacific retained their positions at #11-13 from the final 2007 poll, while the University of California-San Diego and Santa Clara University moved up to #14-15.

The United States Air Force Academy, California Baptist University, George Washington University, Brown University and Princeton University round out the Top 20.

The top three teams in Division III entering the 2008 season remain the same as the final week of 2007 as the University of Redlands retained its position a top the poll with 98 points.  Pomona Pitzer Colleges and Johns Hopkins University are close behind as the Sagehens and the Bluejays tied for second with 93 points, while Claremont Mudd Scripps Colleges and the University of California-Santa Cruz claimed the fourth and fifth positions.

In the bottom five of the poll, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Whittier College jumped three places to rank sixth and seventh, respectively, after finishing ninth and 10th last season.  Occidental College comes into the campaign eighth, while California Lutheran University and Chapman University tied for ninth.

In the Collegiate Water Polo Association preseason poll, Navy is picked to defend its title for a second year in a row as the 2006 and 2007 defending Eastern Champion Midshipmen garnered 98 points to take the #1 berth.

However, the eight-time Eastern Champion (1986-88, 1990, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007) could face tough competition from the rest of the league and history.

Although teams have won three titles in a row before (1972-74 Yale University, 1977-80 Bucknell University, 1983-85 Brown University, 1986-88 Navy, 1993-96 University of Massachusetts) , the CWPA has seen  five different teams (Queens College, UMass, Navy, Princeton University, Saint Francis College) take the title since UMass' four-year title run from 1993 to 1996 was brought to an end.

2005 Eastern champion Saint Francis, which fell to Navy 11-7 in last year's Eastern final, is picked second as the Terriers received 96 points.

Unlike the other varsity polls which saw the teams ranked based close to last year's finish, the CWPA poll saw dramatic shifts outside the top two positions as only #9 the Massachusetts Institute of Technology retained its position from last year's poll

Leading the shift is Princeton University as the Tigers moved up from a 10th place finish in the final 2007 poll to take possession of third place in the preseason.  Brown University moved up one place to fourth, while George Washington University placed fifth.

Johns Hopkins University, Harvard University, Bucknell University and MIT rank sixth through ninth, while Iona College remained ranked at 10th.

The Varsity Top 20, CWPA, Division III and National Collegiate Club polls will be released each Wednesday during the season by 5:00 p.m.

The 2008 Men's National Collegiate Club Preseason Poll will be released next week on Wednesday, August 27.

2008 Men's Varsity Preseason Poll Release (PDF)