1986 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
# 1986 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship

The 1986 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the 18th 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 Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach, California during December 1986.

Stanford defeated rival California in the final, 9–6, to win their sixth national title. Coached by Dante Dettamanti, the Cardinal finished the season undefeated, 36–0.

The Most Outstanding Players of the tournament were Fernando Carsalade (UCLA), David Imbernino (Stanford), and Craig Klass (Stanford). An All-Tournament Team of eight players was also named.

The tournament's leading scorer was Robert Lynn from USC (12 goals).

## Qualification

Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.

| Team | Appearance | Previous |
| - | - | - |
| Air Force | 5th | 1981 |
| Brown | 8th | 1985 |
| California | 13th | 1984 |
| Navy | 2nd | 1984 |
| Pepperdine | 5th | 1984 |
| USC | 9th | 1984 |
| Stanford | 14th | 1985 |
| UCLA | 15th | 1985 |

## Bracket

* Site: Belmont Plaza Pool, Long Beach, California

| Fifth place | Fifth place | Fifth place | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | Consolation semifinals | First round | First round | First round | | Championship semifinals | Championship semifinals | Championship semifinals | | | Championship | Championship | Championship |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| | | | | | | Stanford | Stanford | 23 | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Air Force | 5 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | Air Force | Air Force | 3 | | | | Stanford | Stanford | 15 | | | | |
| | | | USC | USC | 13 | | | | | Pepperdine | Pepperdine | 8 | | | |
| | | | | | | Pepperdine | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | USC | USC | | | 9 | | | | | | | |
| USC | USC | 8 | | | | | | | | Stanford | Stanford | | | | 9 |
| Navy | Navy | 3 | | | | | | | | Stanford | | | | | California | California | 6 |
| | | | | | | California | California | 11 | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | Brown | 4 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Seventh place | Seventh place | Seventh place | Brown | Brown | 4 | | | | California | California | 11 | Third place | Third place | Third place | | |
| | | | Navy | Navy | 6 | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 8 | | | | | |
| Air Force | Air Force | 13 | | | | UCLA | UCLA | | | 13 | | | | Pepperdine | Pepperdine | 11 |
| Brown | Brown | 19 | | | | Navy | Navy | 7 | | | | | | | UCLA | UCLA | 12 |

## All-tournament team

* Fernando Carsalade, UCLA (Co-Most outstanding player)
* David Imbernino, Stanford (Co-Most outstanding player)
* Craig Klass, Stanford (Co-Most outstanding player)
* Jeff Brush, California
* Kirk Everist, California
* Erich Fischer, Stanford
* Robert Lynn, USC
* Bill Schoening, California
