The seeding for the 2021 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Championship was released Monday night, and it contains little by way of surprises—though there are compelling story lines to consider in what is the first women’s national championship since COVID-19 prematurely ended play for the 2020 season.

All action starts on Wednesday, May 12, continues through Sunday, May 16 and will be held at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatic Center. Matches on May 14, 15 and the championship final on May 16 will be streamed on NCAA.com

To virtually no one’s surprise, USC (19-1; 11-1 MPSF) earned the top seed. The Trojans beat everyone of note—that is, mostly MPSF opponents because the world’s best women’s water polo conference voted to keep play in-house, so to speak. They’re followed by second-seeded Stanford (12-5; 8-4 MPSF); #3 UCLA (13-4; 9-3 MPSF), which was the only squad to topple the Trojans this year, got one at-large bid. #4 Arizona State (13-11; 6-6 MPSF), which solved UCLA after ten straight losses spanning the last eight years, got the final at-large bid by virtue of a 12-8 win over Cal in last month’s MPSF tournament.

Barring a major upset, all of these teams will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, May 15. The four MPSF squads are currently ranked 1 through 4 in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s weekly top-25 poll.

If you want to know how USC sees the drive for a seventh women’s national championship—and what would be the first of the Marko Pintaric era—check out this link.

Hawai’i (11-1; 3-1 BWC), which won the Big West Conference automatic bid due to a 9-8 win over UC Irvine in their conference final, will face the Bruins in their home pool on Friday, May 14. Arizona State will face Michigan (21-4; 6-0 CWPA), also on the 14th.

It’s the other teams that bear some scrutiny. Salem University (18-11), in only its third year of competition, will represent the WWAC. With 29 matches, the Tigers have played more than any other team in the bracket, and are a potential “feel good” story after the negative narrative of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another positive: Marist (8-0; 6-0 MAAC) is going to NCAAs for the first time since 2010, when the program was led by Natalie Golda—who’s now Natalie Benson and bringing Fresno State (12-5; 6-1 GCC) to its first NCAA tournament ever. The Red Foxes will face Salem on May 12, with the winner facing the Trojans on May 14.

The Fresno State Bulldogs won the Golden Coast Conference with a 12-10 victory over San Diego State, and on Tuesday will face Cal Lutheran (7-0; 3-0 SCIAC). The Regals captured the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s automatic bid with an 11-6 win over Redlands. The winner of the Fresno State vs. Cal Lutheran match gets the Cardinal of Stanford on Friday.