By Madeline Folsom on SwimSwam
As in previous years, SwimSwam’s Power Rankings are somewhere between the CSCAA-style dual meet rankings and a pure prediction of NCAA finish order. SwimSwam’s rankings take into account how a team looks at the moment, while keeping the end of the season in mind through things like a team’s previous trajectory and NCAA scoring potential. These rankings are by nature subjective, and a jumping-off point for discussion. If you disagree with any team’s ranking, feel free to make your case in our comments section.
James Sutherland, Braden Keith, Anya Pelshaw, Terin Fordyama, Sam Blacker, and Robert Gibbs contributed to this report.
The 2026-2027 NCAA season is upon us, which means it is time for our pre-season power rankings: men’s edition.
The Texas Longhorns remained a unanimous favorite in the SwimSwam staff polls, while the rest of the top-10 from 2026 also stayed stable with no teams falling out or moving in for the pre-season.
Honorable Mentions: Wisconsin, Texas A&M
#25: Northwestern +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 26)
A very young team all around, Northwestern has the potential to move into the top-25 in 2027 after returning both of their individual point scorers and their entire individual NCAA roster including junior Josh Staples, who finished 8th in the 400 IM — M.F.
#24: Florida State +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 25)
Florida state lost a huge member of the team with the transfer of 2025 ACC champion Michel Arkhangelskiy, but they still appear to be in good shape to stay in the top-25 at NCAAs. Arkhangelskiy had a down year in 2026 and their top scorer Logan Robinson will be back for the season. — M.F.
#23: Kentucky -5 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 18)
The team has a strong distance group returning and are set for another top 25 finish. — A.P.
#22: Purdue +7 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 29)
A huge diving program, Purdue scored five divers at last year’s NCAA Championships and return all of them for 2027 along with junior Evan Mackesy and sophomore sprinter Janis Dzirkalis — M.F.
#21: Auburn -4 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 17)
Incoming freshman Mike Rice is the kind of monster sprinter that can single-handedly jumpstart a program rebuild. And he’s exactly the kind of guy that should fit into Auburn and Ryan Wochomurka’s program perfectly. — B.K.
#20: Miami (FL) +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 21)
NCAA runner-up on the 1-meter Matteo Santoro will be a sophomore this year for the Hurricanes and after scoring 32 points as a freshman, he will be a major part of the Miami team this year. — M.F.
#19: Alabama +5 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 24)
With Tommy Hagar and Leonardo Alcantara back for their final season after both scoring double digit points at the 2026 NCAA Championships, Alabama will be aiming for a top-20 finish. — M.F.
#18: SMU +5 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 23)
SMU returns all of their individual scorers from 2026 including sophomore diver Luke Sitz, who won the 1-meter event and finished 2nd in the 3-meter. They also picked up Roberto Bonilla from Texas A&M who will be a strong dual meet point scorer for the Mustangs. — M.F.
#17: USC -3 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 14)
Losing divers Mortiz Wesemann and Laurent Gosselin Paradis will be hard for the Trojans, and they will be trying to make the most of the Chmielewski twins for one more season. — M.F.
#16: Georgia -1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 15)
Despite no Luca Urlando, the Bulldogs are still an intriguing team this upcoming season, with multiple opportunities at racing top programs, Tomas Koski, Drew Hitchcock, Elliot Woodburn, and young recruits Erkhes Enkhtur, and Jude Banks will all be looking to make big strides with a young Georgia team. — T.F.
#15: Ohio State -2 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 13)
Tristan Jankovics and Tomas Navikonis were the top scorers and both graduated, making another top 15 finish look tough for the Buckeyes — A.P.
#14: UNC +5 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 19)
The Tar Heels have Ben Delmar back after he finished 4th in the 200 breast at the 2026 NCAAs, which will be huge for improving their finish this year. They only graduated one member of their NCAA scoring roster in Louis Dramm and picked up BOTR recruit Isaac Carsel and HM recruit Evan Gluck. — M.F.
#13: LSU +3 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 16)
Jere. Hribar. What more is there to say. The Croatian has made a name for himself as one of the top 100 freestylers in the NCAA and could earn the NCAA title in the event as a senior. — M.F.
#12: Louisville — (2026 NCAA Ranking: 12)
Despite graduating Jackson Millard, Guy Brooks, and Tommy Bried, Louisville return the majority of their all-important relay legs. European 50 free champion Nikita Sheremet had an explosive summer and will help elevate those, while Finnley Conklin quietly had a very good long course season as well. The incoming freshman look more like developmental pieces than replacements for the swimmers the Cardinals have lost, however, and they will need last season’s stars to develop even further if they plan on moving up. — S.B.
#11: Virginia Tech — (2026 NCAA Ranking: 11)
Brendan Whitfield is back, which is a MAJOR keep, and the team as a whole did not lose too much talent. Eli Martin will be back to man the breaststroke, while the backstroke depth will be another very exciting battle thoughout the season. — T.F.
#10: Michigan -2 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 8)
Losing freshman breaststroker Luka Mladneovic to Texas is a major blow to the Michigan program. Add in the graduation of Tyler Ray and Michigan is starting the year with an uphill climb. They still have junior IMer Lorne Wigginton, who had a strong summer, and they picked up transfer Jaxon Bowshire, the NCAA runner-up in the platform in 2025. — M.F.
#9: Stanford +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 10)
Two ranked recruits for Stanford in #13 Maxwell Stanislaus and #20 Nathan Foucu along with returning their top three individual point scorers from the 2026 NCAA Championships bodes very well for the Cardinal to break into the top-10 this year. — M.F.
#8: Virginia +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 9)
Maximus Williamson is certainly one of the biggest game changers in the country, and after a massive end to his freshman campaign, the Cavaliers will be looking to contend even further on the men’s side throughout the season. Heilman will be another popular pick to contend on the national level as a sophomore, and for good reason. — T.F.
#7: NC State -1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 6)
Quintin McCarty will be the backbone of the NC State roster as one of the top sprinters in the NCAA. With a strong sprint program behind him consisting of Winkler, Williams, and Fox, their sprint relays will be a force and their contributions will be huge in the Wolfpack’s dual meet landscape as well as the CSL. — M.F.
#6: Arizona State -2 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 4)
Arizona State’s incoming class is absolutely massive, led by three domestic recruits who all fit the mold of a Herbie Behm sprinter: Jake Lloyd, London Rising and Tyler Porter. French backstroker Nathan Muratory could be a game changer after his breakout performance at the European Championships. The Sun Devils are losing a lot of NCAA points from last season, most notably from Remi Fabiani, Jonny Kulow and David Young, but they’ve got the top swimmer in the country, Ilya Kharun, and Behm has proven over the last few seasons that he can take freshmen sprinters to the next level in short order, so I wouldn’t be worried about ASU. — J.S.
#5: Cal +2 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 7)
Cal has a dynamite recruiting class coming in to join a developing core that’s headlined by Yamato Okadome, who swept the NCAA breaststroke titles last season, and Ryan Erisman, who’s coming off a dominant performance at U.S. Nationals in long course. Guys like Martin Wrede and Lucca Battaglini should be able to build off solid freshman seasons last year, while brining in four top 10 recruits in Baylor Stanton, Tim Wu, Jordan Ragland and Albert Smelzer should help push them up the standings after a rebuilding 2025-26. — J.S.
#4: Tennessee +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 5)
Tennessee loses star sprinter Gui Caribe but replaces him with Pitt transfer Julian Koch, who’s coming off a breakout season and should do a fine job filling the big shoes left by Caribe. Gabe Nunziata and Koby Bujak-Upton are coming off excellent freshman years and will be cornerstones of the team beginning this season, while the incoming recruiting class is quite something. There’s two top-20 recruits, one HM, one BOTR, four international freshmen and a pair of transfers (including Koch). While the domestic class is strong, Nigerian Abdulijabar Adama, Lithuanian Mantas Kauspedas and Brazilian Kaua Pereira could be even more impactful in their freshmen season. — J.S.
#3: Florida -1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 2)
The Gators lose Josh Liendo, which takes a massive bite out of their relays. They’re still a deep team. I’m the only one who moved them lower than 3rd – mostly because Ahmed Jaouadi had a rough summer, and I think that could be enough to make the difference between them and the Volunteers. The Gators do return all of the top pieces of their really good diving core, which should provide a stabilizing force. — B.K.
Graduating Josh Liendo is a huge loss at both the relay and individual level. They don’t have any top 20 recruits coming in this fall, making a title run with Texas challenging. — A.P.
#2: Indiana +1 (2026 NCAA Ranking: 3)
After a down year for Indiana diving last season (only 4 NCAA points), they should come roaring back this year as sophomore Josh Hedberg returns from injury that cost him the spring semester. Josh Bey and Noah Cakir both built off strong freshman campaigns over the summer, and project to become the stars that Indiana needs on their roster. The Hoosiers are loaded with talent, and should max out their NCAA Championship roster again. — B.K.
#1: Texas — (2026 NCAA Ranking: 1)
Will Luka show up midseason? Will Luka not show up midseason? It doesn’t really matter. It’s hard to see the Texas men lose in the next decade barring a structural change in the way things work. The ‘Horns have money and they’re flexing that daily. — B.K.
Rank Anya Robert Madeline Braden Terin James 1 Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas Texas 2 Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana Indiana 3 Florida Florida Florida Tennessee Florida Florida 4 Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee Florida Cal Cal 5 Arizona State Cal Cal Arizona State Tennessee Tennessee 6 Cal NC State Arizona State Virginia Arizona State Arizona State 7 NC State Arizona State NC State Cal NC State NC State 8 Virginia Virginia Michigan NC State Virginia Virginia 9 Stanford Stanford Virginia Stanford Michigan Stanford 10 Michigan Virginia Tech Stanford Virginia Tech Stanford Michigan 11 Virginia Tech Michigan Ohio State Louisville Ohio State Ohio State 12 Louisville Louisville Virginia Tech LSU Virginia Tech Virginia Tech 13 LSU Ohio State Louisville UNC Louisville Louisville 14 UNC Georgia Georgia Michigan UNC Georgia 15 USC LSU LSU USC LSU LSU 16 Alabama UNC UNC SMU Alabama UNC 17 Georgia USC USC Georgia Georgia SMU 18 Ohio State Miami (FL) SMU Miami (FL) SMU Miami (FL) 19 SMU SMU Miami (FL) Alabama USC Alabama 20 Miami (FL) Alabama Alabama Auburn Miami (FL) USC 21 Florida State Auburn Purdue Purdue Auburn Purdue 22 Northwestern Kentucky Auburn Florida State Kentucky Kentucky 23 Wisconsin Florida State Florida State Kentucky Purdue Auburn 24 Auburn Purdue Kentucky Texas A&M Florida State Northwestern 25 Kentucky Northwestern Northwestern Ohio State Northwestern Florida StateRead the full story on SwimSwam: 2026-27 NCAA Men’s Power Rankings: Pre-Season Edition
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