The Georgia Lady Bulldogs are the undisputed #1 dual meet swimming and diving team in the country, according to the most recent CSCAA Division I Coaches’ Poll. Georgia women met #2 Auburn last weekend handing Auburn their first dual meet defeat this season. The Auburn men still held on to their #1 ranking on the men’s side of the poll.

Dave Marsh responded to the dual meet against the Georgia women. "My hat’s off to Georgia. They are a very strong team. On the women's side we will have to get substantially better to compete for the championship against them at the NCAAs,” said Marsh. The Auburn ladies and men are the reigning NCAA Champions.

Jack Bauerle, Georgia Head Coach was very cautious about the team’s win and their ranking. “It is nice to be ranked No. 1, but we still have a long way to go. We can still get much better. We just have to keep working hard,” he said.

On the men’s side of the poll, Southern Cal and Florida inched their way up the rankings making it very tight at the top of the poll. There is only an 11-point spread between #3 Florida, #2 Southern Cal and #1 Auburn. All three teams are undefeated in dual meets so far this season and have posted impressive swims at various competitions.

Undoubtedly, the coming weeks of dual meets and invitationals will ignite further debate on who the top teams are in the country as we move into the winter months and the end of the semester.

The next dual meet poll is scheduled for publication on Nov. 30, Thursday, just after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

The CSCAA Dual Meet Poll is an indication of a team’s ability to win dual meets during the season and is not a predictor of any team’s end-of-the-season placement at the NCAA Championships- although for most of the ranked teams there is a high correlation between their dual meet strength and the school’s ability to score at the Championship meets in March.

There will be nine (9) dual meet polls this year produced every two to three weeks throughout the college swimming season, which is one of the NCAA’s longest continuous seasons of any of the NCAA sponsored sports. The swimming season begins in September and ends in late March for most of the NCAA schools that sponsor the sport.

This season’s NCAA Championships will take place March 17-18-19, 2005 at Purdue University in Indiana for the women. The men’s championship will take place the following week March 24-25-26, 2005 at the University of Minnesota. The College Swimming Coaches’ Association (CSCAA) has sponsored the dual meet poll for 20 plus years now. The CSCAA dual meet Champions will be crowned at the conclusion of the dual meet season in early March, 2005

For additional information, contact: Chuck Knoles, cknoles@pitt.edu

Womens Div 1 Ranking
1	Georgia	200 (8)
2	Auburn	192
3	Florida	184
4	Texas	172
5	Arizona	171
6	Stanford	161
7	SMU	151
8	California	145
9	Texas A&M	135
10	Wisconsin	125
11	UCLA	124
12	Southern Cal	110
13	Maryland	105
14	Virginia	95
15	Michigan	87
16	North Carolina	80
17	Penn State	75
18	Arizona State	61
19	Hawai’i	53
20	Purdue	45
21	Notre Dame	43
22	Florida State	33
23	Tennessee	17
24	Washington	16
25	Indiana	13
	Others receiving votes	
	Northwestern	4
	Alabama	2
	South Carolina	1

Mens Div 1 Ranking
1	Auburn	199 (7)
2	Southern Cal	189
3	Florida	188 (1)
4	Stanford	172
4	California	172
6	Minnesota	156
7	Arizona	155
8	Texas	144
9	Michigan	134
10	Virginia	130
11	Tennessee	119
12	Kentucky	112
13	North Carolina	97
14	Indiana	93
15	Northwestern	82
16	Georgia	80
17	Purdue	78
18	Hawai’i	68
19	Texas A&M	49
20	Wisconsin	40
21	Notre Dame	37
22	BYU	31
23	Pittsburgh	24
24	Alabama	20
25	Florida State	14
	Others receiving votes	
	Wyoming	11
	Washington	5
	UNLV	1