Down to the Wire (No Platform Yet)- Cal Hunts for 21 Points to Catch Texas (Day 4 Ups/Downs)

03/29/2025 04:56 PM

By Mark Wild on SwimSwam

2025 Men's NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships

• March 26-29, 2025
• Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center, Federal Way, Washington
• Short Course Yards (25 yards)
• Start Times: Prelims: 10 AM ׀ Finals: 6 PM (Pacific Daylight Time)
• Psych Sheet
• Eligible Relays
• SwimSwam Preview Index
• Live Results
• Live Recaps
  • Prelims: Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 
  • Finals: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3

For those unfamiliar with swimming terminology, the concept of "Ups" and "Downs" is a good way to track which teams performed best during prelims. In prelims at the NCAA Championships swimmers qualify for one of three finals: the top eight finishers make the 'A' final (Ups) and places nine through 16 make the 'B' final (Downs). In finals, swimmers are locked into their respective final, meaning a swimmer in the 'B' final can only place as high as 9th or as low as 16th, even if they swim the fastest or slowest time of the event in any final.

With that in mind, we track "Ups" and "Downs" after each prelims session as a way to follow the team race. 

Team Scores Through Day 3

1. Texas — 368
2. California — 312.5
3. Indiana — 304
4. Florida – 233
5. Georgia — 177.5
6. Arizona State – 172
7. Tennessee – 162.5
8. Stanford — 162
9. NC State — 128
10. Michigan — 83
11. Alabama/Ohio State — 68
13. Virginia Tech — 63
14. Texas A&M — 57.5
15. USC — 55
16. Louisville — 53
17. Florida State — 48
18. Purdue — 33
19. Wisconsin — 28
20. LSU — 26
21. Georgia Tech — 24
22. UNC —  21
23. Army/Yale/Utah — 15
26. Auburn — 14
27. Pittsburgh — 13
28. Virginia/SMU — 12
30. Miami (FL)/Brown — 11
32. Kentucky/Missouri — 6
34. Arizona — 1

With today being the final day of the meet, each and every team was desperate to put as many swimmers into the finals as they possibly could. Of the contenders, Cal had a very good day. The Bears advanced a total of 11 swimmers into the finals, with six of them (barring DQ expected to score at least 11 points or more). With Texas advancing seven swimmers and having half the number of A-finalists, Cal is going to be looking to close the 55.5-point gap.

Prelims + Actual, Excluding Platform and 1650 Free

Indiana did well for themselves, moving on six swimmers, the third most of any team, and their four A-finalists, trails on Cal, but even if diving and the all-important mile go their way, then it’ll be close.

Some new schools again, barring DQ, will add themselves to the scoring team’s list as Penn’s Matt Fallon earned an A-Final and Cornell, Cal-Baptist, and Minnesota all earned their first 2nd swims of the meet.

If we use the scored out prelims and the projected mile and 400 free relay scores based on the psych sheet. we find the Cal and Texas are in a close race.

A very close race.

Cal leads the way with a projected 112 points from this morning’s four prelims swims. Indiana follows with 74, and Tennessee rounds out the top three with 63. Texas sits 4th with 61.5, meaning Cal picks up a nice 50-plus points.

If added to the scores from yesterday the California Golden Bears trail the Longhorns by just 5 points. That said, Texas is projected to outscore Cal in the mile 39-17. Cal holds the advantage in the relay 30 -24, meaning if you do the math, Cal needs to find 21 points.

21 points.

It may seem like a lot, but Cal went 1/1 last year in diving, so I could find the points there. They could also chip away event by event, especially if 8th-seeded Yamato Okadome and 15th-seeded Matt Jensen move up a few places.

Read the full story on SwimSwam: Down to the Wire (No Platform Yet)- Cal Hunts for 21 Points to Catch Texas (Day 4 Ups/Downs)