California defeated rival Stanford in the final, 12–11 (in three overtimes), to win their eleventh, and third consecutive, national title. The undefeated Golden Bears (31–0) were coached by Steve Heaston.
The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament was Dirk Zeien from California. Zeien, along with six other players, was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The tournament's leading scorer, with 12 goals, was Danny Leyson from USC.
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.