By Jared Anderson on SwimSwam
SwimSwam Pulse is a recurring feature tracking and analyzing the results of our periodic A3 Performance Polls. You can cast your vote in our newest poll on the SwimSwam homepage, about halfway down the page on the right side, or you can find the poll embedded at the bottom of this post.
Our most recent poll asked SwimSwam readers to pick the strongest men’s swimming conference:
RESULTS
Question: Which is the strongest swimming conference for men this season?
- Pac-12 – 28.6%
- SEC – 27.5%
- Big Ten – 22.5%
- ACC – 13.6%
- Big 12 – 7.8%
The women’s poll was a blowout, but the men’s was a true nailbiter, with the Pac-12 edging the SEC by one percent of the votes as the toughest NCAA men’s swimming conference.
The Pac-12 earned 57% of the votes in the women’s poll, but only 28.6% of the votes here. The SEC was just a tick behind at 27.5%, and the Big Ten had a strong showing in at 22.5%.
It’s a bit surprising to see the ACC this low based on the general fervor of those fanbases, but the conference is definitely reloading a bit, with most of NC State’s stars graduating and a new class coming in, and the Virginia men a little behind their women in their rebuild.
As we did in the women’s poll, we pulled some numbers from three sources: our own Power Rankings, the CSCAA dual meet poll, and last year’s NCAA finish order:
| SwimSwam Power Ranks | CSCAA Poll | 2019 NCAAs | |||||||
| Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | Top 5 | Top 10 | Top 20 | |
| Pac-12 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| SEC | 0 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Big Ten | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| ACC | 1 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| Big 12 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
These numbers might show the SEC a little overrated by voters – that traditional powerhouse conference had no teams in the top five last year and none in our current top 5 Power Rankings. However, the SEC really hangs its hat on depth, with the most teams in the top 20 in all three metrics.
Below, vote in our new A3 Performance Poll, which asks voters to weigh in on the East/West split format for Winter Juniors:
Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
ABOUT A3 PERFORMANCE
The A3 Performance Poll is courtesy of A3 Performance, a SwimSwam partner
Read the full story on SwimSwam: SwimSwam Pulse: 28% Pick Pac-12 As Strongest Men’s Conference