Tournament matches were played at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatics Complex in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, during December 1997.

[1] Pepperdine defeated USC in the final, 8–7 (in two overtimes), to win their first national title.

The Most Outstanding Players of the tournament, all from Pepperdine, were Alan Herrmann, Merrill Moses, and Jeremy Pope.

Queens (NY) became the first team from outside the state of California to finish third place in an NCAA men's water polo tournament.

The Knights defeated UC Davis in the third-place final, 5–3.