The NCAA has revealed which universities have been grouped together for the new basketball tournament format, which the collegiate league will use come Season 101 on October 1.
“Group of Death” for Group B?
The draw for the groupings was led by Atty. Rico Quicho, a recently appointed commissioner for the NCAA who is an alumnus of San Beda University. The draw took place at the grounds of Mapúa University, the host school for Season 101.
Here are the groups:
GROUP A
- Mapúa University
- Lyceum of the Philippines University
- University of Perpetual Help System DALTA
- San Sebastian College-Recoletos
- Arellano University
GROUP B
- College of Saint Benilde
- San Beda University
- Colegio de San Juan de Letrán
- Jose Rizal University
- Emilio Aguinaldo College
In the NCAA Season 100 Finals, the Mapúa Cardinals swept the CSB Blazers to capture the title.
And in this season, many fans have already anticipated a “cake walk” for the Cardinals in the elimination phase.
Considering the never-ending championship rivalry between the San Beda Red Lions and the Letrán Knights in the entire history of the NCAA, a lot of hoop fans are indeed looking at Group B as the “Group of Death”.
Updated Tournament Format
Last July, it was first revealed that a brand new tournament format will be adapted for both volleyball and basketball.
Now, more details are released to get fans more excited come October.
- GROUP ELIMINATION STAGE – Teams in their respective groups will battle twice, making it a “Double Round Robin” format, which will also feature playing against universities in the other group once. Each school will have a total of 13 games in its schedule.
- PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT AND QUARTERFINALS BERTH – After 13 games, the Top 3 teams from each group will automatically advance in the quarterfinals based on their win-loss record and quotient. The 2 remaining teams in each group will then battle again, making it the “Play-In Tournament”. Whoever wins will complete the Top 4 teams in each group.
- PLAYOFFS (QUARTERFINALS) – The #1 teams in Groups A and B will face the #4 teams in opposing groups. The #2 teams will play against the #3 teams of the opposing groups as well. Teams that are #1 and #2 in both groups will have a twice-to-beat advantage.
- PLAYOFFS (SEMIFINALS) – The Semis will be a Best-of-Three series
- FINALS – The winners of the semifinals will also play a Best-of-Three championship series, while the losers will face off against a 1-game bronze match.
It is also reported that the NCAA Junior Basketball will adopt the same format and groupings, while it is still not confirmed if the sport of volleyball will also follow the new rules.
The opening day of NCAA Season 101 is set to take place on October 1 at the SMART Araneta Coliseu,m while most of their games will be played at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
