By MARK REY MONTEJO
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), trying its very best to bring its glory days back – and also its fans – hopes to launch its 101st season with a bang as it begins the centerpiece event of basketball on Wednesday, Oct. 1, at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
And right away, last season’s top four finishers will be featured with reigning champion Mapua going up against Lyceum beginning at 2:30 p.m. just after the lavish opening ceremony.
Runner-up College of St. Benilde goes up against San Beda in a duel between early favorites.
The opening ceremony, which is going to be full of surprises, begins at 1:30 p.m.
“Unang araw palang giyera, labanan kaagad ng top four teams from last season,” said Jose Rizal University athletic director Paul Supan during Tuesday’s PSA Forum presented by San Miguel Corporation, Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, MILO, Smart/PLDT, and the country’s 24/7 sports app ArenaPlus.
“Talagang pinaghandaan ‘yong opening ceremony bukas sa Araneta… may mga suprise numbers din… it’s going to be exciting, we can assure of that,” added EAC vice president for administration Dr. Lorenzo Lorenzo.
Meantime, San Sebastian College-Recoletos, which has undergone massive manpower buildup through the initiatives of Fr. Rafael B. Pecson, OAR, and Red Dynasty Restaurant’s Jackson Chua, starts its title drive against Perpetual on Friday.
Opting to skip PBA Draft last month, star guard Clint Escamis goes for a final push to give Mapua another shot for glory with a supporting cast composed of Cyrus Nitura, Cyril Gonzales, and Marc Cyrus Cuenco for the Randy Alcantara-mentored group. And all of the hopefuls are anticipated to go heart out, especially San Beda, Lyceum and Benilde.
Unlike in the past, teams will be divided into two groups with only Top 3 going into the quarters where the Nos. 1 and 2 enjoying twice-to-beat privileges.
Both semifinals and finals are going to be best-of-three affairs.
Olympic events to become demo sports in this year’s NCAA
Aside from implementing a new format for its basketball and volleyball tournaments, the grand old league is adding up Olympic sports like golf, gymnastics, boxing, and weightlifting next semester.
These medal-rich disciplines are listed as demo sports in partnership with Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and coordination with respective National Sports Associations (NSAs) to strengthen the initiative and further boost the grassroots programs here in the country.
“So this would be in partnership with PSC, especially, kinausap kami ni chairman Pato [Gregorio], and excited sya na tulungan natin, in terms of training and development of these athletes… Grassroots development,” Lorenzo continued.
Similar to the Palarong Pambansa, the four mentioned sports may become regular events if all participating schools join for three consecutive editions. Once consistency is established, the disciplines will be evaluated by member schools, who will then decide whether to elevate them to regular status.
