UAAP Season 84 kicks off Saturday, Mar. 26, with the men’s basketball tournament at the Mall of Asia Arena, which will be held in a bubble set-up.
About two years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the season opens with an even playing field and a whole lot of possibilities.
It was in March 2020 when the UAAP got disrupted in the middle of its Season 82 volleyball season. The Ateneo Lady Eagles were the defending champions on the women’s side, while the National University Bulldogs were gunning for a three-peat in the men’s tournament.
The eight-university league was forced to cancel both the remainder of Season 82 and Season 83 as COVID-19 raged and brought uncertainty to the future of sports.
University of Santo Tomas (UST), though, was awarded its fourth-straight General Championship crown even after the truncated Season 82.
Now with Metro Manila easing up on its COVID-19 restrictions, the UAAP is determined to pick up from where it left off and blow a fresh wind over Philippine sports.
After nailing a 16-0 sweep in Season 82, the Ateneo Blue Eagles will aim for a fourth-straight title without their core group of stars such as Thirdy Ravena, Matt and Mike Nieto and Isaac Go.
With several collegiate players graduating and moving on to pursue professional careers, the UAAP will be the first to reveal the dark horse teams as well as up-and-coming stars.
A lot of were a lot of shake-ups happened during the pandemic as well.
After clinching a runner-up finish in Season 82, the young and hopeful UST Growling Tigers squad encountered controversy for setting up a training bubble in Sorsogon that violated COVID-19 protocols.
Former head coach Aldin Ayo stepped down from his post and was handed a ban by the league as he took responsibility for the controversy.
This resulted in the exodus of players bannered by former team captain CJ Cansino who took his talent to the University of the Philippines (UP) Fighting Maroons. Season 82 Rookie of the Year Mark Nonoy also left and transferred to the La Salle Green Archers.
Aside from seeing some players donning different jerseys, UAAP fans will also be able to catch fresh faces that include juniors stars Forthsky Padrigao of Ateneo, UP’s Carl Tamayo and Terrence Fortea, and La Salle’s Raven Cortez.
Fan-favorite stars like Angelo Kouame, Ricci Rivero and Justine Baltazar will also be making a return to the collegiate game.
While fans will not be allowed in the venues, for now, Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), the official UAAP partner and digital broadcaster will stream the games live exclusively on the GigaPlay app for free – with no data charges –during a limited period only.
The games are scheduled on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays and will follow a quadruple-header format with scheduled tip-off times at 10:00 a.m., 1:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.
All eight university teams will see action on each play date.
The tournament will continue to follow the two elimination round-format and hold the Final Four showdowns and best-of-three final series.
The UAAP, though, will reassess its restrictions of welcoming fans to the venues after the first elimination round of basketball. (PR) – bny
