One College Basketball Family
Bleacher Talk
Sept 10, 2006
One College Basketball Family
Yes. The headline should look very familiar. It was taken right out of last week’s column, “One Basketball Family.” And this is a natural rejoinder that looks into a natural consequence that will hopefully come out of the soon to be launched brand new national sports association for basketball.
Ever since we started writing this column, one of our favorite pet peeve topics every year has been the lack of a legitimate and genuine tournament to determine a national collegiate champion. Sure, a number of attempts have been made to pit the best college teams against each other through the years, but none of these grew to become the credible college tournament that basketball fans looked up to when looking for a college basketball champion.
The closest that we got to having a tournament that could’ve been “it” was the Champions’ League that disappeared last year. True to its name, the tournament gathered the collegiate champions from the different regional leagues in the land. Its playoff format followed that of the U.S. NCAA where teams were seeded according to their ranking, and a single loss automatically meant a trip home. If memory serves me right, UE won the first edition, while FEU took the next two. Cebu’s UV grabbed third place at the last staging of the tournament two years ago.
The BAP has organized a national inter-collegiate tournament of its own since the 70’s, but despite its long history, it has never really taken off to be respected by the collegiate scene of the country. I can’t recall all its previous champions, but West Negros College of Bacolod won the 2006 version. St. Francis of Asisi College has also been a regular top team in this tournament. On the local front, USC and Salazar represented Cebu at last February’s run. The biggest thorn against the tournament is the absence of the top teams of the UAAP and NCAA which are considered to be the top collegiate leagues of the country. A BAP national collegiate championship thus comes with an asterisk beside it, as if to say that it isn’t legit until it bangs bodies with the UAAP an NCAA champions.
The Philippine Basketball Federation (PBF) also held a national collegiate tournament last February with UV representing Cebu. UAAP champions FEU won the title over its rival champ Letran of the NCAA.
This leads us to what’s in store for the future, and something tells me we might just finally have the national collegiate tournament that we’ve been looking for. With the BAP and Pilipinas Basketball set to come out with a new NSA by the end of September, I’m pretty sure a national collegiate program will be part and parcel of its calendar of activities for 2007.
The most crucial aspect of this tournament would be the participation of both the UAAP and NCAA. Like it or not, a national tournament is meaningless without the big boys of college ball. Moreover, they must make a commitment to take an active role in this tournament. This should mean the top teams showing up and not saying “pass” as they did in some editions of the Champions’ League. The presence of both leagues will bring credibility to the tournament that will hopefully stand out to serve as a season-ending finale of a collegiate basketball season that will be synchronized from Appari to Jolo.
For 2007, it’s a must that no less than Ateneo, UE, San Beda, Letran and PCU be there. UV looks set to win its sixth CESAFI championship and should be a shoo-in for a slot. But that’s not it. There are so many other collegiate leagues that should also be given a chance to show their stuff. In Manila alone, you have the NCRAA, NAASCU, CUSA and UCAA. Negros has its own NOPSCEA. Davao has its PRISAA, and I’m sure all the other regions have their respective collegiate leagues. Among the regional teams that have produced highlights of their own include Holy Cross of Davao (starring San Beda’s Pong Escobal), West Negros College, University of Baguio, University of Mindanao and AUF of Pampanga.
The tough (but doable) task is how to synchronize all calendars so that all the different collegiate leagues end their respective tournaments at the same time. The next step would be to carefully seed all these champions, stage regional elimination stages, and then hold the main championship phase of the tournament. If everything is managed well, we’re looking at a tournament that could be even bigger than the UAAP and NCAA. It’ll have national TV coverage, a regional grassroots reach, discoveries of more talents and an upgrade in the quality of play of college basketball. But most importantly, we’ll get a collegiate basketball family getting together for the mother of all college tournaments.
There’s nothing to lose in such a situation and it’s time to take college ball to the next level: a genuine national collegiate championship.
***Time-out: The key to running the country won’t be found in the system of government. It’ all about the kind of people we elect to office. If they’re truly working for the good of the country, they can overcome (and work with) any form of government. >>> For comments, you can reach us at bleachertalk@yahoo.com or http://bleachertalk.blogspot.com.
Sept 10, 2006
One College Basketball Family
Yes. The headline should look very familiar. It was taken right out of last week’s column, “One Basketball Family.” And this is a natural rejoinder that looks into a natural consequence that will hopefully come out of the soon to be launched brand new national sports association for basketball.
Ever since we started writing this column, one of our favorite pet peeve topics every year has been the lack of a legitimate and genuine tournament to determine a national collegiate champion. Sure, a number of attempts have been made to pit the best college teams against each other through the years, but none of these grew to become the credible college tournament that basketball fans looked up to when looking for a college basketball champion.
The closest that we got to having a tournament that could’ve been “it” was the Champions’ League that disappeared last year. True to its name, the tournament gathered the collegiate champions from the different regional leagues in the land. Its playoff format followed that of the U.S. NCAA where teams were seeded according to their ranking, and a single loss automatically meant a trip home. If memory serves me right, UE won the first edition, while FEU took the next two. Cebu’s UV grabbed third place at the last staging of the tournament two years ago.
The BAP has organized a national inter-collegiate tournament of its own since the 70’s, but despite its long history, it has never really taken off to be respected by the collegiate scene of the country. I can’t recall all its previous champions, but West Negros College of Bacolod won the 2006 version. St. Francis of Asisi College has also been a regular top team in this tournament. On the local front, USC and Salazar represented Cebu at last February’s run. The biggest thorn against the tournament is the absence of the top teams of the UAAP and NCAA which are considered to be the top collegiate leagues of the country. A BAP national collegiate championship thus comes with an asterisk beside it, as if to say that it isn’t legit until it bangs bodies with the UAAP an NCAA champions.
The Philippine Basketball Federation (PBF) also held a national collegiate tournament last February with UV representing Cebu. UAAP champions FEU won the title over its rival champ Letran of the NCAA.
This leads us to what’s in store for the future, and something tells me we might just finally have the national collegiate tournament that we’ve been looking for. With the BAP and Pilipinas Basketball set to come out with a new NSA by the end of September, I’m pretty sure a national collegiate program will be part and parcel of its calendar of activities for 2007.
The most crucial aspect of this tournament would be the participation of both the UAAP and NCAA. Like it or not, a national tournament is meaningless without the big boys of college ball. Moreover, they must make a commitment to take an active role in this tournament. This should mean the top teams showing up and not saying “pass” as they did in some editions of the Champions’ League. The presence of both leagues will bring credibility to the tournament that will hopefully stand out to serve as a season-ending finale of a collegiate basketball season that will be synchronized from Appari to Jolo.
For 2007, it’s a must that no less than Ateneo, UE, San Beda, Letran and PCU be there. UV looks set to win its sixth CESAFI championship and should be a shoo-in for a slot. But that’s not it. There are so many other collegiate leagues that should also be given a chance to show their stuff. In Manila alone, you have the NCRAA, NAASCU, CUSA and UCAA. Negros has its own NOPSCEA. Davao has its PRISAA, and I’m sure all the other regions have their respective collegiate leagues. Among the regional teams that have produced highlights of their own include Holy Cross of Davao (starring San Beda’s Pong Escobal), West Negros College, University of Baguio, University of Mindanao and AUF of Pampanga.
The tough (but doable) task is how to synchronize all calendars so that all the different collegiate leagues end their respective tournaments at the same time. The next step would be to carefully seed all these champions, stage regional elimination stages, and then hold the main championship phase of the tournament. If everything is managed well, we’re looking at a tournament that could be even bigger than the UAAP and NCAA. It’ll have national TV coverage, a regional grassroots reach, discoveries of more talents and an upgrade in the quality of play of college basketball. But most importantly, we’ll get a collegiate basketball family getting together for the mother of all college tournaments.
There’s nothing to lose in such a situation and it’s time to take college ball to the next level: a genuine national collegiate championship.
***Time-out: The key to running the country won’t be found in the system of government. It’ all about the kind of people we elect to office. If they’re truly working for the good of the country, they can overcome (and work with) any form of government. >>> For comments, you can reach us at bleachertalk@yahoo.com or http://bleachertalk.blogspot.com.
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