GATHERING OF EAGLES, LIONS, ARCHERS, ETC.

Sports competitions have a way of bringing people from all walks of life together to celebrate the event, watch the protagonists and cheer the victors. Partisan passions are aroused, emotions are outpoured and at the end of the event, all go their own separate ways re-invigorated, exhausted, frustrated, thinking about what-could-have-been and looking forward to another sporting day. This was true during the ancient Roman times, with the gladiators, lions, tigers, and raucous crowd, as it is today.

Today, collegiate basketball fanatics, alumni supporters and students will make their way to The Arena, San Juan City to watch modern day local heroes clash in the basketball court. Today marks the start of the last phase of this year’s competition for the much coveted title – the national collegiate champion.  

The search for one national collegiate champion

One of the objectives of the search for a national champion is to encourage the collegiate teams to look beyond just winning and competing in their respective leagues. Their aim must be higher – to be the national champion.
The country’s basketball leaders, led by SBP President Manuel V. Pagilinan, are of the view that a change in attitude and outlook along this line by persons involved in the schools’ basketball program will enhance the development of collegiate basketball. Players and coaches would welcome opportunities for broader competitive environment where one measures up to the challenges of other rivals beyond the traditional borders.

Role of PCCL

Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL), a non-profit duly accredited basketball association, serves as facilitator of the process to search for and identify the one national collegiate champion for the season. The process is nationwide in scope with all established collegiate leagues in the country participating.

For the 2008 Philippine Collegiate Championship games, 27 “mother leagues” involving 212 collegiate teams participated in the process.

Regional games

Competitive games do not stop after the “mother league” tournament. The PCCL tournament format calls for “mother league” winners in the provinces to advance to the regional championship and compete with the champions of other provinces to determine the regional champions.

The following are the nine regional champions for 2008: Region 1 (Ilocos/Baguio) – St. Louis University, Region 2 (Pangasinan/Pampanga) – University of Luzon, Region 3 (Quezon/Bicol) - University of Nueva Caceres, Region 4 (Bacolod/Iloilo) - West Negros University, Region 5 (Bohol/Dumaguete) - BIT International College, Region 6 (Tacloban/Ormoc) - AMA Computer Learning Center, Region 7 (Cagayan de Oro) - Xavier University, Region 8 (Davao/GenSan) - University of Mindanao, and Region 9 (Zamboanga provinces) - Ateneo de Zamboanga.

One more step higher

Twenty four teams that included the regional champions, top performers in Metro Manila and Cebu leagues, and “wild card” qualifiers advanced to the zonal level to compete for eight slots in the “Sweet 16” Final Challenge, the last phase of the Philippine Collegiate Championship games.

The eight zonal winners that reached the Final “Sweet 16” are: Mapua Cardinals, Arellano U Chiefs, University of the East Warriors, Lyceum of the Philippines Pirates, Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights, University of San Jose Recoletos Jaguars, Far Eastern University Tamaraws and University of San Carlos Warriors.

The final challenge

From 212 teams, only the elite “Sweet 16” remain to compete for the national title. Eight of these teams passed thru several phases, the regional competitions, the “wild card” qualifying games and the zonal games to earn their seats in the finals.

The other eight teams automatically qualified based on their performance in the major leagues in Metro Manila and Cebu. The eight seeded teams are: Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles – UAAP Champion, San Beda Red Lions –NCAA Champion, De la Salle Green Archers – UAAP runner-up, JRU Heavy Bombers – NCAA runner-up, University of Visayas Green Lancers – CESAFI Champion, MLQU Stallions – CUSA Champion, San Sebastian College-Recoletos de Cavite – NAASCU Champion, and Universal College Golden Dragons, UCAA champion.

These 16 collegiate teams will knock each other out until one team remains standing and is crowned 2008 National Collegiate Champion.

Crucial first knock-out round pairings

Excitement and tension build up as the FilOil Flying V Final Challenge unfolds. All games are crucial and must-win if a teams wants to reach the top four prize circle. The first round is the initial test for the seeded teams. On many instances upsets occur when seeded teams underestimate their hungrier and more geared up opponents. Thus winning the first game is considered as morale booster and confidence builder particularly in a knock-out competition.

The first round games are scheduled on November 24, 26, 27 and 29 at The Arena, San Juan.

Partnership with Solar’s Basketball TV

Television plays an important role in promoting any sporting event and PCCL is fortunate to have Solar Entertainment as its coverage partner. Through Solar’s channels, Basketball TV and C/S9, all “Sweet 16” games will be aired that will allow collegiate basketball fans all over the country to watch their local heroes compete with the more hyped-up teams from Metro-Manila.

Prize and glory at stake

The FilOil Fying V is awarding directly to the schools of the top four teams scholarship grants amounting to P500,000, for the champion, P200,000, P100,000 and P50,000 for the second, third and fourth placers. The champion team will be the Philippine representative to the Universiade games at Serbia next year.

In addition to the above awards, SBP President Manuel V. Pangilinan, is personally donating P850,000 to the prize pool to be distributed to the team members of the top four teams.

Much-needed corporate sponsorship support

As you can see, the process of searching for the best collegiate team in the country is both taxing and costly. It requires an administrative structure in place to develop, coordinate and maintain a nationwide network of contacts involved in collegiate basketball. And all of these require funding.

Allow me, therefore, to thank the principal sponsors that are making this significant event a reality, SMART, PLDT, FilOil Flying V and KFC, and the other cooperating sponsors, Molten (the official PCCL basketball), Accel, Greenwich and, of course, Philippine Star as PCCL’s media partner.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year visit the official website, www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net and www.gameface.ph, internet media partner of PCCL