COLLEGIATE basketball won't be gone for long with the Filoil preseason tournament eyeing to return this July.
Filoil preseason news
Tournament director Joey Guillermo shared to Spin.ph the league's plans with 16 teams from the UAAP and NCAA already committed to participate for the rebranded Filoil Ecooil Preseason Cup.
Teams will be distributed in two groups of eight which will undergo a round robin format with the top eight advancing in the crossover playoffs.
Games will all be held at the league's homebase at Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan starting in mid-July.
Guillermo added that it will be a short tournament, to be concluded by August, as it serves as an early workout for the varsity teams in preparation for the upcoming collegiate basketball tournaments of UAAP Season 85 and NCAA Season 98, both tipped to start by September or October.
Chairman Rey Gamboa, lead commissioner Joe Lipa, deputy commissioner Bert dela Rosa, and consultant and media head Virgil Villavicencio will oversee the return of the famed preseason tournament.
It has been three years since the last Filoil tournament was held, with San Beda besting La Salle in the championship.
The league planned to resume its tournaments last March 1 in a closed-circuit setup at Paco Arena but erred on the side of caution still due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation.
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