PRESEASON favorites Mapua and College of St. Benilde will take centerstage while defending champion San Beda kicks off its repeat campaign against Lyceum when the NCAA ushers in its 100th season on September 7 inside MoA Arena.
The opening ceremonies will kick off at 12 noon and it will be preceded by a couple of semis rematches when the Red Lions take on the Pirates at 2:30 before the Cardinals and the Blazers tangle in the second game to formally usher in the league’s historic centennial year.
Reeling off the departure of Jacob Cortez, the Red Lions will be banking on finals MVP James Payosing and sweet-shooting big Yukien Andrada to carry the fight for them this time around.
The Pirates, on the other hand, will have an intact roster bannered by John Barba, Mac Guadana and JM Bravo as they look to make the most out of a promising young core they’ve had since both Barba and Guadana decided to stay with Lyceum after a brilliant Juniors campaign.
But all eyes will be on the clash between the retooled Blazers and the solid Cardinals squad, two teams with major title aspirations this year.
With reigning NCAA MVP Clint Escamis still leading the team, the Cardinals are hellbent on going all the way this time falling a win short of ending 32-year dry spell in the tournament.
Standing in their way for a brilliant opener is the rejigged Blazers team who will be parading their now-eligible transferees in Tony Ynot, Justine Sanchez, and Allen Liwag.
After the opener, all of the games in the first round will be played in the Filoil EcoOil Center in San Juan in a busy schedule that will see five game days in a week.
It will be a little earlier than usual, with the Tuesday and Saturday games starting at 11 am, while the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday double-headers kick off at 12 noon.
FULL SCHEDULE HERE:
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