IT’S going to be SMC vs. MVP in the finals of the 2023 PBA Governors’ Cup after the top four teams at the end of the eliminations in TNT, San Miguel, Barangay Ginebra, and Meralco advanced into the semifinals.
Sister teams clash in PBA Governors' Cup semis
But while there have different alterations of finals series between the two conglomerates over the past few years, it will be the first time in seven years that one semifinal tussle will be an MVP vs. MVP, the other SMC vs. SMC.
The last time it happened was in the 2016 Governors’ Cup and the seedings of the four teams are similar to the present.
TNT was also the top seed that conference when it faced Meralco, which was also the fourth ranked team at that time. On the other bracket, San Miguel was also at No. 2 while Ginebra was at No. 3.
The result was favorable to the lower seed teams during that Governors’ Cup semifinals with Meralco advancing to the finals by upsetting TNT, 3-1, with the Bolts winning the last three games of the series.
The other bracket went the distance with both teams taking turns starting with a Game One victory by Ginebra before the Gin Kings took Game Five against their sister team.
Barangay Ginebra eventually went home with the championship over Meralco, the first of their four finals appearance over the years, that ended with Justin Brownlee nailing that three-pointer at the buzzer in Game Six.
As for the match-up between the two conglomerates per se, they have faced each other eight times with the SMC group winning seven championships with Barangay Ginebra tabbing four, and San Miguel three. The only time the MVP group won over SMC over that span was during the 2021 Philippine Cup when TNT overcame Magnolia in the Bacolor bubble.
Will the result be the same for SMC? Or will the MVP Group finally get one over their rival? We will know in the next weeks.