NO NCAA team came out on top of its UAAP foe in the crossover quarterfinals of the 2025 Playtime Cares Filoil EcoOil Preseason Cup.
Benilde got beat by the University of the Philippines. Letran was downed by National U. EAC was defeated by University of Santo Tomas. And Arellano got routed by La Salle.
READ: NU stands in UST's way of first-ever Filoil finals berth
In short, the UAAP swept the NCAA in the premiere preseason tournament.
READ: La Salle, UP all set for semis showdown in Filoil Preseason
While the results told a straightforward story, Green Archers shot-caller Topex Robinson sees a silver lining he hopes the NCAA and its fans can sense as well.
"These NCAA teams now have really great systems being run by great coaches. Before, there's really a big discrepancy with the UAAP, but now, even though we have FSAs (foreign student-athletes), 'di ganun kalayo," he said, while mentioning the likes of Mike Buendia, Manny Dandan, and Norman Black assisting head coaches Allen Ricardo, Chico Manabat, and Yuri Escueta, respectively.
"That's good for Philippine basketball. The NCAA today proved they deserve fair limelight."
For quite a while now, the UAAP has been viewed as the go-to league for young talent, boasting of the majority of superstars in the collegiate ranks, while also getting the lion's share of recruits during offseasons. Even more, FSAs continue to raise the ceiling of competition for its bigs - unlike the NCAA which is now all-local.
And yet, the crossover quarterfinals - meaning the games themselves - showed the supposed disparity in talent level between the two leagues wasn't necessarily as bad as it seemed.
NCAA brings it against UAAP
The Fighting Maroons, the reigning kings of the UAAP and back-to-back defending champions in Filoil, were almost stunned by the Blazers after Raffy Celis' triple try at the buzzer just went in and out.
The Bulldogs, who missed out on the Final Four last season yet remain dogged and determined, lost a 14-point lead in the last five minutes and were nearly at the wrong end of a Knights comeback if not for Jake Figueroa's clutch two-way heroics.
The Growling Tigers, fancied as a potential UAAP finalist after a breakthrough playoff berth a year ago, were pushed to the limit all game long by an Generals side led by a true freshman in EJ Castillo.
And the undefeated and fully loaded Green Archers, despite the 18-point margin in the final score, needed to turn it on in the third quarter just to fend off the upstart Chiefs, who leaned on the likes of T-Mc Ongotan and Maverick Vinoya - or players whose names have never been heard and said by most basketball fans.
Simply put, UP, NU, UST, and La Salle had to go all-out to be able to set up an all-UAAP finals.
And that is good news for Philippine basketball, if the green-and-white's head coach is to be believed.
"Coming from the NCAA, whenever we played UAAP, parang tryout sa'min e. Sabi namin, kung anong mga 'di nabibigay sa'tin, dito natin babawian ang UAAP," said Robinson, who suited up for San Sebastian in college and started his coaching career with his alma mater before turning Lyceum into a contender.
"Ang tingin namin sa kanila before, mga papogi e. So I'm really happy to see these NCAA teams competing with the UAAP today."
With that, despite the criticisms hurled at it in recent history, the NCAA just proved it can still go toe-to-toe with the UAAP.
And now entering its second century of existence, the Grand Old League is here to stay, without a doubt.
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