NEW season means clean slate as everybody starts afresh in their quest to win the crown.
And this UAAP Season 87 is no different, with eight hungry teams all motivated to win the cup later this year.
But that doesn’t mean projections can't be made, and SPIN.ph is here to take a crack at making the annual fearless forecasts, trying to to see into the near future on who will emerge victorious and who will fall by the wayside.
Crown-seekers: La Salle and UP
Who else but these two, right?
We start where we ended up last season, with the two schools which disputed the throne still the ones projected to fight for the crown at the end of it all.
Odds may slightly tilt in favor of La Salle, still armed with Season and Finals MVP Kevin Quiambao.
But more than KQ, it’s still a potent Green Archers lineup which has Michael Phillips, Joshua David, and CJ Austria all coming back from that championship-winning team, while Nigerian center Henry Agunanne and Gilas Pilipinas Youth standout Alex Konov further fortifying the squad of coach Topex Robinson.
The University of the Philippines, however, has positioned itself to finally get over its back-to-back bridesmaid finishes, adding highly-touted big man Quentin Millora-Brown and Nigerian bruiser Dikachi Ududo to make up for the graduation of former MVP Malick Diouf.
Other than that, it’s an intact Fighting Maroons crew for coach Goldwin Monteverde which will still be leaning on JD Cagulangan, Gerry Abadiano, Harold Alarcon, and Francis Lopez.
Apologies for not really being fearless in this part on the forecast, but are there really any doubts who the top two teams in the UAAP are?
Contenders: UST, NU, and UE
University of Santo Tomas is coming into the season with a lot of hype and it’s time for the Growling Tigers to realize that potential.
Finally, coach Pido Jarencio and Nic Cabanero get the much-needed help they've been longing for, with a phalanx of new faces led by Forthsky Padrigao, Leland Estacio, and Chase Lane all expected to be vital pieces in this redemption tour in Espana.
National U's continuity should also keep it in the conversation, with coach Jeff Napa’s no-nonsense approach paying dividends in their podium finishes in the last two seasons.
Jake Figueroa and Steve Nash Enriquez continue to stand at the forefront, as Reinhard Jumamoy is poised to break out for the Bulldogs, and that might mean good news for them in their quest to shatter the glass ceiling in the Final Four.
And surprise, surprise: UE may just very well be better this season despite the departure of Rey Remogat.
Precious Momowei will still be a lot to handle for the opposition. Add to that the assets which the Red Warriors added in John Abate and Nico Mulingtapang to connive with the likes of Jack Cruz-Dumont and Wello Lingo-Lingo, and coach Jack Santiago may just have a lot of reason to smile this year.
Challengers: FEU, Ateneo, Adamson
This may feel a little low for an FEU side which showed a lot of promise in the preseason.
But as promising as Veejay Pre and Janrey Pasaol are, this Tamaraws squad is still a young team with first-year coach Sean Chambers calling the shots and growing pains are still expected for this youthful crew.
Ateneo also understands that it is in a rebuilding year, and that as fancied as Jared Bahay’s arrival in Katipunan is, this might just be the toughest season in years.
They have the pieces: from veterans like Chris Koon and Sean Quitevis to new faces like Victor Balogun and Kristian Porter, but even coach Tab Baldwin knows that the Blue Eagles are coming to this campaign as underdogs.
And it’s gonna be all the more harder for Adamson which basically lost five key pieces from last season’s run.
Coach Nash Racela is just hopeful that his Soaring Falcons, now leaning on the likes of Cedrick Manzano and Mathew Montebon, will defy the odds and spring some surprise on what is shaping up to be a long season.
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