UNIVERSITY of the Philippines is on to its fourth straight championship series after advancing to the UAAP Season 87 men’s basketball tournament finals.
Although the streak has delivered a mixed bag of results for the Fighting Maroons, one title and two runner-up finishes thus far to be exact, it’s still a feat that not many have accomplished.
Since the introduction of the Final Four format, only three teams, including State U, have actually gone to four finals in a row.
La Salle leads the way
Ironically, La Salle - the maroon-and-green's finals opponent in the last two championship series - was the first to do so
From 1994 to 2002, the Green Archers reached the finals in nine straight seasons, with the fourth being back in 1997.
Losing the previous three seasons to University of Santo Tomas, the green-and-white, then coached by Jong Uichico, relied on back-to-back MVP Mark Telan and Rookie of the Year Renren Ritualo to make it once again to the title series, this time at the expense of the Growling Tigers.
Only, it was Far Eastern University's turn to deny La Salle of the crown with Danny Gavieres guiding the Tamaraws, then bannered by Ronald Magtulis and Kiko Adriano, to the Season 60 crown.
After all the heartbreak, the Green Archers finally broke through in the most resounding manner possible, claiming a four-peat for themselves.
Blue Eagle, the king
The other team to do so was Ateneo, through its couple of dynastic squads.
Under coach Norman Black, the Blue Eagles completed a five-peat from 2008 to 2012.
The fourth of those was in 2011, when Kiefer Ravena, Greg Slaughter, and Nico Salva steered the Katipunan side to a 13-1 elimination record, beat UST in the Final Four, and swept the Tamaraws side of RR Garcia and Aldrech Ramos en route to the Season 74 crown.
The other came in the Tab Baldwin era when Ateneo made it to the finals from 2016 to 2022.
Their fourth Finals appearance was in 2019 when the Blue Eagles, this time relying on the might of Thirdy Ravena, Matt and Mike Nieto, Isaac Go, and Ange Kouame, completed a run of perfection for an outright berth before sweeping the Growling Tigers of Soulemane Chabi Yo, Rhenz Abando, CJ Cansino, and Rookie of the year Mark Nonoy to win the Season 82 throne.
After losing in back-to-back finals, can coach Goldwin Monteverde, with his crew of JD Cagulangan, Francis Lopez, and Quentin Millora-Brown, break the duck and bring the championship back to Diliman once more?
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