The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced a new basketball format for the upcoming Season 101, where the ten member schools are divided into Group A and Group B.
The new scheme is a departure from the old Final Four format, where, instead of only the top four teams through two elimination rounds advancing to the playoffs, there will be a five-phase, two-group competition that now features a play-in and a quarterfinal round.
The reason for this shift, according to the NCAA Management Committee, is a “desire to bring more exciting games” as the Grand Old League ushers in the new century.
WHAT’S THE NEW FORMAT?
The new format will go through five phases:
- Group play (with crossover round or intergroup)
- Play-ins
- Quarterfinals
- Semifinals
- Finals
As explained by Emilio Aguinaldo College’s ManComm representative Dr. Lorenzo Lorenzo, the ten member schools will now be divided into two groups, A and B. Group A is composed of the Arellano Chiefs, LPU Pirates, San Sebastian Golden Stags, Perpetual Altas, and Mapua Cardinals, while Group B clusters the EAC Generals, San Beda Red Lions, Letran Knights, Benilde Blazers, and the JRU Heavy Bombers.
The teams will play each of their groupmates twice, before the ‘crossover round’ (or what the ManComm also calls the intergroup) where they also play each team from the other group once.
After all the games in group play including the crossover round, the bottom two teams in the respective groups will face each other in the play-ins. The winners get to advance to the next round and the losers bow out of contention.
In effect, at the conclusion of group play and the play-in round, only two teams are formally excluded from the playoffs, while the eight teams advance to the quarters.
The quarterfinal round– the first-ever in NCAA history – will feature a crossover matchup between the two groups, where the No. 1 squad in Group A clashes with the No. 4 team in Group B, while Group B’s top seed faces Group A’s fourth-ranked team, and so on.
The top two seeded teams in Group A and B are incentivized with a twice-to-beat advantage.
Winners will advance to the best-of-three semifinal round, with the finals still following a best-of-three format.
“Basically there are five phases compared to the previous setup na may eliminations, semis and finals,” said Dr. Lorenzo.
MORE EXCITING GAMES
Asked what the rationale was behind making the shift, the ManComm said it’s all about making the games more exciting.
“The new format was brought about by our desire to bring more exciting games. For the first 75 years, the champion was determined by round champions, then the next 25 nag-Final Four tayo. So now as we usher in the new century, we wanted to have a fresh format for our student athletes,” said Jose Rizal University’s ManComm representative Paul Supan.
“That’s the rationale behind adopting the new format. We’ll see from there… we hope we make it as exciting as perceived so it stays for a long time,” Supan added.
The new format, as well as the groupings, will also be followed in the NCAA Juniors Basketball competition, and will continue until Season 103.
“This new format will continue up to, as of now, Season 103, and after that we will decide if we are to continue,” said Mapúa University’s Melchor Divina.
