Cardinals, Blazers banner NCAA opener

Defending champion Mapua University kicks off its title defense against Lyceum of the Philippines University when Season 101 of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men’s basketball tournament starts on 1 October at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Cardinals, host for Season 101, will face the Pirates at 2:30 p.m. in the first game of the season after the 11 a.m. opening ceremonies at the Big Dome.

Mapua hopes to win one more title for its veteran guard Clint Escamis in his final season in the NCAA.

The Cardinals won’t have Freshman of the Year Chris Hubilla after moving to Jose Rizal University (JRU) in the offseason.

Last year’s runner-up College of Saint Benilde will be facing San Beda University at 5 p.m.

The Blazers will be leaning on reigning Most Valuable Player Allen Liwag, who saw action for Strong Group Athletics in the Dubai International Basketball Championship last January and the 44th William Jones Cup last July in Taiwan.

Instead of the usual double round robin format, the NCAA will introduce a group format where the 10 teams will be divided into two groups.

Mapua and Lyceum are in Group A with San Sebastian College, Arellano University and University of Perpetual Help System Dalta.

Meanwhile, Saint Benilde and San Beda are joined by Letran College, Emilio Aguinaldo College and JRU in Group B.

Teams will face each other twice in their own group and battle squads in the other group once.

The top three schools of each group will enter the quarterfinals, while the bottom two squads will enter a play-in format to advance to the postseason.

Only the top two teams of each group will enter the quarterfinals with a twice-to-beat advantage.

The semifinals and finals will be decided in a best-of-three series.