UP, Ateneo favored to win title in upcoming UAAP season

MANILA, Philippines – UAAP Season 84 finalists UP Fighting Maroons and the Ateneo Blue Eagles emerged as early favorites among member schools as the opening day for the UAAP Season 85 men's basketball tournament looms this weekend.

In the league's media conference on Wednesday, coaches named the two schools from Katipunan as the teams to beat.

UP head coach Goldwin Monteverde and Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin pegged each other's teams as the squad they believe will set the standard for the season.

Monteverde, whose wards ended a decades-long UAAP championship drought, tempered his expectations for back-to-back titles.

"I guess naman, winning a championship last season doesn't mean na ngayong season, sigurado na 'yun. I think every team, every coach would really prepare and face 'yung magiging challenge for this Season 85," Monteverde said during the press conference at the Mall of Asia Arena.

"So like sa amin naman, when we play, we just make sure that we'll be ready and prepared, and just do our best in everything na mangyayari." he added.

Baldwin, meanwhile, fell short of promising a redemption tour for his Blue Eagles, who were unable to clinch their fourth straight crown.

"We don't really plan in those terms," Baldwin said.

"We seek to take games one at a time and try to build a season," he added.

FEU's Olsen Racela and NU's Jeff Napa also named UP and Ateneo as the heavy hitters in the tiff. Racela's brother Nash, who is head coach for the Adamson Soaring Falcons, added podium finisher La Salle and preseason champs NU Bulldogs as the squads to watch out for as well.

Derrick Pumaren, who oversees the DLSU Green Archers for the second straight season, said that the teams to beat were "all the above".

UE assistant coach Don Allado echoed Pumaren's sentiments, while UST deputy Rodney Santos exuded confidence and pointed to his Growling Tigers as favorites.

UAAP action begins this weekend with the men's and women's basketball tournament kicking off with double headers at the Mall of Asia Arena.

On opening day on Saturday, Adamson and UST women's squads open the hostilities at 8 a.m. while UP and DLSU face off at 10 a.m.

In the afternoon, their male counterparts kick off the men's tourney, with the Maroons and the Archers rekindling their rivalry in a rematch of last season's Final Four matchup.