INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines--Here's one more incentive for a UAAP sweep.

Aside from clinching an outright Finals berth, a squad that wins all 14 assignments in the elimination round will only need to win twice in the championship round. Its opponent, however, must win three times.

"A sweep is a rare occasion," said UAAP secretary-treasurer Herc Callanta yesterday after approving the league amendment in yesterday's board meeting at host school University of the Philippines.

"We want to give due recognition to the team that sweeps the elimination round; it's really hard to do," said Anton Montinola, Far Eastern University's representative to the board.

The University of the East, mentored by Dindo Pumaren, pulled off the feat last season with a 14-0 sweep to clinch an outright Finals berth.

But La Salle ended up capturing the crown in its best-of-three title series against the Warriors, who were inactive for almost a month as three other teams disputed the remaining Finals slot.

Over a decade ago, teams completing a sweep earned the championship outright. But the league altered the rule after the University of Santo Tomas automatically captured the title after winning 14 games in 1993.

"It's okay," Pumaren said of the new rule. "We're still proud of our 14-0 sweep last year. We just have to keep on trying to win the championship."

The UAAP board also decided to suspend the use of the possession arrow in the last two minutes of the game and revert to the jump ball.

The 7st UAAP season will fire off on July 5 at the Araneta Coliseum.