Letran, San Beda lead tight NCAA Final Four race

Might as well call it Final Six.

The 91st NCAA basketball tournament heads into the last two playdates of the elimination round next week with six teams still in contention in what has turned out to be a complicated Final Four race.

The only sure thing so far is that either San Beda or Letran will get one of the Final Four spots as they already reached the 12-win mark, assuring them of at least a playoff for a postseason spot. San Beda and Letran square off on Tuesday.

The Knights will still have another crack at a Final Four spot even if they lose to the Red Lions with a showdown against Perpetual Help slated next Friday.

The Perpetual Help-Letran game was supposed to be played Saturday along with the Jose Rizal U-San Sebastian and the Mapua-Emilio Aguinaldo College games, but the league decided to postpone the games due to inclement weather.

While either Letran or San Beda will also clinch a twice-to-beat edge, there’s also a possibility of a five-team tie for second spot at 12-6. Perpetual Help, Mapua, JRU and Arellano could finish with 12-6 records. A loss by either one of the teams could dash hopes of making the next round.

Mapua (10-6) has also-ran Emilio Aguinaldo College and St. Benilde for its last two assignments, but the Cardinals will need to play the two teams in the space of three days.

The Bombers (11-6) end their campaign against another eliminated squad, San Sebastian, on Thursday, while the Chiefs are also favored to hurdle cellar dweller EAC in their last game.

The Altas had the Final Four within reach two weeks ago, but back-to-back losses put them in a do-or-die scenario against the Knights.

“Teams just can’t afford to make mistakes at this point of the season,” said JRU coach Vergel Meneses.