WELL-RESTED San Miguel Beer guns for the top ranking in the Oppo-PBA Commissioner’s Cup playoffs when it slugs it out with defending champion Tropang TNT at the close of the elimination round today at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A win for the Beermen in the 7 p.m. game will land them the No. 1 seeding—ahead of erstwhile leader Meralco—in the quarterfinals that will start on Sunday while sealing the twice-to-beat bonus against No. 8 team Star.
A San Miguel defeat, however, would necessitate a knockout match where five teams could come into the picture.
Alaska battles NLEX in the 4:15 p.m. contest needing a win—coupled with a San Miguel loss—to forge a five-way logjam for second at 7-4 with the Beermen, the Tropang Texters, Rain or Shine and Barangay Ginebra.
In that case, the tie-breaking quotient system will be applied with the two teams with the highest quotients disputing No. 2.
An Alaska loss will consign it to No. 8, a rung lower than NLEX despite the two teams winding up with 6-5 cards.
Should the Road Warriors and the Texters win, Meralco will be No. 1 and the playoff for No. 2 will have the league applying the same formula in breaking a three-way tie among the Elasto Painters, the Beermen and the Gin Kings.
A win by the Road Warriors and the Beermen would then create a triple tie for No. 5 among Alaska, NLEX and TNT. The teams will then be ranked using the quotient system with the bottom team getting the No. 7 seed and Nos. 5 and 6 figuring in a best-of-three series.
The top two teams will clash with Nos. 8 and 7, respectively, needing to beat their foes just once to make the Final Four. Those who end up third to sixth go into race-to-two series.
San Miguel, no doubt, is the consensus team to beat in the tournament. And with a lineup that has gotten healthier, the Beermen are listed as the slight picks against the silently effective David Simon and the Texters.