MANILA, Philippines—A peek at all the eight participating schools after months of gruelling training highlight the opening weekend of the 75th UAAP Men’s Basketball competition this July.
A tougher University of Santo Tomas, which got two key players back, faces a still-loaded Far Eastern University in the 4 p.m. main event, also on July 14.
National University, which boasts of a bolstered line up this season as it showcased in the pre-season tournaments, clashes with rebuilding University of the East in the 2 p.m. contest in July 14.
With a new season also comes a new venue for the UAAP—as the opening games will be held at the newly-constructed Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Ateneo and Adamson, two squads which always had taut encounters last season, meet early in season 75 as they square off at 4 p.m. on July 15.
University of the Philippines hopes to kick off its campaign on a winning note, 2 p.m., also on July 15—but it won’t be easy against La Salle, who surprised many teams in the pre-season with its solid showing.
The defending champion Blue Eagles, still as dominant as show cased in the pre-season, hope to extend its reign to five straight years—but the rest of the league is not far behind in terms of improvement.
The rest of the schedule for the first round of games remains tentative.