MANILA, Philippines—Together, University of Santo Tomas and University of the Philippines combined for a 4-24 record in the UAAP basketball wars.
As hoop action takes a break, so will the hearts of Tigers and Maroons fans—from all ache Season 72 wrought on them.
The cheerdance competition takes centerstage Sunday and even if Far Eastern U will take the Araneta Coliseum as the defending champion, UST and UP are still considered as among the heavy favorites in the only other UAAP event outside of Ateneo-La Salle wars that produces sellouts consistently.
The Tamaraws hope to pull off another surprise, with Ateneo also trying to summon the form that netted them runner-up honors last year in a bid to upstage UST and UP, which have combined to win 13 cheerdance titles.
The UST Salinggawi Dance Troupe, which owns a record eight titles, and the UP Pep Squad hope to give their loyal fans something to smile about after a season littered with heartaches. The Tigers wrapped up their UAAP hoop season with a 4-10 slate and were the only ones who finished above the Maroons, ended up without a win in 14 games for the second time in the last four seasons.
Competition starts at 2 p.m. with all eight member-schools fielding a cheerdance team.
The Salinggawi Dance Troupe, which went on a five straight title run from 2002 to 2006, finished out of the podium last season and are hoping to make up for that.
The Pep Squad fell to third.
UP reigned in back-to-back seasons before FEU snatched the title only for the second time.
The cheerdance, though, is a mere side event despite drawing a large number of spectators.
Unlike regular sports events, cheerdance winners don’t earn points that can prop up a school’s bid for the overall league championship.
The cheerdance packed a record crowd of 23,443 at the Big Dome in 2008.
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