What was once poised to be a renaissance for Ateneo de Manila University has slowly turned into a reckoning.
After opening the UAAP Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament with a perfect 4-0 start, the Blue Eagles have since stumbled. They lost seven of their last eight games to fall to a precarious 5-7 record with two elimination round games remaining — a position that puts Ateneo squarely on the brink of elimination.
The stakes, however, are higher than simply returning to the Final Four after missing out on last year’s postseason.
Should the Blue Eagles fail to make the Final Four again, it would mark only the second time in the Final Four era that Ateneo has missed the postseason in consecutive seasons — a throwback to the long dry spell from 1993 to 1998, before the program rebuilt itself into one of the UAAP’s powerhouse programs.
There are three playdates still left and five teams fighting for the last two Final Four spots. Despite the slump, head coach Tab Baldwin remains confident, believing the Blue Eagles still have a “very good shot” at clawing their way back into the postseason.
“As far as playoff aspirations, it’s still alive. We just have to win games. There are two left, and I think it’s pretty important to win both of them,” Baldwin told reporters after Ateneo’s second-round loss to the University of the Philippines last Wednesday, November 19, at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
“While the playoff scenario isn’t entirely in our hands, the likelihood is that we will still have a good shot — a very, very good shot if we can win the next two games. We have everything to play for. As I said, the mood in the locker room was disappointed that we lost, but still, the fighting spirit is there because there’s a lot to fight for.”
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
Even after the loss to the Fighting Maroons that placed Ateneo in a do-or-die situation, Baldwin was encouraged by the team’s ability to keep pace with the defending champions, particularly with the resurgence of skipper Jared Bahay.
Nagged by a shoulder injury since Ateneo’s triple-overtime loss to the University of Santo Tomas in the first round, Bahay sat out the following game. He struggled in his next four outings, averaging just 3.0 points on 8.7-percent shooting, along with 2.5 assists, 1.75 turnovers, 1.5 rebounds, and 0.5 steals per game.
“He’s crucial all the time, but a lot of guys are. So, he doesn’t have to be a superstar, but when he has a really good game, you acknowledge it and then you move on,” Baldwin said of Bahay, who contributed 21 points on 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range, with three assists, two rebounds, and one steal.
“You don’t say, ‘Oh, the team is yours now.’ That’s not the way it works. He had a good game today. Offensively and defensively, he was pretty tough, too.”
Bahay’s resurgence, however, does not mean the Blue Eagles’ fate rests solely on his shoulders. Baldwin emphasized the importance of each player fulfilling their role to revive their fading Final Four hopes.
This mindset will be critical as Ateneo begins its path back to the Final Four with a stern test against Adamson University (6-7), followed by a showdown with fellow postseason aspirant and archrival De La Salle University (6-6) to close the eliminations.
These two games will be crucial for Ateneo to surpass the Far Eastern University Tamaraws (5-7) in the standings and inch closer to third-ranked University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers (7-5).
“But next game, it isn’t all on Jared’s shoulders. The team just has to do its job. Everybody has jobs to do. Even guys who don’t play a minute have jobs to do in practice, and it’s very important that all of them do those jobs. So, that’s what we’ll talk about,” he said.
“That’s what’s got to happen.”
#WATCH: Despite a rocky road to the #UAAPSeason88 Final Four, Coach Tab Baldwin remains confident—he still believes in Ateneo’s shot at the postseason! 🦅🏀#ReadMore 👉 https://t.co/o77WgHUk2q
📹 @ErnestTuazon /Tiebreaker Times pic.twitter.com/YHFnKMAiH8
— Tiebreaker Times (@tiebreakertimes) November 19, 2025
