By: Miguel Caramoan
There have been some changes to the format of the NCAA Season 101 Basketball Playoffs, causing confusion among fans and teams alike.
In the initial schedule released by the league — and even in the updated October 18 release — the entire playoffs were set to follow an all-crossover format.
Under that format, the play-ins were supposed to feature the fourth- and fifth-ranked teams in each pool face off in a play-in match.
The winner of the Group B play-in match would then face the top seed of Group A, while the winner of the other play-in match would face the top seed of Group B.
The other quarterfinals were set to have A2 take on B3 and B2 face A3, with the top two teams in each group enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage.
In the best-of-three semifinals, the winner of the A1 vs. play-in match was scheduled to face the winner of the B2 vs. A3 clash, and the same applied to the other bracket.
However, 28 days after that schedule was released — on November 14 — a sudden change was announced with the semifinals pairings adjusted.
The winner of A1 vs. Play-In B will now take on the victor of the A2 vs. B3 matchup, while in the other bracket, B1 and Play-In A will face the winner of the B2 vs. A3 clash.
This adjustment means that if Perpetual Help and Mapua or Arellano win their respective quarterfinal matches, a Group A team is guaranteed a spot in the best-of-three finals.
Meanwhile, San Beda would have to face either Saint Benilde or Letran in the Final Four, should they win their respective quarterfinal matches.
The sudden change has understandably caused confusion.
