Ten games down for all eight UAAP teams, and the Season 88 Men’s Basketball Tournament has proven to be as unpredictable as ever.
After 40 games, National University sits atop the standings with an 8-2 record — not the finalists of the past two championship series, the University of the Philippines and De La Salle University.
The defending champion Fighting Maroons currently hold solo second at 7-3, while the Green Archers trail close behind in third with a 6-4 slate.
Tied at fourth are Ateneo de Manila University, Adamson University, and the University of Santo Tomas, all sporting 5-5 records. Far Eastern University follows in seventh with a 4-6 card.
Each team remains just one game behind the one above it, showing how tight the race has been.
Ten games in, and still, no team has clinched a Final Four berth.
For Ateneo head coach Tab Baldwin, the current standings reflect just how fierce the competition has become this season.
(C) UAAP Season 88 Media Team
“Well, I don’t think anybody should be sitting there feeling really confident. Maybe NU, you know, they’re in a good position right now. But the pack is tight and talented,” said Baldwin on Wednesday after the Blue Eagles’ game.
“And when you look at, you know, Adamson and ourselves sitting there, both of us having lost to FEU. And, you know, FEU is another team that you just can’t, you know, go to sleep on them,” added the veteran mentor.
“I don’t feel confident. But we’re in with a fight, you know. And I think that’s the first thing. You know, you gotta punch your ticket to get there by being in the fight. And so now, you know, it was a good win today because if we didn’t get that one, it would’ve been really, really tough.”
Ateneo has been a prime example of the league’s unpredictability — starting the season with four straight wins, only to drop its next five games.
The same can be said for UST, which ended the first round in second place at 5-2 before opening the second round with three consecutive losses to fall to 5-5.
“It’s still going to be really, really tough. But now we have, you know, a puncher’s chance and that’s all you can really ask for,” said Baldwin.
“The league this year is crazy, you know, and a lot of fun. And I think everybody’s going to be watching this next game very closely,” he went on.
“And every game day now, I think standings are going to swing around back and forth. So that’s why I think nobody can really be comfortable right now and you gotta show up every game and play it like it’s a playoff game now.”
