March Madness

It’s “March Madness” time, but did you know that there are two “madness” events going on in basketball? The first of course the NCAA’s season-ending basketball playoffs in the United States. The second is the country’s very own school-year ending tournament SM NBTC National Finals for the high school level that starts today. Their hashtag is #MadnessinMOA. Both madness events serve as the finale of the basketball season for both as they determine a national champion.

The U.S. version of March madness is obviously the original version and will not be replaced by the Philippine edition. On the side, how I wish we Pinoys come up with a more original, creative and unique nickname for our event, but that’s another story. Gathering together in a knock-out playoffs format are the top 64 college teams in the U.S. These are the champions of the different conferences or leagues that are spread all over the country. Teams are seeded according to their national ranking, with the champions of the biggest leagues almost always getting the top seed slots in the four major regions. There are around 35 conferences/leagues, including a group of independent schools that aren’t tied to any league. According to the NCAA Men’s Basketball RPI rankings, Virginia, which plays out of the Atlantic Coast Conference, is the top-ranked team in the U.S. But not anymore. They lost in a big upset to little-known University of Maryland-Baltimore County yesterday in the biggest upset in NCAA history. The rest of the top ten are Villanova (Big East), Xavier (Big East), North Carolina (Atlantic Coast Conference-ACC), Kansas (Big 12), Cincinnati (AAC), Duke (ACC), Tenneessee (Southeastern Conference-SEC), Purdue (Big Ten) and Kentucky (SEC). So far, the other teams have won their first round game. The other more familiar teams to Pinoy fans are Duke, North Carolina (Michael Jordan’s alma mater), Kentucky and UCLA. The tournament will be played every weekend with the annual Final Four taking place on Easter weekend.

It’s worth noting that the biggest stars of the NBA played college ball in the U.S. NCAA. While there are exceptions like high school-to-pro stars Lebron James and Kobe Bryant, going through college is still the most logical and practical way to go for aspiring pros. The impressive thing about the NCAA’s March Madness is how one organization serves as a mother to all other leagues. At the end of each season, all leagues play in the NCAA’s finale to determine a national champion. And this is true for other sports. Why bring this up? It’s something that we haven’t been able to maximize in the Philippines partly due to the absence of a mother organization that can unite all schools under one roof and the lopsided geographical set-up of our universities. I wonder if the CHED and PSC can do something about this? The Philippine Collegiate Champions’ League is doing its job to copy the NCAA concept, but the problem is that it’s a private firm without admin clout over schools. On the games side, a team from Manila wins the championship every year. I honestly don’t see a provincial team winning the Champions’ League anytime now or in the near future unless a sudden whirlwind of money comes our way to the probinsya.

Having said that, the NBTC’s version of March madness for the high school division kicks off today, following the same format as the US NCAA. The country’s top 32 teams coming from the different high schools come together in a single knock-out playoffs format. The University of the Visayas and Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu are Cebu’s bets as the top two teams from Bisdak land. While a Manila team will most likely win the NBTC national title annually, SHS-Ateneo scored a huge stunner when they defeated San Beda College to win the national title in 2015. The leaders of that team included current Manila-based players Janjan Jaboneta (UP), Josh Sinclair (NU), and Zachy Huang (UST). Going back to reality, the chances of a probinsya team winning the national title these days are really tough. Here’s wishing all the best to UV and SHS-Ateneo.

The NBTC’s set-up is similar to that of the US NCAA. NBTC qualifier tournaments are held nationwide with the different city and regional champions qualifying for the national finals. All teams arrive today and plunge into action tomorrow. In first round games, UV plays either Tay Tung High School of Bacolod or University of Luzon Dagupan; SHS-Ateneo de Cebu plays New Ormoc High School or University of Assumption-Pampanga. Both teams move to the next round with every win. Waiting in important second round games are the visiting foreign teams. Every game will be a tough one and it’ll get tougher if they make it past the second round. Ateneo de Manila, La Salle Greenhills Chiang Kai Shek and UV are the top four seeds of the tournament. The next four seeds are NU, Mapua, San Beda and SHS-Ateneo de CeLike the U.S., version, this is a good way to gather the country’s best teams under one roof and season finale. The SBP recognizes the tournament as the national juniors championship as it does the same for the BEST Center’s SBP Passerelle tournament for the Under 12 and 15 age groups and the PCCL for college. A united front is always better than a shattered one. This is what March Madness is all about.