Philippine Sports: Ateneo Blue Eagles Basketball Team Sure To Be UAAP Season 71 Champions

Chris Tiu vs JV Casio, Ateneo vs La Salle (photo courtesy of inboundpass' flickr account)

Nothing is really certain until the UAAP Season 71 is over, but then, of course there are the based-on-fact predictions, especially considering the standings of the men’s basketball tournament of UAAP Season 71.

As it stands, the NU Bulldogs, Adamson Soaring Falcons, UP Fighting Maroons and UST Growling Tigers have been eliminated from the tournament. Entering the semi-finals of UAAP Season 71 are the FEU Tamarraws, La Salle Green Archers, UE Red Warriors and Ateneo Blue Eagles.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the top-seed of the semi-finals, having finished the elimination round with a very impressive 13-1 record, and will go up against 4th seed UE Red Warriors, who will have to win twice against the Ateneo Blue Eagles if they want to reach the UAAP Season 71 Finals.

The La Salle Green Archers and the FEU Tamarraws have identical records of 10-4, and will have to play one more game to determine who will have the twice-to-beat advantage in the semi-finals. La Salle will be looking to Jvee Casio, Simon Atkins, Rico Maierhofer and PJ Walsham to lead the team to the finals over the FEU Tamarraws.

The Ateneo Blue Eagles will be relying on their stars like Rabeh Al-Hussaini, Nonoy Baclao Jr., Chris Tiu, Jai Reyes and Ryan Buenafe to bring home the UAAP Championship, which they last held during the 2002-2003 season of the UAAP. Last year’s champions De La Salle Green Archers are not as prominent as they were last season, but still look to be a contender to win back-to-back UAAP titles.

Since the Final Four format was adopted into the UAAP basketball tournament in the 1993-1994 season, the La Salle Green Archers have won it 5 times, the UST Growling Tigers have won it 5 times, the FEU Tamarraws have won it 4 times while the Ateneo Blue Eagles have won it once.

Many basketball fans are expecting the classic Ateneo-La Salle rivalry in the finals of UAAP Season 71. Of course, Ateneo has dominated La Salle twice this season, and will look to do so again should the two teams meet in the UAAP Season 71 Finals.

From the way it looks – Ateneo are going to be UAAP Season 71 Champions!