Only a handful of teams have ever won four UAAP titles in a row, the last one being the De La Salle Green Archers under Coach Franz Pumaren from 1998 – 2001. University of Santo Tomas had their 4-Peat title reign under Coach Aric Del Rosario and the crew led by Dennis Espino. University of the East won an incredible seven straight UAAP titles in the era of Robert Jaworski. “Malayo pa,” quipped Ateneo head coach Norman Black when pressed by a veteran sports reporter on his views on duplicating or even surpassing the all-time record held by the Red Warriors. “Unahin muna focus on (Title) Number 4,” he added. Black and indeed the entire assembly at the UAAP Season 74 press conference at the Gateway Suites had a good laugh with that classic bit.

In the back of their minds though, all of the other UAAP teams must really be wondering: when will it all end? Ateneo has won the last three UAAP championships, with a system put together by Black and his coaching staff that seems to evolve at an incredible pace every year. Just when it seems everyone has them all figured out, Black comes up with new and unpredictable wrinkles with each stage of each passing season. “Everyone slows down and plays deliberate ball in the playoffs and finals. Ateneo pushes the pace even more. They did it to FEU last year and to UE the year before. Sino alam mong team na gagawa ng ganun?” noted one long-time head coach from a rival league.

This season it seems it will still be the Ateneo who will rule the UAAP roost. They’ve gotten bigger and better, as hard as that might be to believe. Former junior division superstar Kiefer Ravena and Smart Gilas center Greg Slaughter will see action for Coach Norman Black. With the 7-foot Slaughter and the multi-talented Ravena joining a veteran championship crew led by Eman Monfort, Kirk Long, Justin Chua and Nico Salva, it seems few if any can stand in the way of the Blue Eagles. “They are a veteran team and they know what it takes to win championships, plus Norman is a very good coach,” observed Bobby Parks, the former PBA superstar import who is now with the National University varsity program.

NU however did prove that the Ateneo can be beaten, upending the Blue Eagles in the semifinals of the recent Fr Martin Cup summer tournament then edging Mapua Tech to win that title. It was Parks’s son Rey-Rey who led the way in both NU victories this summer. NU however is realistically at least a year away from being a serious contender in the UAAP basketball wars. As all scribes, coaches and players always say, the UAAP is a completely different animal from the offseason and summer tournaments.

Perhaps it was Adamson coach Leo Austria who said it best, also at the UAAP press conference, “The top four teams are not really sure to beat the bottom four teams, so anything can still happen.” Austria should know whereof he speaks. He faced the Ateneo in the PCCL Finals and pushed the Blue Eagles to the full three games. It took heroic efforts from Long and Salva in the winner-take-all Game 3 to allow the Ateneo to keep its PCCL crown. As strong as the Blue and White roster might be, the other teams have not exactly been napping. At least three other teams are sure to provide a good challenge to the Ateneo in its 4-Peat bid.

Adamson University, with its talented veteran roster, will not be the only tough challenge for the Blue Eagles. To be sure a core that includes Lester Alvarez, Jeric Canada, Alex Nuyles, Jan Colina, Eric Camson and Austin Manyara will always be tough. These guys have been together for a couple of years, and already know the system of Austria by heart. Their defense has improved mightily over the years, and they now run many variations of the high screen-roll and motion game, anchored on their whip-quick pointguards.

Far Eastern University lost two key big men but remain a tall, deep, highly athletic and very talented team. Last season’s most valuable player Ryan Roose Garcia will be the lead guard for returning Coach Bert Flores. Garcia will still have fellow hotshot Terrence Romeo as well as Smart Gilas mainstays Aldrech Ramos and JR Cawaling with him. Forward-center Reil Cervantes is not on the roster submitted and is reportedly pursuing a pro career already. While they expected to lose Cervantes, they did not expect that African import Pipo Nuondou would go down with a bad injury toward the end of summer. Those two accounted for about a third of the rebounds and inside points of the Tamaraws last season.

NU now knows challenging the Ateneo defense with strong dribble-penetration and the quick outlet pass can beat the Blue Eagles, as their Fr Martin Cup title romp showed. Whether or not this relatively young crew will come together tight enough within the season however remains to be seen. Parks is a first-class upgrade either way, but the rest of the Bulldogs cannot just rely on him.

De La Salle will of course be in this conversation, because when it comes to the Ateneo-La Salle rivalry, all the stats, numbers and previous games are thrown out the window. Every fight is a fresh fight and a new opportunity to keep fueling the fires of the longest-running rivalry in Philippine sports. La Salle has its own share of tall and talented rookies who might be able to match up well against the Ateneo. Veterans Simon Atkins, Maui Villanueva, Joshua Webb and Joseph Marata are still around. If the big rookies can draw in opposing defenses, this will help open up the perimeter for Marata, Webb, Atkins and the returning LA Revilla.

Everyone else will be on the outside looking in, although there might be a few surprises out there. UST has upgraded its frontline with 6-foot-6 African import Karim Abdul, homegrown star Kevin Ferrer and one-time NCAA junior division MVP Louie Vigil. UE has arguably the best pointguard in the UAAP in Roy Sumang, but he’ll have little to work with. UP has nowhere to go but up under new head coach Ricky Dandan. On any given day, these guys might pull upsets against the favored teams, but upsets are called that for a reason.

In the end however no one is kidding themselves: The road to the Season 74 title will run through Loyola Heights; that road is not only steep it is long and arduous. Chasing history may or may not be on the minds of the reigning champions, but their focus on winning all the marbles one more time is unquestioned. That after all is how they won their three previous titles. “We’re ready for the season, and we’ve been preparing since last season ended, we’ll be good to go,” said Black.

The UAAP has been served notice.