As the UAAP unveils its 71st season, I can’t help but notice how much the NCAA pales in comparison to the UAAP nowadays. Long gone are the days when NCAA was the premiere collegiate league in the land. Since the move of ADMU and DLSU to the UAAP, there has been an inverse trend of the ascent of the UAAP and the descent of the NCAA.

From the intense NCAA rivalries of ADMU-SBC and DLSU-CSJL in the NCAA, we now have new permutations of ADMU-DLSU in the UAAP and CSJL-SBC in the NCAA. And we all know which rivalry lords it over the rest of the nation. Over time, the NCAA has lost its luster and prestige in the Philippine basket scene.

Which brings us to an oft discussed in basketball circles. Self-proclaimed basketball pundits, specially the hardcore Red Lions type, are long clamoring for a move of NCAA pioneer SBC to the more popular UAAP.

To put the most obvious reason why SBC is still not in the UAAP out of the way, the biggest hindrance to this is the C in SBC, when the U in UAAP is the most basic qualification to apply.

Enough of this alphabet lesson. In the natural progression of an educational institution, San Beda becoming a university is an eventuality.

When San Beda finally attains university status, I expect a UAAP application to follow soon. The reasons for doing this are far too obvious. There will be an immediate increase of media coverage for the school (which could translate to increased enrolment), the team/players and to some extent, the community. But let’s not get into the financial economic, practical twaddle too much. I might bore myself to sleep. Why did I even start this line of discussion?

Let’s just look at this from the perspective of your typical hardcore hoops fan.

First of all, why San Beda? From a basketball standpoint, in recent years, the Red Lions have been the only NCAA team to have relative success against the UAAP teams. Aside from absorbing only 3 losses in the NCAA tourney the past two years (twice to PCU in S82 and once to CSJL in S83), the Red Lions have also been the most competitive NCAA team in the offseason tourneys.

Not to put a knock on the quality of competition in the NCAA nowadays, but SBC has dominated the NCAA for the past two years but hasn’t won any major offseason tourney in the same period of time. Being in a more competitive league should help the basketball program to take its level of play a notch higher.

With that being said, when San Beda does move to the UAAP, expect some sort of adjustment period to the UAAP style of play. Safe to say, they will not be dominating the UAAP in the immediate future after their inclusion to the UAAP roster. Nevertheless, if the talent level of their lineup remains the same, the Red Lions will compete with the rest of the UAAP right off the bat.

If SBC moved to the UAAP, another battle will ensue off the court. No, not the legal kind. The recruitment wars. For the longest time, San Beda has been producing top high school recruits year in and year out. Save for the last 3-4 years, these Red Cubs end up playing in the UAAP Seniors, with a good number of them playing prominently in UAAP championship runs.
(I can’t stop thinking what lineups SBC could have fielded if all these kids stayed in Mendiola for college. But that would be a completely different article. Back to our regular programming.)

At present, SBC is probably the Manila collegiate team with the most homegrown talents. This is a testament to the recently improved recruitment program of the school. When you start winning, it is way easier to recruit. The number of top Red Cubs moving to other schools has been dwindling. Of the few who have moved, guess where? To UAAP schools. If SBC transfers to the UAAP, that number should decrease further.

Moving to the UAAP will make for interesting matchups. A game against the UE Red Warriors would be a game that would literally be painting any venue red. Maybe their first ever UAAP game will be for exclusive rights to the color? Against the DLSU Green Archers, the Battle for the Real Animo will commence from the stands. Again, maybe they can battle it out for the bragging rights on who used the word in their cheers first. And finally, how can anyone not mention a game against the ADMU Blue Eagles? Aside from reliving an old rivalry, two questions will be answered: where would PLDT top honcho and both schools’ major benefactor Manny Pangilinan sit and what color will he be wearing?

But if you ask me personally what I would enjoy the most if SBC does move to the UAAP? Weekend games. One of the biggest worries for the typical NCAA fan is how to allocate their leaves/absences (or convincingly feign sickness at work/school) so they can watch the big games. Also, weekend games give increased convenience for the fans. No work, less traffic. Less traffic, more people in the stands. More people in the stands, more friends to see. More friends to see, more beer to drink after. You steer clear of heavy traffic all over the metro and will have an easier time to find someone to share your weekend beer buzz after a hoops fix. Not a bad deal.