Ateneo, San Beda top picks in PCCL

From ABS-CBN News.com

The Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) Blue Eagles and the San Beda College (SBC) Red Lions are among the top teams favored to win in the Philippine Collegiate Champions League (PCCL) “Sweet 16,” which begins on Thursday.

“The experts predict that Ateneo will be there at the finals, most probably with San Beda, FEU (Far Eastern University) or probably even [De] La Salle,” said PCCL Chairman Rey Gamboa.

Ateneo and San Beda are the reigning champions in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), respectively.

They will mix it up in the Sweet 16 with other UAAP and NCAA teams like FEU, Jose Rizal University (JRU), Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), De La Salle University (DLSU), Colegio de San Juan de Letran (CSJL), San Sebastian College-Recoletos (SSC-R), Adamson University (AdU), and University of the East (UE).

Making the Sweet 16 more interesting is the entry of 5 non-UAAP-NCAA teams.

University of Cebu, the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CeSAFI) basketball champions, will be joined by runner-up University of the Visayas, University of San Carlos, University of Iloilo and Lyceum of the Philippines.

The Sweet 16 begins on Thursday in Cebu. The games will be aired by ABS-CBN Sport through Studio 23 starting 2 p.m.

“Each game in the Sweet 16 is a knockout game. You lose, you go home. You win, you advance to the next level,” said Gamboa.

The Sweet 16 teams will battle for a slot in the Final 4. If they qualify and survive in the semifinals, they will head to the championship round which will be held in December.