Maroons tagged as favorites vs Blue Eagles in UAAP opener

Games Saturday

(Smart Araneta Coliseum)

11 a.m. – Opening ceremony (Eraserheads Concert)

6:30 p.m. – UP vs Ateneo

MANILA, Philippines – For the first time in forever, it will be a reversal of roles in the “Battle of Katipunan”.

Host University of the Philippines comes in as a heavy favorite and rarely, against an underdog Ateneo side in the highly anticipated opener of the 87th UAAP Season Saturday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

Hostilities fire off at 6:30 p.m. with the Fighting Maroons eyeing to kick-start their redemption bid on a perfect note opposite the Blue Eagles in an unfamiliar transition phase after a streak of six finals appearances.

Before that though, fans will be in for a journey back in time with the iconic rock band “The Eraserheads” at 11 a.m. for the opening act as reigning champion La Salle begins title defense on Sunday after the matches of UE-UST and Adamson-FEU to wrap up the opening weekend.

Save for a historic championship in Season 84 to snap a 36-year title drought, UP has been on the receiving end of the bloodbath against its Katipunan neighbors, including finals losses in Seasons 81 and 85.

More defeats, even being before the season started with massive underdog odds, transpired in the years before as Ateneo built a UAAP dynasty from 2008-2012 and 2017-2019.

Not this time around as three-time finalist UP parades a formidable squad that won its second title via sweep in the FilOil EcoOil 17th ECJ Preseason Cup, where Ateneo on the other hand finished winless in seven outings.

UP lost Most Valuable Malick Diouf, CJ Cansino, Cyril Gonzales and Luis Pablo but retained its other core led by Lebron Lopez, JD Cagulangan and Gerry Abadiano, plus the addition of Gilas Pilipinas youth standout Jacob Bayla and reinforcement Dikachi Ududo.

And that should be enough manpower for the hungry Maroons in a bid to finally bring back the title to Diliman after two straight runner-up finishes, including a meltdown against La Salle last season.

“Every game dapat may gigil. Hindi kami pwede mawalan ng gigil. Our hunger on getting back and trying to achieve our ultimate goal is there. We need that hunger,” said coach Goldwin Monteverde.

Underdogs they may be with the departure of Kai Ballungay and Mason Amos on the heels of an early Final Four exit to see its six straight finals appearance come to an end against UP, there’s no counting out the Blue Eagles.

“It’s a very young team, but I really believe that they’re going to be competitive,” vowed Ateneo mentor Tab Baldwin, with high school star Jared Bahay at his disposal.

“We’re probably underdogs in terms of being champions but day in, day out, game in, game out, this is gonna be a team that battles for wins. They’re gonna win games, but we’ll see how many and how far they’ll go.