Head to head

Late last week, the NCAA decided to sign a TV contract with emerging sports channel giant AKTV, the sports division of Manny Pangilinan’s TV5 network. That means Studio 23, which used to cover exclusively the NCAA and UAAP competitions, will finally have to contend with someone else. And this time around, what was deemed as a pushover league, with it being a two-horse race between San Sebastian and San Beda, would like to do some pushing around of its more celebrated counterpart.

With the Memorandum of Agreement signing between next year’s NCAA host Colegio de San Juan de Letran and AKTV last March 15 at the school’s Media Center, all systems are on for a real cage war come Season 88. This means that NCAA games will be practically aired on the same day UAAP games are scheduled over at Studio 23. This would totally make the online forums for college basketball a battleground. This is where we can determine whether the thug-league that is being branded to the NCAA for having fights here and there would outdo the prissy league where all players are supposedly “papogi.”

What’s more interesting is the NCAA games would be played in the brand-spanking new arena at the SM Mall of Asia. It would have a better seating capacity than the San Juan Arena and with the NCAA having a weekend schedule like that of the UAAP, expect fireworks, ladies and gentlemen. The nation will be split into two: the UAAP side and the NCAA side. Who will come out on top in the ratings game? That’s something to look forward to.

No longer can the NCAA attribute its low attendance to the weekday schedule. This will really show if the gate attendance of the games are really affected by the weekday schedule that Studio 23 opted to use for the NCAA as opposed to having weekend playdates for the UAAP side of things.

Let the real cage wars begin.