Who makes it and who doesn't?
The elimination round of the men's basketball tournament in UAAP Season 86 is drawing to a close with one final weekend of games with so much at stake.
The UP Fighting Maroons, NU Bulldogs, and De La Salle Green Archers all have hopes of securing the twice-to-beat advantage, while the Ateneo Blue Eagles and Adamson Soaring Falcons are vying for the last Final Four slot.
Ateneo versus La Salle on Saturday and Adamson versus UE Red Warriors and NU versus UP on Sunday are the three matchups that fans should keep a close eye on this weekend.
There will be plenty of scenarios to look out for, so here's an overview of what could happen at the end of the elimination round.
Last Final Four spot
Ateneo win
A win for the Blue Eagles against the Green Archers will see them directly seal the last Final Four spot, regardless if Adamson wins its match versus UE.
Ateneo loss, Adamson win
A loss for Ateneo, on the other hand, will mean that it will have to wait for the results of the Adamson-UE game. Should the Soaring Falcons win, Ateneo and Adamson will have a playoff match for the last Final Four slot.
Ateneo loss, Adamson loss
Ateneo gets the remaining Final Four ticket.
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Battle for twice-to-beat advantage
Here’s where it gets tricky for UP, NU, and La Salle.
La Salle win, UP win, NU loss
This is probably the easiest scenario to understand.
If La Salle beats Ateneo, while UP maintains its mastery over NU, the top three spots in the Final Four will be sealed.
UP will remain atop the standings while La Salle will climb to second and snatch the other twice-to-beat advantage.
La Salle win, UP loss, NU win
A win for the Green Archers means that they will have an 11-3 record, but they will have to wait for the result of the UP-NU match.
Should the Bulldogs defeat the Fighting Maroons, this will create a triple tie in the standings and quotients will come into factor. This is where La Salle has the advantage, having beaten UP and NU by larger margins in the second round.
With this, La Salle will seal the top spot while UP will be second in the standings given its higher margin of victory over NU.
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La Salle loss, UP win, NU loss
A loss versus Ateneo is not the end of the road yet for the Green Archers, but they will be hoping that the Fighting Maroons take down the Bulldogs.
Should that be the case, NU and La Salle will face off in a playoff match to determine the second seed.
La Salle loss, UP loss, NU win
An Ateneo win and an NU win will give them the twice-to-beat incentives and drop La Salle to third place in the standings.
With all of the scenarios, it’s safe to say that this will be a wild and action-packed weekend in the UAAP.
Catch all the games live on One Sports, the UAAP Varsity Channel, and the Pilipinas Live app.
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