Most Prestigious Collegiate Basketball Tournament EVER

It's so prestigious that they had to sneak in the fact that the Finals are going to be played on BACK TO BACK DAYS.

+++

The match-up of ADMU versus FEU in the Finals is seen by some to be a correcting of a wrong in this season's UAAP finals. In other words, this was the Finals we were building up to, until FEU decided to chuck Mark Barroca out the window because of veiled whispers and innuendo.

The key to FEU's play has been Barroca's replacement, RR Garcia, who has been on fire in this tournament. Should the Tams come out on top, it's very likely that he'll be named MVP. That will result in him claiming the MVP trophy in two tournaments that don't really matter: The Fil-Oil Flying V Preseason Invitational and the PCCL. That might be seen as an achievement in some quarters, but I don't. When it came to the tournament that mattered, the UAAP, Garcia played well only against the bottom four teams in the league. Then when he was handed the reins of the team in the FInal Four, he shot his team out of the games versus the UE Red Warriors.

If ever there was a time for the Garcia train to get derailed, it's now. I fully expect Ateneo captain, Jai Reyes, to shut Garcia down. People forget that Reyes shut down JV Casio in last season's UAAP Finals, and honey, RR Garcia ain't JV Casio.

Up front is where things get dicey. The chances of Rabeh Al-Hussaini suiting up for the Eagles are as slim as he is tall. I'm expecting Ateneo coach Norman Black to stick to his line-up of Nonoy Baclao at the 5 and Nico Salva at the 4, matched-up against Aldrech Ramos and Riel Cervantes respectively. While Ramos and Baclao can cancel each other out, the Salva-Cervantes situation worries me a lot. Cervantes has more bulk, and is a better rebounder. On the other hand, Salva's speed and athleticism will give the guy fits. I think Oping Sumalinog might be a better fit defensively, and if he can come up with another 14 points like he did versus San Beda, then all will be roses.

Perhaps the biggest ADMU advantage is the depth of our bench, which goes deep, especially combined with the fact that each game has brought forth a new top scorer. For FEU, really the only people you have to watch out for are Garcia, Cervantes, possibly Cawaling, and Sanga, who seems to love to torch us. Toss in the fact that the games will be back to back and I can't think that favors us (and cue the conspiracy theories that we're being set up to win this one).

PREDICTION: ADMU in two games. (And by the way, what happens when it goes to three games? If they're playing it on Friday then you know this be whack.)