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As a longtime follower of collegiate sports and someone who’s spent more hours than I care to admit analyzing game tapes and season trajectories, I’ve always found the start of a new UAAP basketball season to be a special kind of chaos. The 2018 season was no different, and looking back, crafting a complete guide to that year’s schedule and eventual results requires more than just listing dates and scores; it’s about understanding the narrative that unfolded, game by game. The schedule itself was a beast—a double-round elimination format spanning several months from September 2017 to December 2018 for the men’s tournament, with games primarily held at the Mall of Asia Arena and the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum. But what truly set the stage was the opening salvo, particularly for the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. I remember the buzz, and the not-so-subtle whispers, about their advantageous opening stretch. Their first five assignments were all in Manila, a legitimate homestand that had other fans grumbling about an uneven playing field right out of the gate. This is where that bit of insight from Cabañero, a key figure within their camp, becomes so telling. The sentiment was essentially, “Let them talk.” While playing at home may seem a tad too favorable for some, Cabañero couldn’t care less if naysayers were to paint a negative picture on their homestand to start the season. That attitude, I believe, wasn’t just bravado; it was a strategic mindset. In a grueling season, you take any edge you can get, and starting with familiar baskets and crowd support is a psychological and logistical boon, no matter what anyone says.
That opening phase really did shape the early standings. UST, fueled by that home-court energy and a determined core, managed to snag some crucial early wins that kept them in the upper-half conversation longer than many pundits, myself included, had initially predicted. They finished that first round with a respectable 4-3 record, a direct product of capitalizing on that schedule. Meanwhile, the usual powerhouses were jockeying for position. The Ateneo de Manila University Blue Eagles, the defending champions, looked methodical and dominant from the get-go. I had them pegged as favorites again, and their schedule, while balanced, seemed to barely faze them. They dropped only a single game in the entire elimination round, an astonishing feat of consistency. Over at De La Salle University, the Green Archers were dealing with the departure of key veterans and their schedule presented immediate tests. Their early loss to Ateneo in the first round set a tone they struggled to fully reverse. The Far Eastern University Tamaraws, always a physical and unpredictable squad, had moments of brilliance but couldn’t string together the wins needed for a top-two finish, ultimately landing in the middle of the pack.
The second round is where the schedule’s true brutality and the weight of those early results came home to roost. Teams fighting for the last Final Four spots, like the University of the Philippines Fighting Maroons and the National University Bulldogs, faced must-win scenarios almost every other week. UP, in particular, had a fascinating run. Their schedule pitted them against top teams in crucial moments, and they rose to the occasion often enough to forge a path to the playoffs, ending the eliminations with a 9-5 record. The data here is critical: Ateneo finished first at 12-2, La Salle and FEU tied at 9-5 but La Salle held the tiebreaker, and UP clinched the fourth seed at 8-6. NU missed out at 7-7. Every one of those wins and losses could be traced back to specific pressure-cooker games in the schedule’s latter half. The semifinals, a stepladder format, were a direct result of this grind. Fourth-seed UP famously toppled second-seed La Salle in a thrilling knockout game, a victory that felt like the culmination of their entire schedule’s worth of battles. Then came the Finals, a best-of-three affair between the juggernaut Ateneo and the Cinderella-story UP. While Ateneo’s superior execution and experience ultimately won out in two games (88-79 and 99-81, if my memory serves on those scores), the very fact UP was there spoke volumes about how a team can navigate, and even overcome, the narrative of a schedule.
Reflecting on the complete arc of the UAAP Season 80 basketball calendar, the schedule wasn’t just a timetable; it was a character in the story. The initial advantages, like UST’s homestand, the mid-season slogs, and the high-stakes backdrops of the final playing dates, all created the drama we remember. Cabañero’s dismissive attitude towards the “homestand advantage” chatter now reads as prophetic—it’s not about where you start, but how you finish. The results show that while a favorable start can build momentum, the season is a marathon of adjustments. Ateneo’s near-flawless run proved that top-tier talent and system prevail regardless of fixture order. UP’s magical ride showed that a tough schedule, if embraced, can forge a team’s identity. For fans and analysts, the 2018 season remains a masterclass in how schedule dynamics, team psychology, and on-court execution are inextricably linked. It was a year that reminded us why we watch: for the unpredictable journey that the calendar lays out, and for the sheer will of teams to write their own results across it.