List of NCAA Final Four results (Philippines)

This is a list of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's basketball final four results. The list includes NCAA men's basketball games played under the final four format since the 1997 season, the year the format was instituted.^[1][2]

Final team standings for men's basketball since 1999

The results include one-game playoffs where teams tied after the elimination round for a final four berth played an extra game to determine which team clinches the higher seed in the playoffs.

Since the NCAA is not a home-and-away league, the position of season host rotates among member universities, and the host pays for the arena rental and other facilities. Since the 2004 season, most final four games are held at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Philippines largest indoor arena, unless the Big Dome is unavailable.

The league uses a modified Shaughnessy playoff system: the top four teams enter the playoffs, while the top two seeds are given the "twice-to-beat" advantage, that is, in order for them to be eliminated in the semifinals, they have to be beaten twice by the No. 3 and No. 4 seed, with them needing to win only once in order to advance. The winners in the semifinals dispute the championship trophy in a best-of-three series.

In its institution in 1997, if a team wins all of its elimination round games (the "sweep"), the sweeping team advances outright to the finals possessing the twice-to-beat advantage, while the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds figure in a playoff to face the No. 2 seed. In 1997, the San Sebastian Stags swept the elimination round, earning a finals berth and a twice-to-beat advantage.^[2] After the San Sebastian juniors team swept the elimination round in 2008, the twice-to-beat incentive was dropped and the finals was turned into a best-of-three series. When the San Beda seniors team swept the elimination round in 2010, the No. 1 seed has a thrice to beat advantage in the finals, while the opponent has to be beaten twice to be defeated.

A third place playoff, a one-game playoff between losing semifinalists, was added in 2023.^[3]

Results

For the semifinal columns, the No. 1 vs. No. 4 matchup is given first.

Legend
Arellano Arellano University  Letran Colegio de San Juan de Letran  Benilde De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde  EAC Emilio Aguinaldo College  JRU José Rizal University  Lyceum Lyceum of the Philippines University	Mapúa Mapúa University  PCU Philippine Christian University  San Beda San Beda University  San Sebastian San Sebastian College–Recoletos  Perpetual University of Perpetual Help System DALTA (OT) Game went into overtime.

Year		Finals/third-place playoff				Semifinals				One-game playoff
		Higher seed	Scores	Lower seed		Higher seed	Score/s	Lower seed		Winner	Score	Loser	Seed
1997		San Sebastian	84–72	San Beda		San Beda	72–65	Letran		None
						Letran	68–57	Mapúa
1998		Letran	81–74 (OT)	San Sebastian		Letran	def.	San Beda
						San Sebastian	def.	Perpetual
1999		JRC	74–75[4] 0–20[5][* 1]	Letran		San Sebastian	63–65[6] def. by	Letran
						JRC	84–63[6]	Perpetual
2000 (details)		Benilde	66–64[7] 74–61[8]	San Sebastian		JRC	53–60[9] 79–97[10]	San Sebastian
						Perpetual	70–73[9] 73–86[10]	Benilde
2001[11] (details)		JRU	74–77 95–81 62–95	San Sebastian		JRU	94–98 99–76	Benilde
						San Sebastian	58–65 48–44	Mapúa
2002[12] (details)		San Sebastian	79–78 86–69	Benilde		San Sebastian	102–96 (OT)	JRU
						Benilde	93–95 (OT) 106–87	PCU
2003[13] (details)		Letran	89–73 77–85 64–59	San Sebastian		Letran	72–66	Mapúa
						San Sebastian	81–73	JRU
2004[14] (details)		Perpetual	68–70 60–72	PCU		Perpetual	48–57 58–56	San Beda		San Beda	59–52	Mapúa	4th
						PCU	64–65 85–80 (OT)	Letran
2005[15] (details)		Letran	74–79 78–60 62–54	PCU		Letran	93–60	San Sebastian		None
						PCU	76–53	Mapúa
2006[16] (details)		San Beda	71–57 50–72 68–67	PCU		San Beda	55–51	Mapúa		PCU	67–62	Letran	2nd
						PCU	72–50	Letran
2007[17] (details)		San Beda	76–68 76–64	Letran		San Beda	74–64	Mapúa		None
						Letran	70–61	JRU
2008[18] (details)		San Beda	72–68 60–62 85–69	JRU		San Beda	51–53 60–53	Mapúa		JRU	57–53	San Sebastian	2nd/4th[* 2]
										Letran	62–52	Mapúa	2nd/4th[* 2]
						JRU	63–61	Letran		JRU	69–53	Letran	2nd[* 2]
										Mapúa	63–54	San Sebastian	4th[* 2]
2009[19] (details)		San Beda	68–72 (2OT) 61–76	San Sebastian		San Beda	82–76	Letran		San Beda	71–65	San Sebastian	1st
						San Sebastian	65–72 79–64	JRU
2010 (details)		San Beda	93–73 85–70	San Sebastian		San Sebastian	61–52	JRU		None
						JRU	60–54	Mapúa
2011 (details)		San Beda	75–63 57–55	San Sebastian		San Beda	83–74	JRU		San Beda	88–85	San Sebastian	1st
						San Sebastian	62–70 63–56	Letran
2012 (details)		San Beda	62–60 55–64 67–39	Letran		San Beda	56–52	Perpetual		Perpetual	73–68	JRU	4th
						San Sebastian	74–92 70–73	Letran
2013 (details)		San Beda	80–68 74–79 60–56	Letran		San Beda	70–51	Perpetual		San Sebastian	81–71	Perpetual	3rd
						Letran	85–58	San Sebastian
2014 (details)		San Beda	74–65 89–70	Arellano		San Beda	81–75	Perpetual		San Beda	97–69	Arellano	1st
						Arellano	72–65	JRU
2015 (details)		San Beda	90–94 68–61 82–85 (OT)	Letran		San Beda	78–68	JRU		San Beda	83–78	Letran	1st
						Letran	91–90	Mapúa		Mapúa	81–76	JRU	3rd
2016 (details)		San Beda	88–85 83–73	Arellano		San Beda	83–87 78–63	Perpetual		San Beda	80–73	Arellano	1st
						Arellano	92–80	Mapúa
2017 (details)		Lyceum	87–94 82–92	San Beda		San Beda	76–71	San Sebastian		San Sebastian	74–69	Letran	4th[* 3]
						JRU	73–85	San Sebastian		Letran	70–68	Arellano	4th[* 3]
2018 (details)		San Beda	73–60 71–56	Lyceum		San Beda	83–72	Perpetual		None
						Lyceum	109–85	Letran
2019 (details)		San Beda	64–65 79–76 79–81	Letran		Lyceum	88–92	Letran
						Letran	85–80	San Sebastian
2020[* 4]		Not held – Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila				Not held – Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila
2021[* 5] (details)		Letran	68–63 75–65	Mapúa		Letran	77–75	Perpetual		San Beda	63–57	Benilde	3rd/Qualification[* 6]
										Perpetual	59–52	Arellano	Qualification[* 6]
						Mapúa	67–73 (OT) 70–67	San Beda		Perpetual	76–64	Benilde	4th[* 6]
2022 (details)		Benilde	75–81 76–71 67–81	Letran		Benilde	62–61	San Beda
										None
						Letran	67–58	Lyceum
2023 (details)		Mapúa	68–63 65–71 66–76	San Beda		Mapúa	78–67	Benilde
		Lyceum	83–93	Benilde		Lyceum	68–89 72–82	San Beda

Notes

1. Game 2 of the 1999 finals was abandoned after a fracas where Letran point guard John Prior elbowed JRC's John Dale Valeña, with Letran leading 83–60. This caused the gallery to pelt debris to the court which caused the NCAA Commissioner to order JRC to concede the game.
2. With four teams tied for second place in 2008, a mini-tournament was held to determine the 2nd–4th seeds in which the team with the best head-to-head record among the four (SSC-R) meets the team with the worst head-to-head record (JRU), with the other two (Letran and Mapúa) meeting each other in classification games. The winners of both games faced each other for the No. 2 seed while the losers faced for the No. 4 seed.
3. With three teams tied for fourth place in 2017, two tie-breaker games were held to determine who the 4th seed shall be. SSC-R, who has the best head-to-head record among the three, gets a bye, with the other two teams (Letran and Arellano) playing the first tie-breaker game. The winner of the Letran-Arellano game meets SSC-R in the second tie-breaker game.
4. 2020–21 season had a basketball tournament, but it was basically a skills showdown, due to the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines.
5. 2021–22 season was played in early 2022.
6. The teams that finished 3rd and 4th after the elimination round; the winner is the #3 seed and advances to the semifinals against the #2 seed, while the loser is relegated to the fourth seed playoff. The teams that finished 5th and 6th after the elimination round; the winner advances to the fourth seed playoff, while the loser is eliminated. The winner is the #4 seed and advances to the semifinals against the #1 seed.

See also

• UAAP Final Four
• List of UAAP Final Four results

References

1. Gulle, Jimbo (September 28, 1997). "Red Lions nip Cards for NCAA 'Final 4'". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
2. Gulle, Jimbo (October 1, 1997). "Stags clobber Altas, complete 12-game sweep". Manila Standard. Retrieved April 10, 2021.
3. "NCAA: CSB, Lyceum to battle for 3rd in men's basketball". ABS CBN News. 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
4. Manguiat, Lorenzo (October 5, 1999). "Knights beat Bombers, 75–74". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 23, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
5. Manguiat, Lorenzo (October 8, 1999). "Knights cop 'NC' crown, fracas mars Game 2". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 3, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
6. Manguiat, Lorenzo (September 28, 1999). "JRC Bombers enter finals; Knights win". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on October 21, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
7. Navarro, June (October 10, 2000). "Benilde nears NCAA title". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 19, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
8. Navarro, June (October 12, 2000). "Benilde sweeps SSC". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 12, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
9. Navarro, June (4 October 2000). "Benilde, SSC force knockout matches". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on February 19, 2001. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
10. Navarro, June (October 6, 2000). "Benilde vs SSC for NCAA plum". Philippine Daily Inquirer. Archived from the original on December 16, 2000. Retrieved February 28, 2009.
11. "NCAA 2001 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
12. "NCAA 2002 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
13. "NCAA 2003 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
14. "NCAA 2004 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
15. "NCAA 2005 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
16. "NCAA 2006 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
17. "NCAA 2007 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 18, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
18. "NCAA 2008 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
19. "NCAA 2009 results". UBelt.com. January 14, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009.^{[permanent dead link]}