The NCAA Final Four most often refers to the playoffs of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines) (NCAA) seniors' basketball tournament.
The term "final four" came from National Collegiate Athletic Association of the United States' men's Division I basketball tournament which is colloquially called as the "final four".
The final four was instituted in 1998; prior to that the first and second round winners, plus the team with the best overall standing if it did not win either round, participated in the championship round to determine the champion.
Contents |
| Team | Semifinal appearances |
Last semis appearance |
First semis appearance |
Finals appearances |
Highest seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Letran | 10 | 2011 | 1998 | 5 | 1st |
| CSB | 3 | 2002 | 2000 | 2 | 2nd |
| JRU | 10 | 2011 | 1999 | 3 | 1st |
| Mapúa | 7 | 2010 | 2001 | - | 3rd |
| PCU | 4 | 2006 | 2002 | 3 | 2nd |
| San Beda | 8 | 2011 | 1998 | 6 | 1st |
| SSC-R | 10 | 2011 | 1998 | 8 | 1st |
| UPHSD | 4 | 2004 | 1998 | 1 | 1st |
Notes:
| Champion | |
| Runner-up | |
| Twice to beat advantage | |
| Semifinalist | |
| Qualified for 4th-seed playoff | |
| Qualified to the first round | |
| Suspended | |
| Not in the league | |
| 1 | Semifinals seed |
| Guest school | |
| Under probabation |
| School | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUF | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Arellano | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||
| Letran | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | ||||
| CSB | 3 | 4 | 2 | |||||||||||
| EAC | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |||
| JRU | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | ||||
| Lyceum | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | |
| Mapúa | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| PCU | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | -- | -- | -- | |||||||
| San Beda | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| SSC-R | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||
| UPHSD | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Semifinals and knockout games
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Finals
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Entire playoffs
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Semifinals
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Finals
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The five most frequently played matchups are:
| Matchup | Semifinals | Finals | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Letran vs. SSC-R | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| JRU vs. SSC-R | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| Mapua vs. San Beda | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| Letran vs. PCU | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| San Beda vs. SSC-R | 0 | 3 | 3 |
In the 11 tournaments the Final Four format has been applied, the higher seed has beaten the lower seeds in the semifinals due to their twice to beat advantage, for the most part:
A victory of the #3 and #4 seeds in a series are considered big upsets considering that the #3 and #4 seed have to win twice, not to mention the perceived superiority of the #1 and #2 seeds when compared to the #3 and #4 seeds.
In the finals, the advantage of the #1 seed isn't as pronounced since the competing teams have to win the same number of games:
Stats since the 2001 season.
| Statistic | Name | Total | School | Opponent | Stage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Most points | Sunday Salvacion | 39 | CSB | JRU | 2001 Semifinals |
| Most rebounds | Calvin Abueva Sam Ekwe |
23** 19 |
SSC-R San Beda |
San Beda JRU |
2009 Finals 2008 Finals |
| Most assists | Michael Gonzales Jason Castro |
10 | SSC-R PCU |
CSB UPHDS |
2002 Finals 2004 Finals |
| Most steals | RJ Jazul | 8 | Letran | JRU | 2008 Semifinals |
| Most blocks | Mark Andaya Sam Ekwe |
7* 6 |
Letran San Beda |
PCU PCU |
2004 Semifinals 2006 Finals |
*overtime game.
The Final Four is the culmination of the NCAA basketball season and is heavily covered by the media. With the NCAA as one of the leading collegiate leagues in the country, the Final Four games are broadcast live throughout the country.
Beginning in 2002, the NCAA, and the Final Four games, were broadcast by ABS-CBN's UHF channel Studio 23 nationwide, being produced by ABS-CBN Sports. Prior to Studio 23, the games were broadcast irregularly by different broadcast partners. Since 2009, the games are also aired in high definition, through Balls subsidiary Balls HD.
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