The college basketball wars have begun with the opening of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 90th season on June 28 at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) follows suit with the opening of its 77th season today at Smart Araneta Coliseum.
However, the battle goes beyond the competing school teams. There is also such a thing as a ratings war between the NCAA and the UAAP.
The question now looms: Will the UAAP again be more popular than the NCAA?
Irritated
To backtrack, NCAA Season 89’s tagline was “Our stars will shine @ 89.” Instead, the stars lost their glimmer as that season dragged on as the lengthiest tournament in league history.
Fans who couldn’t watch the games live at the venue also had no idea which television network would air the matches. While some people knew which TV channel to watch, they ended up getting irritated due to poor broadcast reception.
Further, game schedules were shuffled off to primetime evening from the usual afternoon slot, which was inconvenient for students who wanted to watch the games live, especially those living far from the venue.
Worse, game commentators performed quite poorly. There were a lot of boring moments and off-topic comments and conversations. Some fans who watched the telecast games opted to mute their TV sets to spare themselves the irrelevant banter.
Apparently, it is difficult to sell the NCAA to the media as an exciting league because its organizers don’t know how to market it.
The UAAP, on the other hand, generates a lot of media mileage due to the school members’ rivalries, their star players, and the league’s beautiful courtside reporters.
Another problem for the NCAA is that basketball seems to be its only attraction, whereas the UAAP has other fan favorites: volleyball and cheerleading tournaments, among others.
NCAA’s cheerleading competition, for one, is predictable, and NCAA fans are not really known more for cheering than for jeering. A number of incidents in the previous season and even in preseason tournaments that went unpunished would most probably be repeated by the same culprits this year, something that management should look into.
But all is not lost for the NCAA. In recent years, some of its school-members have shown improvement in the performance of their respective varsity teams.
The games have actually become more unpredictable, with new names getting known for their talents.
There is a lot at stake for probationary members. Their performance in the current season will be the basis for their regular membership.
NCAA basketball games are scheduled four days a week. Hoping to attract a wider audience, the games are being aired by the NCAA’s media partner, TV5, and its sports channel Aksyon TV.
Great things
Fans are expecting a lot of great things from NCAA Season 90. Its tagline is “We Make History: Today’s Heroes, Tomorrow’s Legends.”
Though it’s too early to say if there will be a repeat of last year’s lackluster performance, fans are advised to manage their expectations. Great expectations often lead to great disappointments.
Even as the NCAA seeks to improve the quality of the league, the UAAP still has the edge. Even before its opening, the UAAP has already won the battle of season teasers.
Be that as it may, it is really high time for the NCAA, the country’s oldest collegiate athletic league, to get back on track and regain the spotlight.