LA SALLE LOOKS TO BECOME THE SECOND 4-SEED TO WIN UAAP CROWN

LOST in all the talk of this being Round 3 of the new age rivalry between University of the Philippines and La Salle is that the Green Archers got to the championship series as the four-seed.

This is actually only the fourth time since the institution of the Final Four format that the lowest seed in the Final Four has made it to the Finals.

Before this season, the four-seed has been 3-27 in the semis, with only one winning the crown.

READ: It's UP-La Salle III - it's always been UP-La Salle III

The first time that a no. 4-seed reached the finale was in UAAP Season 76 back in 2013 where University of Santo Tomas, led by Jeric Teng, Karim Abdul, and Kevin Ferrer, upset the fancied National U of Bobby Ray Parks to get to the Finals.

Unfortunately, the Growling Tigers fell short to Jeron Teng and the rest of the Green Archers in that year's Finals.

NU, however, came back with a vengeance a year later as it was the Bulldogs' turn to overcome the twice-to-beat disadvantage as a fourth-seed, with Gelo Alolino, Troy Rosario, and Alfred Aroga taking down the top seed Ateneo of Kiefer Ravena.

The Jhocson side made sure to not let those efforts go to waste as they won the UAAP Season 77 crown in 2014 by taking down Far Eastern U of Mac Belo, Mike Tolomia, and Roger Pogoy.

Five years would pass since another Cinderella run was seen, this time with the UST team of Soulemane Chabi Yo, Renzo Subido, Rhenz Abando, and Mark Nonoy running through the gauntlet through the stepladder semifinals.

As the four-seed, the Growling Tigers hurdled Ken Tuffin's FEU and weathered a twice-to-beat disadvantage against the UP team of Juan Gomez de Liano, Bright Akhuetie, Kobe Paras, and Ricci Rivero to arrange a finals date against Ateneo.

But the Thirdy Ravena-led Blue Eagles were just too much, completing a 16-0 perfect run in that memorable UAAP Season 82 championship run in 2019.

Fast forward to now, and it feels surreal that this loaded La Salle team came to the postseason as the four-seed. But the Green Archers bucked the form charts and still found a way to set up this trilogy against the Fighting Maroons.

This is actually only the second time in the men's basketball tournament that the same proponents faced off in three consecutive finals series -- with the first being UST and La Salle from 1994 to 1996 and all resulting to victories for the black-and-gold.

So what fate will Mike Phillips and co. traverse this year? Will they falter by the wayside like Teng and Abando, or will they pull off the miracle just like how Alolino and Rosario did?

2025-12-09T10:15:08Z