UP, La Salle are still the teams to beat in UAAP 88 basketball

IT’S University of the Philippines (UP), De La Salle University (DLSU) and everybody else.

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That remains the consensus among the eight squads with the UP Fighting Maroons and the DLSU Green Archers still atop of the food chain when they rumble in the UAAP Season 88 men's basketball tournament this Saturday at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Quadricentennial Pavilion in Manila.

"If you look at the preseason, it’s still La Salle and UP," declared coach Tab Baldwin during the league’s press launch on Monday at the Gloria Maris in Greenhills with National University (NU) and host UST as dark horses.

UP and La Salle have been the protagonists of the last two UAAP finals, splitting the Season 86 in favor of the Green Archers and the Season 87 for the Fighting Maroons.

Amidst the changes with the departure of their key cogs and arrival of new prospects, a trilogy could be on the horizon for Diliman and Taft whether it’s from the point of view of a grizzled coach like Mr. Baldwin and a debuting collegiate mentor.

"You can’t say contenders without mentioning UP and La Salle, obviously. They’re the standard right now in the UAAP," said former PBA coach Chris Gavina, who will now steer the ship for the rejigged University of the East (UE) Red Warriors in lieu of Jack Santiago.