National Collegiate Athletic Association (Philippines)

Early years (1924–1959)

The NCAA was founded in 1924 on the initiative of Regino R. Ylanan, a physical education professor of the University of the Philippines (UP). The original members were Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle College, the Institute of Accounts (now known as Far Eastern University), National University (NU), San Beda College (SBC; now known as San Beda University), the University of Manila, University of the Philippines Manila, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST).^[3][4][5]

The decision of the board of directors to file papers of incorporation with the then Bureau of Commerce in 1930 led to protests from the University of the Philippines, which was the only public institution among member schools, saying that it would lead to commercialization. National University and the University of Santo Tomas sided with the University of the Philippines on the matter. This led into the formation, via an Article of Agreement, of a triangular meet among NU, UP and UST, with the Board of Control's condition that NCAA events should take precedence. The league established came to be known as the "Big Three," and in 1932, the Article of Agreement was renewed.^[6]

In 1936, UP Manila, NU, and UST withdrew permanently from the NCAA and continued with their own league, while FEU withdrew on its own. Six schools remained in the league and became known as the "old-timer six: Ateneo, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle, José Rizal College, Mapúa Institute of Technology and San Beda. Also in 1936, league's basketball games were transferred to the newly completed Rizal Memorial Coliseum, owing to its accessibility among the schools, since most schools were in Manila.

The NCAA experienced a golden age during the postwar years. The Loyola Center at the Ateneo campus became the new home of the association. Due to the home court advantage of the Ateneo, Blue Eagles' games were held at Rizal Memorial.^[3]

An era of turbulence (1960–1983)

By the 1960s, the league experienced problems such as eligibility of players and interscholastic hooliganism. This led to disagreements among member schools, and as a result the 1962–63 season was suspended, and the following two seasons were held in a loose conference format, where the home and away system was used. San Sebastian College – Recoletos joined the league in 1969.^[7] Trinity College of Quezon City (now Trinity University of Asia) also joined in 1974, the league's golden anniversary, according to newspapers and other publications of that year.^[8]

After the riotous games of the late 1970s,^[9] several of the founding members left the league. Ateneo left the league in 1978,^[9] which also marred a championship series with San Beda,^[10] while La Salle left after a riotous game with Letran in 1980.^[11] Both schools were later admitted into the rival University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) in 1978 and 1984, respectively.^[12][13] San Beda also left in 1983 to put more focus on its intraschool activities.^[7]

Due to Ateneo's move to the UAAP, NCAA games returned to the old Rizal Memorial and to the PhilSports Arena. Also with the withdrawal of the three founding members, most daily publications tagged the NCAA as "an ironic journey from sports to violence."^[7]

The first expansion era (1984–2008)

As the league was reduced to four members, new membership was actively pursued. Perpetual Help College of Rizal (now known as University of Perpetual Help System DALTA) was accepted as a member in 1984,^[14] whle San Beda returned in 1986 after a three-year hiatus. On the other hand, Trinity was not able to meet league requirements and left in 1986.^[3] The additions of Philippine Christian University (PCU) and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde (DLS-CSB) in the late 1990s brought the league membership to eight schools.^[3] During this time, measures were taken to prevent major brawls from starting such as the patrolling by the respective faculties of the member schools, to control the behavior of the crowd were implemented as part of the remedy to ensure the security during the NCAA games.^[7]

In 1998, the affiliated schools in the Calabarzon region and southern Metro Manila established NCAA South, an offshoot of the league.^[15] The NCAA has also set plans for a Division II, which would be composed of newly admitted schools. The league has already visited and issued invitations to schools such as Arellano University, Emilio Aguinaldo College and the Lyceum of the Philippines University.^[16][17]

The return of a Mapúa Juniors team, which took a leave of absence beginning Season 81 (2005–06) was scheduled in Season 83 (2007–08). Malayan High School would represent the Mapúa Institute of Technology in the Juniors Division of the NCAA. This newly established high school would only be fully operational by school year 2007–08.^[18] However, the scheduled return of the Mapua Junior varsity team did not materialize and instead it resumed participation in Season 84 (2008–09).^[19]

The second expansion era (2009–2023)

After it was revealed that several players of the PCU juniors' basketball team enrolled with spurious documents, PCU's seniors and juniors teams were suspended for the 2007–08 season.^[20] The seniors teams were permitted to participate in the 2008–09 season, but all PCU teams subsequently took an indefinite leave of absence beginning with the 2009–10 season.^[21]

In place of PCU, the Management Committee invited guest teams to fill out the league roster. Angeles University Foundation (AUF), Arellano University (AU), and Emilio Aguinaldo College (EAC) were brought in as guest teams eligible to win championships.^[22] In Season 86, AU's and EAC's status were upgraded to probationary membership.^[23] Lyceum of the Philippines University (LPU), which had earlier sought membership, joined as a guest team in Season 87 (2011–12).^[24] Arellano became a regular member in Season 89 (2013–14) after meeting the league requirements,^[25] followed by EAC and Lyceum in Season 91 (2015–16).^[26] The association now had ten full member schools, its largest in history.

The second century (2024–present)

Ahead of NCAA Season 101, the association held a logo design contest, which was eventually won by Jeffrey Salut.^[27]

Guest schools

The NCAA first invited guest teams in 2009 following the withdrawal of PCU a year prior. The original batch was composed of Angeles University Foundation, Arellano University and Emilio Aguinaldo College, with the latter two member schools obtaining full membership status two years later in 2011. Another current member, Lyceum of the Philippines University, originally joined as a guest in 2011 before becoming a full member in 2012.

Starting from Season 101, the association once again invited guest teams, but only for specific events.

Former full member schools

The following schools were once full members of the NCAA but have since departed from the league.

Membership timeline

Sports

9km
5.6miles

Cuneta
Astrodome

Rizal Sports
Complex

Vermosa Sports Hub

Mall of Asia Arena

Filoil Flying V Arena

San Beda-Taytay

LPU Cavite

ICA-Cavite

LSGH

Perpetual

JRU

Benilde

University Belt

   

Member schools (red) and playing venues (blue) of the NCAA.

1km
0.6miles

EAC

MHSS

SSC-R

San
Beda

Mapua

Lyceum

Letran

Arellano

   

Schools in the University Belt area.

The NCAA sponsors thirteen (juniors) and fourteen (seniors) sports, which are divided into two divisions: the Juniors division for high school students and the Seniors division for college students. There are male and female Seniors divisions for some events.

Each member college or university has an affiliated high school that competes in the Juniors division. For example, San Beda University's affiliated high school is its campus at Taytay, Rizal, while Colegio de San Juan de Letran's high school is found within its college campus at Intramuros. While these two high schools are integrated within their colleges, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde is not directly connected with its high school affiliate, La Salle Green Hills (LSGH), except that they are both administered by the Lasallian Brothers. As a result, DLSU-CSB labels "St. Benilde" instead of "La Salle" on their jerseys.

The NCAA sponsors the following sports for Juniors and Seniors: basketball, soccer, poomsae, swimming, taekwondo, track and field, chess, tennis (lawn and soft), table tennis, badminton, volleyball, and beach volleyball. The last three sporting events have a women's division.

In the 87th season of the NCAA, cheerleading has been upgraded to a "regular sport" which means it will contribute points in the overall championship race. In the 91st season of the league, poomsae was added as a "demonstration sport" being part of the taekwondo event.

The General Champion for the each division in an academic year is determined by a points system similar to the one used in Formula One, where the school with the highest accumulated score from all events in a division wins the General Championship. A championship in an event entitles a school with 40 points, the second placer 30, up to eighth place, with five points. For an example, see the tabulation of points for Season 84.

Currently, the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, San Beda University and Arellano University compete in all Seniors' sports, while La Salle Green Hills, San Beda College-Rizal and University of Perpetual Help System DALTA participates in all Juniors' sports.

NCAA championships

Pre-2002

During the 1980s and early to mid-1990s, the NCAA did not have a television broadcast partner due to the association's reputation at the time with the constant brawls during games. In 1998, Vintage Television, a longtime broadcast partner of the Philippine Basketball Association, picked up the broadcast rights to the league and aired them on IBC. In 2000, the association then switched partners to the MCI group, which then aired one game per playing day on People's Television Network. In 2001, the association switched partners again, this time to Silverstar Sports.

2002–2020

After four years of constantly switching broadcast partners, on March 18, 2002, the league found a long-term home in ABS-CBN, who also held the rights to the UAAP. Under ABS-CBN, the association received extensive coverage of basketball games. The network would later expand its broadcasts to its international arm, The Filipino Channel.^[7][42] ABS-CBN's partnership lasted for ten seasons from Season 78 to Season 87.

On April 22, 2012, ahead of Season 88, the association entered a new partnership with the TV5 Network through Sports5 and AKTV as part of a blocktime deal it had with IBC. The network aired a majority of games on AKTV with the main TV5 channel airing the finals.^[43] After the blocktime agreement anded in 2013 due to high costs, the games were moved to AksyonTV. Due to the poor reach of the channel, resulting in complaints from viewers,^[44] selected games were also aired on TV5 in 2014.^[45] Despite this, issues in regards to the coverage persisted,^[46] which is elevated due to the network's existing partnership with the PBA.

Before the start of Season 91 in 2015, the league reunited with ABS-CBN for what was originally set to be another ten-year deal, lasting through Season 100.^[47] However, the deal was cut short due to the loss of the congressional franchise of ABS-CBN.^[48]

2021–present

Seeking a new partner following the controversial shutdown, the NCAA secured a six-year-long partnership with GMA Network starting from Season 96 in 2021.^[49][50] After Season 101 ended in 2026, GMA opted to not renew their partnership, thus a bid began to decide the association's next partner. In the end, TV5 Network, which entered a partnership with the UAAP in 2020, reclaimed the broadcast rights through Cignal TV, beating ABS-CBN, PTV, and the Bilyonaryo News Channel.^[51][52] The deal will only last for two years through 2028, covering Season 102 and Season 103.^[53]