Games Saturday
(Araneta Coliseum)
1 p.m.- Opening Ceremonies
2 p.m.- San Beda vs Mapua (Srs.)
4 p.m.- Jose Rizal vs Letran (Srs.)
6 p.m.- Perpetual Help vs San Sebastian (Srs.)

The war of attrition begins on Saturday.

An exciting triple bill highlighted by the showdown pitting four-peat seeking San Beda against a dangerous Mapua side this weekend that opens a new chapter to the never-ending saga of the NCAA cage wars at the Big Dome.

The Season 85 opener also features last year’s losing finalist Jose Rizal versus Letran at 4 p.m. and Perpetual Help against San Sebastian at 6 p.m.

On Monday, St. Benilde tackles guest team Angeles University Foundation at 2 p.m. while Arellano U tangles with Emilio Aguinaldo College at 4 p.m. at The Arena in San Juan City.

The season, using a theme “Winning Drive@85: Instituting Change, instilling pride, inspiring excellence through sports,” would be officially ushered in by what promises to be an opening number to remember as host San Beda reportedly spent its energy, time and even money to make it possible.

“We’re expecting a bigger, better season since we will be playing with a record 10 teams, we’re really excited about it,” said NCAA president Fr. Mat de Jesus, OSB, in Wednesday’s media launch at the ABS-CBN’s ELJ Building in Quezon City.

“We hope it would be a sight to remember, a spectacle to see. We hope to show the best the NCAA could offer,” he added.

United States Ambassador Kristie Kenney will be the guest speaker in the inaugural rites, according to the San Beda rector.

The league also introduced Aric del Rosario as commissioner this year, succeeding Joe Lipa.

“There are some minor changes but nothing much really changed,” said del Rosario, who steered the Santo Tomas Tigers to a UAAP four-peat in the 90s.

The Lions lost Nigerian Sam Ekwe, Pong Escobal and Ogie Menor but remained a force since they also acquired American behemoth Sudan Daniel to fill the huge vacuum left by Ekwe.

“We’re ready to do battle,” said San Beda captain Riego Gamalinda.
De Jesus, accompanied by fellow top officials of all 10 participating schools including Management Committee chair Jose Mari Lacson also of San Beda, said the NCAA would open as planned despite the threat posed by swine flu or Influenza (N1H1) virus.

“We’re abiding with all the guidelines set by the Department of Health and the Commission on Higher Education regarding the virus so we see no problem with that,” said de Jesus.

All games would be telecast live on television giant ABS-CBN's UHF channel Studio 23 every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.