Uaap
Each year, teams from universities play in 15 sports.
History of the UAAP
In 1924, Dr. Regino Ylanan (then University of the Philippines Physical Education Director) saw the need to regulate and set general athletic policies; meets with representatives of University of Santo Tomas, Manila Central University, National University, De La Salle College, Ateneo de Manila and Institute of Accounts (now Far Eastern University) - to discuss possibilities of forming an athletic organization, which eventually became the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
In 1930, the University of the Philippines sponsored an experimental meet with the first "Big 3" league (UST, NU, UP) on basketball, swimming, baseball, relays, track and field, volleyball, tennis and soccer.
In 1931, NCAA Board of Directors divides the meet into three divisions to put competition on a fairer basis and to stimulate athletics among a greater number.
In March 1932, UP, UST and NU formally secede from the NCAA, (the most prestigious and popular athletic league during that time) Led by UP's Candido C.
Silbestre Sancho, the move was made for three reasons: to put competitions on equal footing, to increase amateur athletic competitions and to separate the universities from the college members of the league. On August 14, the "Big 3" Association is inaugurated with a meet that starts with basketball.
Other events were swimming, baseball, relays, track and field, volleyball, tennis and soccer.
In 1935, UP did not participate in the "Big 3 League" because of mass intramurals at the state university. UST was tops in football and swimming and FEU triumphed in basketball.
In 1941, the outbreak of World War II hindered the staging of the 1941-42 UAAP with UST failing to complete its term.
In 1946, UST hosted the 1946-47 UAAP Season.
In 1952, University of the East, University of Manila, Adamson University, and Manila Central University are granted two-year probationary membership to the UAAP.
In 1954, UE is permanently accepted into the league.
It continues to draw its strength from the encouraging participation of the students making the UAAP a foundation truly fostering camaraderie and sportsmanship.
Member schools
Following is a list of those universities with their team designations.
* Withdrew in 1953, readmitted in 1970.
Juniors' affiliate high schools
*The defunct FEU Boys High School and FEU Girls High School represented FEU in the Juniors division before 2005. The two high schools were established in 1933.
Membership history
Sports
Rivalries
In the 70-year history of the league, it is but natural that rivalries will rise in name of school pride and honor.
No one is exactly sure how and when it started, leading to numerous urban legends about its origins. The Ateneo and UP players would play friendly basketball games in Intramuros, and it was at this point that the Ateneo de Manila formed the first cheering squad in the Philippines.
Both schools' pep squads are famous for their stunts and high-energy performances.
UE-UST rivalry
From 1964 to 1971, the UST Glowing Goldies met the UE Red Warriors eight times in the Final of the basketball tournament, with the Warriors winning seven encounters. It is the longest finals appearance between two teams in the UAAP.
In 1999, La Salle defeated the Growling Tigers to win the basketball crown. Their basketball rivalry diminished in latter years due to UST's decline but became a celebrated rivalry in Women's Volleyball, as the Lady Archers and the Tigresses met three times in the championship of the Shakey's V-League tournament with both having 3 championships each under their belts.
The rivalry was carried over to the UAAP.
On August 11, 2007, UST won their first men's basketball game against La Salle since Game 1 of the 1999 Finals to break UST's 17-game losing streak against the Archers.
La Salle-FEU rivalry
The rivalry sparked in the 1991 Finals when La Salle's final game win was protested by the FEU after a Green Archer was admitted into the playing court after being disqualified. FIBA and the BAP agreed with La Salle that it was the table official's fault and not La Salle's why Espinosa was allowed to play.
FEU still had ample time to win the game as that incident happened with more than 2 minutes left in the game and La Salle leading by just 2 points. On the replay date, the championship was handed to FEU automatically via default (even though DLSU has a twice to beat advantage, it was presumed that since La Salle had no intent on showing up for the first game, the board reckoned that La Salle also had no intention of showing up for the second game).
In 2004, La Salle defeated the defending champions Tamaraws in three games.
In 2005, FEU swept La Salle in the Finals, but not without incident as the La Salle assistant team manager and alumnus, Manny Salgado hit FEU player Arwind Santos after La Salle's game 1 loss. With FEU winning the most crowns in the league, UST comes right behind them.
In Season 69, the Tigresses took the championship away from the Tams, who was before then almost undefeated.