History of the NCAA

The NCAA was founded in 1924 on the initiative of Dr. Regino R. Ylanan, a physical education professor of the University of the Philippines (UP). The original members were the Ateneo de Manila, De La Salle College, Institute of Accounts, National University (NU), San Beda College (SBC), the University of Manila, the University of the Philippines, and the University of Santo Tomas (UST). 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 on 1932, the Article of Agreement was renewed.

In 1936, the University of the Philippines and University of Santo Tomas withdrew permanently in the NCAA and continued with their own league, while Far Eastern University (FEU) withdrew on its own. Six schools remained in the league and became known as the "old-timer six" – Ateneo de Manila, Colegio de San Juan de Letran, De La Salle College, José Rizal College, Mapúa Institute of Technology and San Beda College. 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.

In 1938, Far Eastern University, National University, the University of the Philippines and the University of Santo Tomas formed the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, a rival intercollegiate league.

The NCAA experienced a golden age during the postwar years. The Loyola Center at the Ateneo campus became the new home of the league. Due to the home court advantage of the Ateneo, Blue Eagles games were held on the old Rizal Memorial.

1950s

The 1950s will be known in the annals of history as one of the best decades of the NCAA. The start of the decade was the glory year of the fabled Letran Murder Inc.[4] Eventually, it will be the Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles and San Beda Red Lions who would be locking horns during the fabled era.

The decade produced legendary collegiate players like Carlos Loyzaga (San Beda), Lauro "the Fox" Mumar (Letran), and Frankie Rabat (Ateneo) among others.

The 1950s was also known as the decade of the Crispulo Zamora Cup. The Crispulo Zamora Cup was the trophy to be awarded by the NCAA for the first team to get three championship crowns.

The Letran Knights started with their 1950 campaign bannering their legendary Murder Inc. However , they lost steam when San Beda and Ateneo traded championships thereafter. San Beda won the crown in 1951 and the 1952 season. Ateneo stopped San Beda in 1953 and secured the 1954 championship. The 1955 season was the deciding year for the Crispulo Zamora Cup which San Beda eventually won.

In the post Zamora Cup era, La Salle made their own statement by winning the crown in 1956. Still, Ateneo was undaunted and secured the 1957 and 1958 trophy. A third straight post-Zamora crown was only foiled by San Beda in 1959 ending the legendary decade of the 50s.

1960s to 1980s

NCAA basketball champions formed the core of the Filipino team sent to international competitions during 1960 and 1961 in Japan. The opening of the Araneta Coliseum, the largest indoor arena in the Philippines, prompted the league to transfer the championship round there.

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.

The 1975 Ateneo Blue Eagles, NCAA seniors' basketball back to back champions.
The 1978 San Beda Red Lions, NCAA seniors' basketball back to back champions.

After the riotous games of the late 1970s, several of the founding members left the league. The Ateneo de Manila University left the league in 1978 due to violence, which also marred a championship series with San Beda, while La Salle left after a riotous game with Letran in 1980. Ateneo de Manila was accepted in the UAAP in 1978, while La Salle had to wait for six years to become a UAAP member. San Beda left the league in 1983, reasoning that the college will focus on school-based sports activities like intramurals.

With the withdrawal of Ateneo de Manila, league games returned to the old Rizal Memorial and to the PhilSports Arena, since the Loyola Center was now the location of the UAAP tournament. Also with the withdrawal of the three founding members, most daily publications tagged the NCAA as "an ironic journey from sports to violence.

League today

As the league was reduced to four members, membership was actively pursued. Perpetual Help College of Rizal was accepted as members in 1984.[8] A year later, Trinity College of Quezon City became a full member.[9]. However, Trinity was not able to meet league requirements and was dropped from the league in 1986, the same year San Beda returned.

Measures were taken to prevent major brawls from starting such as patrolling the behavior of the crowd by the respective faculties of the member schools, were implemented as part of the remedy to ensure the security during the NCAA games.

The addition of Philippine Christian University and De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde in the late 1990s resulted in the current lineup of members the NCAA now has.

A major breakthrough occurred when the league, upon the initiative of host school San Beda, made a move that switched the television coverage of NCAA games from MCI group to ABS-CBN on March 18, 2002. Previously, only the Final Four and the Championship games were televised, but with the five-year contract inked with ABS-CBN, a majority of the basketball games will be aired, giving the league bigger exposure to fans, students and alumni.[6] ABS-CBN would later air the games on its international affiliate, The Filipino Channel, making the games viewable to alumni and fans abroad.

Future expansion

The NCAA has set its plan of expansion. Division II, as it will be called, will 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.

In 1998, the affiliated schools in the CALABARZON region and southern Metro Manila established NCAA South, an offshoot of the league. The schools of NCAA South do not compete with the schools in the main league.

The return of a Mapúa Juniors team, which took a leave of absence beginning at the 2005-2006 season, would return at the 2007-2008 season, as the newly built Malayan High School would be fully operational. Malayan High School would represent the Mapúa Institute of Technology.[14] However, the return of the Mapúa juniors team on 2007 was held off; the Mapua team representing the Malayan High School of Science will official debut on the 2008 season.

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 in the 2007-08 season. The seniors teams participated in the 2008-09 season, but all teams would take an indefinite leave of absence starting at the 2009-10 season. As a result, the Management Committee conducted a search for PCU's replacement but it was decided that such replacements would be deferred to the 2010-11 season.