The stage is set for the 28 collegiate basketball teams across the country as they vie for the title and bragging rights in the inaugural Pinoyliga Collegiate Cup: The Big Dance.

The tournament, which serves as a replica of the US NCAA’s March Madness, fires off on Aug. 1 at the Enderun Gym and where squads from various collegiate leagues battle it out in a knockout format.

“This is an American idea with a Filipino twist on it,” said tournament commissioner Russell Raypon in a media briefing on Friday, July 26, at the Amelie Hotel in Manila.

“We want to inject the Filipino sense of the game and at the same time, give these teams outside the two big leagues a platform and exposure to show their skills and talent,” he added.

Raypon is referring to fancied leagues UAAP and NCAA, which enjoy a wide exposure and fan base.

This time with the Big Dance, the 28 invited teams were ranked based on various aspects such as the strength of their overall program, the level of competition in their respective leagues, and their ability to recruit players, to name a few.

After months of analysis, the league came up with ranking of the invited teams from the UAAP, NCAA, NAASCU, NCRAA, NCAA South, ISAA and CESAFI with NCAA multi-titled squad Letran claiming the No. 1 spot, followed by UAAP’s Adamson.

NCAA teams College of St. Benilde, San Beda and Mapua follow suit, while OLFU, MCU, CEU, Perpetual and EC comprise the Top 10.

Also included are GMC, EAC, Lyceum, St. Clare College, Diliman College, University of Cebu, Jose Rizal University, ICC, Olivarez College, San Sebastian, AIMS, San Pablo College, PCU-Dasmariñas, SOCA, UPH-Biñan, University of Batangas, New Era University and MLQU.

Project Director Benny Benitez said the goal of having this tournament is to fill in the gaps in collegiate basketball.

“Malaking tulong ito sa paglaro ng collegiate basketball space, because in reality, the landscape of collegiate basketball in the country is like a blue ocean,” Benitez said.

He added that this is just the beginning, and is looking forward to more teams in the coming years.

“We’re starting with an arm’s length. If we could gain traction and consciousness, it would be wonderful to expand,” Benitez said.