The school rivalry between Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University began when both educational institutions participated in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and has carried over to the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP) where both universities compete in currently.
Beginning with UAAP Season 84 in May 2022, Ateneo de Manila University decided to unify student-athletes and varsity teams under the "Blue Eagles" moniker moving forward, regardless of sport, gender, or age group. Meanwhile, the Green Archer is the traditional mascot of De La Salle University and the varsity teams are collectively referred to as the "Green Archers", however, each team carries a specific moniker that references the sport that they play.
Ateneo and La Salle were both co-founders of the NCAA in 1924, until Ateneo left the league in 1978 to join the UAAP in the same year while La Salle announced its decision to leave the NCAA in a press conference in September 1980, effective after the then ongoing 1980–81 NCAA Season. Both Catholic private schools in the Metro Manila area have been competing against each other in the UAAP ever since La Salle was also admitted to join the league in 1986.
History The rivalry began in 1939 when Ateneo lost to La Salle in a hotly contested championship basketball game in NCAA Season 16 (1939–40). Basketball games between Ateneo and La Salle in the old NCAA were always hard-fought, but they were not yet tagged by local sportswriters as a recognized rivalry. The more popular collegiate sports rivalries in the NCAA were Ateneo versus San Beda and La Salle versus Letran.
When Ateneo and La Salle transferred to the UAAP in 1978 and 1986 respectively, they naturally continued their fierce battles and innate animosity against each other on and off-court, and the sports press began to recognize the rivalry. The rivalry started with the men's basketball games and has since expanded to other UAAP sports, particularly in women's volleyball where both teams fought head-to-head in the UAAP Finals for six consecutive times from 2012 to 2017. Both universities have also extended their rivalry beyond sports and have gone into academic competitions.
From 1924 to 1925, basketball games between Ateneo and La Salle were played at an open basketball court at the Padre Faura, Ermita campus of UP, and in 1926 at the Nozaleda Park (now called Agrifina Circle which is part of Luneta Park). The venue later moved to the covered courts of the US Army's 31st Infantry Gym and UST Gym.Suva GT: NCAA 25th Anniversary Souvenir Program, San Juan, Rizal: JCP Publishing, 1949 The games then moved to the pre-war Rizal Memorial Coliseum to accommodate bigger crowds, and at one point, the venues included the Ateneo Loyola Center, the Cuneta Astrodome, and the PhilSports Arena. Currently, the Smart Araneta Coliseum and the SM Mall of Asia Arena are the present main venues for their sold-out games.
Head-to-head records by sport
Seniors' division As of , La Salle has more collegiate championships compared to Ateneo in the NCAA and UAAP combined, in both men's and women's divisions. La Salle has 201 collegiate titles whereas Ateneo has 123. La Salle also has eight General Collegiate Championships versus Ateneo with one General Collegiate Championship. This count excludes additional collegiate titles and the five General Collegiate Championships also won by De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde since it participated in the NCAA in 1998.
3x3 basketball – La Salle (4) – Ateneo (2) Athletics – La Salle (14) – Ateneo (9) Badminton – Ateneo (14) – La Salle (6) Baseball – Ateneo (6) – La Salle (6) Basketball – Ateneo (28) – La Salle (21) Beach Volleyball – Ateneo (1) – La Salle (1) Cheerdance – Ateneo (none) – La Salle (none) Chess Standard – La Salle (16) – Ateneo (6) Rapid – Ateneo (none) – La Salle (none) Blitz – Ateneo (1) – La Salle (none) Esports NBA 2K – Ateneo (2) – La Salle (none) Valorant – La Salle (2) – Ateneo (none) MLBB – La Salle (1) – Ateneo (none) Fencing – Ateneo (2) – La Salle (none) Football – La Salle (36) – Ateneo (14) Golf – La Salle (2) – Ateneo (none) Judo – Ateneo (8) – La Salle (2) Softball – La Salle (3) – Ateneo (1) Street dance – La Salle (4) – Ateneo (none) Swimming – Ateneo (18) – La Salle (17) Table tennis – La Salle (13) – Ateneo (none) Taekwondo Kyorugi – La Salle (10) – Ateneo (none) Taekwondo Poomsae – La Salle (3) – Ateneo (none) Tennis – La Salle (20) – Ateneo (2) Volleyball – La Salle (20) – Ateneo (9)
General (Overall) Championships La Salle leads Ateneo in the number of General Championships in the seniors' division, 8–1. Note that all championships listed are NCAA General Championships and UAAP General Championships. La Salle won its first UAAP General Championship in the seniors' division in UAAP Season 75 (2012–13), and won two additional General Championship titles in UAAP Season 76 (2013–14), and UAAP Season 78 (2015–16).
La Salle (8) – (5) NCAA: 1972–73, 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81; (3) UAAP: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16 Ateneo (1) – NCAA: 1968–69
Juniors' division As of , La Salle has 120 high school titles while Ateneo has 118. La Salle's juniors' team was represented first by DLSC High School from 1924 to 1967, followed by La Salle Green Hills (LSGH) from 1968 to 1981, and currently De La Salle Santiago Zobel School (DLSZ) since 1986. La Salle has 10 General High School Championships versus Ateneo with four General High School Championships. This count excludes the additional high school titles and the four General High School Championships won by La Salle Green Hills after it began to represent De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde in the NCAA Juniors division in 1998.
3x3 basketball High School (19U) – Ateneo (none) – La Salle (none) Junior High School (16U) – Ateneo (2) – La Salle (none) Athletics – Ateneo (34) – La Salle (14) Baseball – Ateneo (5) – La Salle (4) Basketball High School (19U) – Ateneo (30) – La Salle (8) Junior High School (16U) – Ateneo (none) – La Salle (none) Beach Volleyball – Ateneo (none) – La Salle (none) Chess – Ateneo (7) – La Salle (4) Fencing – Ateneo (2) – La Salle (none) Football – La Salle (31) – Ateneo (5) Judo – Ateneo (9) – La Salle (none) Softball – La Salle (8) – Ateneo (2) Swimming – La Salle (13) – Ateneo (12) Table tennis – La Salle (5) – Ateneo (1) Taekwondo Kyorugi – Ateneo (3) – La Salle (none) Tennis – La Salle (9) – Ateneo (none) Volleyball – La Salle (24) – Ateneo (6)
General (Overall) Championships La Salle leads Ateneo in General High School Championship titles, 10–4. The first two General High School Championship titles of La Salle were won by DLSC High School while the next eight titles were won by La Salle Green Hills. Note that included are NCAA and UAAP General Championships.
La Salle (10) – NCAA: 1965–66, 1966–67 (DLSC High School), 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81 (LSGH) Ateneo (4) – (2) NCAA: 1967–68, 1976–77; (2) UAAP: 2000–01, 2001–02
Basketball
Overall In terms of total collegiate and high school basketball titles won in the NCAA and UAAP, Ateneo leads La Salle, 58–29. In men's basketball, Ateneo has a total of 26 championship titles whereas La Salle has 16. The Blue Eagles have 14 NCAA titles and 12 UAAP titles while the Green Archers have five NCAA titles and 11 UAAP titles. In juniors' basketball, Ateneo has 11 NCAA titles and 19 UAAP titles, for a total of 30, whereas La Salle has six NCAA titles and two UAAP titles, for eight in total.
The Ateneo Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers have met in the championships of the NCAA and UAAP at least nine times. The Blue Eagles won the men's basketball title over La Salle in 1958, 1988, 2002, 2008, and 2017 whereas the Green Archers prevailed in 1939, 1974, 2001, and 2016. In women's basketball, both schools have only won titles in the UAAP as the NCAA does not have a women's basketball tournament, where La Salle leads Ateneo, 5–2. In the juniors' division, the De La Salle Junior Archers defeated the top-seeded Ateneo Blue Eaglets in 2007. In 2009, the Eaglets defeated the top-seeded Junior Archers.
Collegiate titles of national scope In terms of collegiate titles of national scope, Ateneo leads with five titles to La Salle's three. Ateneo won the Collegiate Champions League (CCL) title in 2007, and won back to back titles in the Philippine Collegiate Championship League (PCCL) in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, as well as in the 2018 and 2019 seasons. La Salle won the Philippine Intercollegiate Championship in 1988 and the Philippine Collegiate Championship in 2008 and 2013 against Ateneo and the South Western University Cobras, respectively.
Ateneo won the 2007 Collegiate Champions League title against the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, 71–54. The Collegiate Champions League (CCL), was then reformatted and became the Philippine Collegiate Championship League (PCCL). It is currently the national collegiate basketball championship tournament, sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, the country's official basketball federation. College teams from all over the country participate in the tournament. The tournament also has a Sweet 16 similar to the United States' NCAA basketball tournament during "March Madness."
The Green Archers won the 2008 PCCL title. La Salle defeated the second-seeded NCAA champion San Beda Red Lions and arranged a finals meeting with the top-seeded UAAP champion Ateneo Blue Eagles, who defeated the Letran Knights in the Final Four. In the championship match, the De La Salle Green Archers prevailed over the Ateneo Blue Eagles, 71–62.
In the 2009 season of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, the Blue Eagles defeated the FEU Tamaraws in three games to clinch their second national title, whereas the Green Archers were eliminated by the Letran Knights in their first game in the round of 16. In the 2010 season, the Blue Eagles defeated the Adamson Soaring Falcons in three games to clinch their third and back-to-back national titles, while the Green Archers settled for 3rd-place beating the University of Cebu Webmasters despite having 4 players injured and only 10 players intact in the line-up.
In the 2013 season of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, the Green Archers defeated the South Western University Cobras, via sweep to reclaim the national championship for the first time since 2008 and winning their second title in the tournament.
In the 2018 season of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, the Blue Eagles defeated the University of the Visayas Green Lancers, 95–71 to reclaim the national championship for the first time since 2010 and winning their fourth title in the tournament. In the 2019 season, the Blue Eagles defeated the San Beda Red Lions 57–46 to win their fifth title in the PCCL.
Championship streaks Ateneo was 3-peat NCAA champion from 1931 through 1933, and its record of 14 collegiate titles remained unsurpassed by any school in the NCAA until 2003. They currently hold the distinction of having the longest UAAP basketball title streak in the Final Four era after winning five straight times from 2008 to 2012. In 2019, Ateneo achieved another 3-peat and became the first team in the UAAP Final Four era to finish an entire season (including the finals) without a single loss (16–0) in the men's basketball tournament.
Both schools have also managed to post what are regarded as "double championships" by winning both the seniors and juniors titles in the same year. The Ateneo Blue Eagles still have the most number of double titles in NCAA history, with four double championships, including the NCAA's second back-to-back double championships in 1975 and 1976 (the first was accomplished by the University of the Philippines in 1925 and 1926).