The rivalry between the De La Salle University (DLSU) Green Archers and the University of Santo Tomas (UST) Growling Tigers is contested at the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). Although the men's basketball rivalry had died down after the 1990s, it returned in 2013 as both schools again met in the UAAP basketball championship series. The rivalry had also been apparent in women's volleyball where the two teams are frequent finalists in the UAAP volleyball championships and the Shakey's V-League.
History Prior to La Salle joining the UAAP the two schools met in the championship of the 1948–49 season of the National Seniors Open, a yearly tournament of top collegiate and commercial teams in the country. The De La Salle Green Archers defeated the UST Glowing Goldies in overtime to win the title.
The rivalry returned on consecutive UAAP Finals series in men's basketball. La Salle was defeated three consecutive years in the Finals from 1994 through 1996 capping UST's four-year title run. UST was finally dethroned by La Salle during the 1997 semifinals. In 1998 La Salle again eliminated UST in the semifinals to begin their own four-year championship streak. La Salle bounced back defeating UST in overtime for the 1999 UAAP basketball title. The Game 1 finals victory was their last against La Salle until 2007 when UST won in overtime during regular season; La Salle went on to win the 2007 UAAP title. At this point UST's basketball program regressed, but they won a championship against the Ateneo Blue Eagles in three games in 2006. La Salle was suspended in 2006 after admitting they had unknowingly fielded two ineligible players in the previous seasons. La Salle would then win all games until 2011. La Salle again defeated UST in overtime during the UAAP Season 76 basketball championship in 2013.
The rivalry carried over to women's volleyball in the UAAP and Shakey's V-League. The De La Salle Lady Spikers and the UST Golden Tigresses met three times in the championship of the Shakey's V-League tournament with UST winning the first and La Salle winning the latter two. The Tigresses have won six championships while the Lady Spikers have three under their belt.
In the UAAP, the De La Salle Lady Spikers and the UST Golden Tigresses met in the Finals for two consecutive seasons – Season 72 (won by UST) and Season 73 (won by La Salle), although UST has seen fluctuation in season-long performances in women's volleyball amidst the rise of contemporary contenders such as Ateneo de Manila University, Far Eastern University, and National University. Both schools, however, met in the semifinals in Season 79 (won by La Salle) and Season 81 (won by UST), the latter of which ended La Salle's decade-long streak of finals appearances by 2019 (running from 2009 to 2018), the most in the Final Four era of the UAAP.
Men's basketball
Both teams are guaranteed to face each other at the elimination round (regular season) twice, while they can meet for a maximum of three times in the playoffs. The games were played consistently from 1986 until 2006 when La Salle was suspended for fielding two ineligible players. La Salle and UST previously met each other when they were members of the NCAA from 1924 to 1936.
Notes
UAAP Final Four rankings For comparison, these are the elimination round rankings of these two teams since the Final Four format was introduced in UAAP Season 56 (1993–94).
Seniors' division A.Y. La Salle UST 1993–1994 3rd 1st 1994–1995 1st 3rd 1995–1996 2nd 1st 1996–1997 1st 2nd 1997–1998 3rd 2nd 1998–1999 1st 4th 1999–2000 1st 2nd 2000–2001 1st 4th 2001–2002 1st 6th 2002–2003 1st 4th 2003–2004 4th 6th 2004–2005 2nd 7th 2005–2006 2nd 6th 2006–2007 3rd 2007–2008 2nd 4th 2008–2009 2nd 5th 2009–2010 6th 4th 2010–2011 4th 7th 2011–2012 6th 4th 2012–2013 4th 2nd 2013–2014 2nd 4th 2014–2015 3rd 6th 2015–2016 5th 1st 2016–2017 1st 8th 2017–2018 2nd 8th 2018–2019 5th 6th 2019–2020 5th 4th 2021–2022 3rd 7th 2022–2023 5th 8th 2023–2024 2nd 8th 2024–2025 1st 3rd 2025–2026 4th 3rd
a.La Salle admitted to have unknowingly fielded two ineligible players for the previous years from 2003 to 2005. However, the admission was made months after learning about the ineligibility. The UAAP Board forfeited their 2004–05 championship title and had to return their trophy. As a result, FEU was awarded the men's basketball championship for the 2004–05 season. The Green Archers' team standings from 2003 to 2005 were revoked and La Salle was suspended in the 2006–07 season from all UAAP events. Six La Salle wins from the 2003 to 2005 seasons were forfeited, but this only affected the championships, moreover nullity of title does not imply a win column to the opposition.
Women's volleyball
Both teams are expected to meet at least two times per year in UAAP volleyball tournaments.
See also Ateneo–La Salle rivalry Battle of Katipunan Battle of the East UP–UST rivalry
References UAAP historical results 59th UAAP Season—Tournament Recap