UAAP Season 79 (also known as UAAP LXXIX) is the 2016–2017 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). This season, hosted by the University of Santo Tomas officially opened on September 3, 2016. The opening ceremony was held at the UST Plaza Mayor at 3:00 pm with the formal introduction of ballroom dancing as a demonstration sport in this season by the host school University of Santo Tomas (UST) at España, Manila. The official ceremony started at 5:00 pm as there was a concert party themed "Dare to Dream" where the official theme song for the season was revealed. However, unlike in the previous years when the first double-header basketball games were held following the opening ceremonies, this year it was held the following day, September 4 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The eight member universities of the UAAP are competing in fifteen sports to vie for the overall championship. Season 79 marks the start of Ateneo's participation in the Juniors Girls division. Ateneo fielded teams in the Juniors Girls Swimming, Fencing and Track & Field tournaments. For more information check here;
Opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the UAAP Season 79 was held at the University of Santo Tomas main campus in España, Sampaloc, Manila on September 3, 2016. The ceremony kicked off with a ballroom Formation competition at the Quadricentennial Pavilion.
Ballroom dancing, which all member schools (except FEU) participated, was the newest demonstration sport and a side event before the commencement of UAAP basketball competition. University of the Philippines swept both the Latin and Standard categories in the said competition.
After the event, an opening parade and program proper, followed by an outdoor concert was also held at the nearby Plaza Mayor. The performers include: the UST Salinggawi Dance, Conservatory of Music choirs: Coro Tomasino, and Liturgikon Vocal Ensemble, along with the Conservatory of Music orchestra. Soloist Neil Morales sang the theme "Dare to Dream" composed by Neo Hernandez.
The first doubleheader games of the men's basketball tournament will start the next day at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
A press conference was conducted at the Novotel Manila in Quezon City, 4 days before the actual opening.
Rule changes Starting this season, the UAAP officially decided to remove the thrice-to-beat advantage of teams which sweep the elimination rounds in all UAAP sports. In the new rule, a team which will get a perfect record in the elimination rounds will have an outright Finals slot and the championship will be decided via a best-of-3 series, while the other top 3 teams will play using the current stepladder format in the semi-final round with the number 2 seed getting a twice-to-beat advantage. The team which wins the stepladder round gets to play against the sweeping team in a Best of Three Finals. However, in Football, there will be no twice-to-beat advantage for the top 2 seeded teams in the Final Four round and no best-of-three series in the Finals. All match-ups will be a one-game affair.
In addition, the traditional singing of school hymns will be played during the pre-game warm-ups, instead of after the games.
Sports calendar This is the tentative calendar of events of the UAAP Season 79. The list includes the tournament host schools and the venues.
First semester Sport/Division Event Host Start Date Venue/s Ballroom Dancing (demo sport) UST September 3, 2016 UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Basketball (Men) UST September 4, 2016 Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall of Asia Arena Basketball (Women) UST September 4, 2016 Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall of Asia Arena Volleyball (Juniors) Adamson September 10, 2016 Adamson University Gym Badminton (Seniors) FEU September 16, 2016 Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall Beach Volleyball (Seniors) UE October 1, 2016 Sands at SM by the Bay Table Tennis (M/W/B) UP October 8–9, 15–19, 2016 Blue Eagle Gym Taekwondo (M/W/B) Ateneo October 22, 2016 Blue Eagle Gym Poomsae (M/W/B) Ateneo October 21, 2016 Blue Eagle Gym / Filoil Flying V Centre Swimming (Seniors/Juniors) UP October 21–24, 2016 Rizal Memorial Swimming Complex Judo (Seniors/Juniors) La Salle November 19, 2016 De La Salle-Zobel Sports Pavilion Cheerdance Special Events Committee November 19, 2016 Smart Araneta Coliseum
Second semester Sport/Division Event Host Start Date Venue Basketball (Boys) FEU November 12, 2016 Filoil Flying V Centre Football (Boys) Ateneo December 3, 2016 Rizal Memorial Football Stadium and Moro Lorenzo Football Field Baseball (M/B) La Salle February 4, 2017 Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium Softball (W) La Salle February 4, 2017 Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium Volleyball (Seniors) UST February 4, 2017 Filoil Flying V Centre, Smart Araneta Coliseum, Mall of Asia Arena Football (Seniors) Ateneo February 4, 2017 Moro Lorenzo Football Field, Rizal Memorial Football Stadium Chess (Seniors/Juniors) Adamson February 6, 2017 Henry Sy. Sr. Hall, DLSU-Taft Fencing (Seniors/Juniors) UE February 8, 2017 UST Quadricentennial Pavilion Arena Track and Field (Seniors/Juniors) NU February 9, 2017 Philsports Arena (Formerly ULTRA) Oval Track Lawn Tennis (Seniors) NU February 18, 2017 Rizal Memorial Tennis Center Streetdance Special Events Committee May 20, 2017 UST Plaza Mayor
Basketball
Seniors' division The UAAP Season 79 seniors division basketball tournament began on September 4, 2016, the day after the official opening. The tournament host is the University of Santo Tomas and the tournament commissioner is Rebo Saguisag. The UAAP have adopted FIBA rules on technicals, timeouts, among others. The tournament still used referees from BRASCU for officiating.
Men's tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Women's tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Juniors' division The UAAP Season 79 Juniors' division basketball tournament started on November 12, 2016. The tournament venue will be at the Filoil Flying V Centre. The tournament host is the Far Eastern University.
Boys' tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Volleyball
Seniors' division The UAAP Season 79 seniors division volleyball tournament will start on February 4, 2017. The tournament main venue is the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City while selected games will be played at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City and the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay. The tournament host is the University of Santo Tomas. Rustico "Otie" Camangian is the tournament commissioner.
Men's tournament Elimination round
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Women's tournament Elimination round
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Finals MVP : Rookie of the Year:
Juniors' division The UAAP Season 79 juniors' volleyball tournament started on September 10, 2016. The tournament venue will be at the Adamson University Gym. Adamson is the tournament host. The number of participating schools in the boys' and girls' tournaments increased to eight and seven, respectively. Far Eastern University fielded boys' and girls' volleyball teams beginning season 77. Adamson fielded a boys' team starting season 79. Since there are now more than six participating schools in each tournament, both tournaments will have a Final Four format. The UAAP Board decided to move the high school volleyball tournaments from 2nd semester to 1st semester in Season 78 due to the basketball juniors tournament being moved from the 1st semester to 2nd semester.
Boys' tournament Elimination round
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Girls' tournament Elimination round
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Beach volleyball The UAAP Season 79 beach volleyball tournament began on October 1, 2016. The tournament venue was at the Sands at SM by the Bay, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, Metro Manila. University of the East was the tournament host. Beach volleyball is a single round-robin elimination tournament.
Men's tournament
Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Women's tournament Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Football
The UAAP Season 79 seniors division football tournament will start on February 4, 2017, at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. The tournament venue will be at the following football fields: Rizal Memorial Stadium (during weekends) and the Ateneo Moro Lorenzo Field (during weekdays). The tournament host is Ateneo and Rely San Agustin is the tournament commissioner.
Men's tournament Elimination round Team standings
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Women's tournament Elimination round
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Boys' tournament The UAAP Season 79 juniors' division football tournament started on December 3, 2016. All games are scheduled to take place at the Ateneo Moro Lorenzo Football field on December 3, 10, 17 for the first round and January 14, 21, 28, 2017 for the second round. The championship game is scheduled for February 4, 2017. Ateneo is the tournament host.
Elimination round
Finals
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Baseball The UAAP Season 79 Seniors' division baseball tournament began on February 4, 2017, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Malate Manila. The tournament host is La Salle.
Men's tournament Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Scores Results to the right and top of the gray cells are first round games, those to the left and below are second round games. Superscript is the number of innings played before the mercy rule applied.
Finals
Awards Season Most Valuable Player: Finals Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year: Best Pitcher: Best Hitter: Best Slugger: Most Runs Batted-In : Most Home-runs : and Most Stolen Bases :
Boys' tournament The UAAP Season 79 Juniors' division baseball (demonstration sport) tournament began on February 4, 2017, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Malate Manila. The tournament host is La Salle.
Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Scores Results to the right and top of the gray cells are first round games, those to the left and below are second round games. Superscript is the number of innings played before the mercy rule applied.
Finals
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Softball The UAAP Season 79 softball tournament began on February 4, 2017, at the Rizal Memorial Baseball Stadium in Malate Manila. The tournament host is La Salle. Softball is a sport for women only in the UAAP.
Women's tournament Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Scores Results to the right and top of the gray cells are first round games, those to the left and below are second round games. Superscript is the number of innings played before the mercy rule applied.
Playoffs
Awards Season Most Valuable Player: Finals Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year: Best Pitcher: Best Hitter: Best Slugger: Most Runs Batted-In : Most Stolen Bases : Most Home-runs :
Badminton The UAAP Season 79 badminton tournament began on September 16, 2016. The tournament venue was the Rizal Memorial Badminton Hall in Vito Cruz St., Malate, Manila. Badminton is a single round-robin elimination tournament. Far Eastern University was the tournament host.
Seniors' division Men's tournament Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: Rookie of the Year:
Women's tournament Elimination round
Team standings
Match-up results
Playoffs
Awards Most Valuable Player: