Philippine Sports News and Updates

The Ateneo de Manila Blue Eagles is the varsity team of the Ateneo de Manila University in the University Athletic Association of the Philippines. The Ateneo was the first Philippine school to adopt a mascot, and was also the first school to field an organized cheering squad in the Philippines.

Team information

The Ateneo de Manila University is a member of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines, where it fields teams in all events. It was also a founding member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association in the 1920s. The Ateneo left the NCAA in 1978 due to the league-wide violence prevalent at the time, and then joined the UAAP in the same year.

Aside from the UAAP, the Ateneo also participates in the Father Martin Cup, the Home and Away Invitational League, Nike Summer League, Fil-Oil Flying V Invitational Tournament and the Shakey's V-League. Different university units also field teams in leagues such as RIFA (football), PAYA and PRADA (basketball), the Inter-MBA Friendship Games, various inter-university golf tournaments, and so on. The Ateneo also fields teams to the Jesuit Athletic Meet, an athletic meet of the different Jesuit schools in the Philippines.

Ateneo de Manila's teams were called the Blue and Whites until the late 1930s when the Ateneo adopted the Blue Eagle as its mascot.

The choice of the color blue is clearly based on the Ateneo's colors.

The choice of an eagle holds iconic significance. .It is a reference to the "high-flying" basketball team which would "sweep the fields away" as a dominating force. Furthermore, there was some mythological— even political—significance to the eagle as a symbol of power.. The Ateneo Blue Eagles are the current champions of the Collegiate Champions League and the 2008 Nike Summer League.

Rivals

The Blue Eagles have had many rivalries over time. Before the NCAA was founded, the Ateneans' fiercest basketball rivals were the UP Fighting Maroons.

During the early days of the NCAA, the Blue Eagles developed a rivalry with the San Beda Red Lions as they traded championships in the 1930's. Then, a small rivalry began with the De La Salle Green Archers when they scored an upset win over Ateneo in the 1939-1940 season of the NCAA. After this, the Blue Eagles and the Red Lions would continue to win championships and other schools such as Jose Rizal College would come up with championship seasons of their own. That 1939 upset by De La Salle planted the seed for a new rivalry that continues to this day in the UAAP.

The games between the Blue Eagles and the Green Archers are among the most anticipated matches in every UAAP season. During the 1988 season, Ateneo was the defending champion and they faced La Salle in the Finals. A deep Ateneo lineup ended up winning the crown and triggered the start of their UAAP rivalry that remains as hot as ever. Recently, the rivalry has picked up once more as both Ateneo and La Salle have become frequent UAAP Final Four participants, even clashing in the UAAP Finals in 2001 (won by La Salle) and 2002 (won by Ateneo). The UAAP is often guaranteed high TV ratings and high ticket sales when Ateneo and La Salle clash on the hardcourt.

Records

Records of basketball championships since the NCAA show that the Ateneo currently has 44 combined UAAP and NCAA basketball titles, which includes titles in juniors and women's basketball. This is more than the number of total titles held by the University of Santo Tomas, which has 42 (40 UAAP and 2 NCAA), San Beda College, which has 29 (all in the NCAA, of which it is currently a member), Colegio de San Juan de Letran with 26 (all in the NCAA, of which it is currently a member), and De La Salle University-Manila, which has 23 (10 in the NCAA, and 13 in the UAAP).

In men's basketball, the Ateneo Blue Eagles have won 14 NCAA titles, and 3 UAAP titles, for a total of 17.

In juniors basketball, the Ateneo Blue Eagles have 9 NCAA titles and 14 UAAP titles, for a total of 23.

In women's basketball, the Ateneo Lady Eagles have 2 UAAP titles.

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