UAAP Final Four

The Final Four in which the four teams (out of eight) with the best records qualify for the postseason playoff games was instituted in Season 56 (1993–94). Previously the postseason was a championship series between the top two teams, with the No. 1 seeded team holding the twice to beat advantage, i.e., they have to win only once to clinch the championship. The No. 2 team has to win twice.

The tournament is now conducted in three stages with the institution of the Final Four playoffs:

• The two-round preliminaries, where a team plays the other teams twice. The four teams with the worst records are eliminated.
• The semifinals, wherein the No. 1 seeded team plays the 4th seeded team and the No. 2 seeded team plays the 3rd seeded team. Both No. 1 and No. 2 seeded teams possess the twice to beat advantage, while the No. 3 and No. 4 teams have to win twice.
• The finals, which is a best of three series.

On the first year of the implementation of the Final Four playoffs in men's basketball, the University of Santo Tomas swept the group stage, and following the then existing rules, the Glowing Goldies were awarded the championship outright. After that season, the UAAP revised the rule so that the team that sweeps the regular stage will instead advance to the best-of-3 Finals automatically. While the No. 2 team will have the twice to beat advantage in the semifinals where it awaits the winner of the game between the No. 3 and No. 4 teams.[1]

The revised postseason format was implemented in Season 57 (1994–95) but it was not until Season 70 (2007–08) that a team swept the group stages. The University of the East was the first to accomplish this feat under the new format, causing the sweep clause to be used. UE thus automatically advanced to the Finals but this reward became a bane as the Red Warriors had to wait for 21 days before the championship series can be started due to several factors, namely, the unavailability of the playing venue (Araneta Coliseum), two tie-breaker games and two semifinal games. The Red Warriors became rusty, so to speak, causing them to lose the championship series 2–0 against La Salle (their last group stage opponent). As a result, the Policy Board formulated the "bonus rule" in which the team that sweeps the group stages will qualify for the Finals outright and will have a thrice-to-beat advantage. This meant that the number 1 seeded team will only need to win twice; the other finalist needs to win thrice, thus giving the sweeper a 1–0 lead in a virtual best-of-five.[2]

Ties among the semifinalists were broken by an extra game, irrespective of the seedings. Ergo, in a tie for the 2nd seed, the game that will be used to break the tie serves as a de facto game one of a best-of-three series. If two teams are tied for the fourth seed, the game that will be used to break the tie serves as a knockout game between the two. If three or more teams are tied, the team with the best points difference gets a bye to the final tie-breaker game against the winner/s of the teams with the lower points difference. In Season 72 (2009–10), the league introduced the "common sense" rule in determining seedings for the playoffs in case of ties.[3] This means not all ties in the semifinals will be broken by a one-game playoff. Only ties for second and fourth are broken by an extra game. Ties for first and third are broken by the points difference of the tied teams. Starting Season 79, however, the thrice-to-beat advantage for the top-seeded team (in cases of the double group stage sweep) was removed, but the stepladder semifinals format (second-seeded team still with the twice-to-beat advantage against the 2 lower-seeded teams in the Final Four) and the automatic Finals slot incentive for the top-seeded team remained.[4]

Starting In Season 85, the UAAP removed the twice-to-beat advantage for the #2 seed in the stepladder series, to remove the "undue advantage."[5]

• Regular Final Four Round - If no team sweeps the group stage:
  • Seeds No. 1 and No. 2 teams possess the twice-to-beat advantage
  • Team No. 1 meets No. 4 while No. 2 meets No. 3 in the semifinals.
  • The semifinal winners advance to the Finals.
  • The team that wins 2 games in the Finals wins the championship.
• Stepladder Final Four Format - If a team sweeps the group stage:
  • Seed No. 1 advances to the Finals.
  • Seed No. 2 advances to the semifinals.
  • Teams No. 3 and No. 4 face off to meet No. 2 in the semifinals in a one-game playoff.
  • In the finals, either the No. 1 seed or the other opponent has to win only twice. From 2008 to 2016, seed No. 1 earned a thrice-to-beat advantage (or a 1−0 incentive lead in a best-of-five Finals series). The No. 1 seed only had to win twice, while the other opponent had to win thrice.
• If two teams are tied, an extra game will be played to determine which seed they will possess.
• In case of three or more teams being tied, the team with the best head-to-head record usually possesses the best seeding, while the other teams will play an extra game to determine the second-best seeding,

The Final Four is heavily covered by the media. With the UAAP as one of the leading collegiate leagues in the country, the Final Four games are broadcast live throughout the country.

From 2000 to 2020, the UAAP Finals and the Final Four games, were broadcast by ABS-CBN's UHF channel Studio 23 nationwide and produced by ABS-CBN Sports. Prior to Studio 23, the games were broadcast by Silverstar Sports on the state-controlled People's Television VHF channel 4. Since July 2009, the UAAP is also aired in high definition through cable channel Balls, via their channel Balls HD. Upon signing a new contract at the conclusion of UAAP Season 72 in October 2009, the Finals will be aired through VHF television channel ABS-CBN 2, beginning in 2010 and renewed again in October 2013 at the conclusion of UAAP Season 76. Prior to 2001, the games were also aired live on DZSR Sports Radio 918-AM; after ABS-CBN's takeover of broadcast rights, its Manila FM station 101.9 For Life! aired updates during and after the games, but not blow-by-blow coverages. In 2010, radio coverage of the games were aired on DZRJ-AM 810.

Starting the 2021-2022 season, with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the closure of ABS-CBN on free television since 2020, the UAAP has signed new broadcast rights with Cignal TV, resulting in the establishment of the UAAP Varsity Channel dedicated to live broadcasts and archived games of the league across selected events. One Sports and TV5 have also signed in to televise the games live nationwide, with the latter catering to all post-season matches for both basketball and volleyball tournaments.

Stats since the 2001 season.

Statistic	Name	Total	School	Opponent	Stage
Most points	Thirdy Ravena	38	Ateneo	UP	2018 Finals
Most rebounds	Raymar Jose	23	FEU	Ateneo	2016 Semifinals
Most assists	Macky Escalona Mike Cortez Mike Cortez Thirdy Ravena	9	Ateneo  La Salle  La Salle  Ateneo	Adamson  Ateneo  NU  UP	2006 Semifinals 2002 Finals 2001 Semifinals 2018 Finals
Most steals	Elmer Espiritu Pocholo Villanueva	5	UE  La Salle	Ateneo  UE	2008 Semifinals 2007 Finals
Most blocks	Angelo Kouame	8	Ateneo	UP	2021 Finals

*game went into overtime.

• NCAA Final Four (Philippines)