THE LATEST season of the Tanduay Athletics E-Leagues for Basketball is all set to kick off today at the City Sports Club-Cebu.
According to organizers, this season is touted to be its longest yet with 24 different teams competing in two divisions: the Elite Classic and the Evo League. The season is expected to run until February of next year.
Raring to defend their title in the Elite is Convergys. However, a new champion will be crowned in the Evo class with reigning titleholder QBE being elevated to the Elite division.
Crowding the Evo League are the Author Solutions Inc. Hardbacks, Contact Solutions Flying Lemurs, The Results Spartans, Dynnino Jets, Optum Knights, Streamline Kangaroos, Shearwater Health Crusaders, Tech Mahindra Tech Mighties, Bombardier Grey Wolves, Cognizant Tech Solutions Gladiators, Dreamscape Networks, SSI / RESEARCH NOW Warriors, Kyocera Frontiers, CTC- BPO Panthers and the JP Morgan Chase Bankers.
Competing in the Elite Classic are the Convergys Converters, Teleperformance Vipers, Sykes Pioneers, Accenture Sharks, Supportsave Fusion Dragons, Wipro Tigers, Eperformax Reds, Telstra – Teletech Boomerangs and the QBE Generals.
Teams in Evo will play a single round robin while the Elite squads play a double round robin. The top seven finishers will advance to the playoffs while an eighth playoff spot will be determined by a lottery. The top four seeds will enjoy a twice-to-beat advantage in the first round. The semifinals and the finals will be best-of-three affairs.
Spicing up the opening ceremonies will be DJ Macy Ho and the always anticipated Ms. E-League Pageant.
The opening games will feature Optum taking on JP Morgan at 3 p.m. while Teleperformance tangles with Telstra at 4:30 p.m.