THE BRAND-new season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) will raise its curtains on Aug. 6 with a double-header at the Cebu Coliseum.
Opening the hostilities will be the revamped Don Bosco going up against the University of San Carlos (USC) in the high school division and the University of San Jose-Recoletos Jaguars taking on the University of Cebu Webmasters in the collegiate division.
Fans though will not have to wait long for the fireworks to start as the defending champion USC takes on rivals Southwestern University (SWU) Cobras the very next day.
The Warriors team that will compete on that day will be wholly different from the one that captured the Cesafi title last year. Left to man the squad are Ian Tagapan and Gio Laguyo after a host of others exhausted their eligibility or simply left for greener pastures.
Gone are reigning MVP Shooster Olago, forwards Nico Magat and Charles Pepito, Mavii Suarez and Ian Ortega who chose to transfer to the Cobras just last week.
The much-awaited showdown between bitter opponents SWU and the University of the Visayas has been set for Sept. 1.
The collegiate division will adopt a double round-robin elimination round with the top four finishers enjoying a twice-to-beat advantage in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals will be a single round-robin affair with the top two finishers advancing to the best-of-five championship series.
The high school division’s elimination round will be a single round-robin with the top two teams immediately advancing to the semis.
Teams ranked 3, 4, 5 and 6 will advance to the quarterfinals where the third and fourth-ranked teams will hold a twice-to-beat bonus over the next two. The semis format will be the same as the collegiate division’s. The high school finals will be a best-of-three affair.