WITH the race to the title as open as it has ever been, 10 teams will be vying for the 2017 PBA D-League Aspirants’ Cup with an exciting opening week set to commence next week.
The customary opening ceremonies will first be held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 19, Thursday at Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig, before the Jeron Teng-led AMA Online Education clash against upstart Batangas at 3 p.m.
Action continues the following week, with guest team Blustar Detergent-Malaysia and contender Racal locking horns at 3 p.m. on January 23, Monday, followed by the duel between last season’s runners-up Cafe France and Tanduay at 5 p.m.
Jose Rizal University makes its season debut on Jan. 24, Tuesday, against Blustar at 3 p.m., before Cignal-San Beda goes up against AMA at 5 p.m.
Victoria Sports-MLQU and Wangs Basketball play their first game against each other to wrap up the opening week on Jan. 26, Thursday, at 5 p.m.
Other marquee matchups for the conference include the coaching battle between champion mentors Egay Macaraya and Boyet Fernandez when Cafe France play Cignal on Jan. 30, top picks Teng and Jom Sollano clashing when AMA takes on Racal on Feb. 2, a rematch of last conference’s semifinals tiff between Racal and Tanduay on Feb. 14, and a reunion of last year’s NCAA finalists when San Beda-backed Cignal faces a Racal team bannered by Arellano standouts on March 13.
Four teams will be eliminated after the elimination phase, with the top two gaining outright semifinals berth while the middle teams battling in the quarterfinals.
The semifinals and Finals will both be contested in a best-of-3 series.