17th CESAFI season to open Aug. 5

The 17th season of the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation, Inc. (CESAFI) will kick off with its centerpiece basketball event on August 5 at the Cebu Coliseum.

This time, the league will be governed by a new format. The change was effected as last year's format drew flak after the shocking downfall of top contender Southwestern University-Phinma Cobras.

The Cobras completed a 12-0 sweep in the double round elimination, stretched their unbeaten run to 13-0 only to be ousted after suffering just one loss in the semifinals at the hands of eventual champions University of the Visayas Green Lancers.

Some coaches argued that the elimination topnotcher — via sweep at that — should be given incentive going into the next phase of the tournament.

The CESAFI technical committee led by commissioner Felix 'Boy' O. Tiukinhoy, Jr. took notice of such flaw, hence, the modification of format that was announced to all coaches and team representatives during the rules meeting last Wednesday afternoon at the function room of Cebu Coliseum.

Under the new scheme, the seven college teams will still play in a double round robin but the top two qualifiers will now enjoy twice-to-beat edge over the No.3 and No.4 teams in the crossover semis. The winners will clash for the championship in a best-of-three series.

In the event a team completes a sweep in the classification stage, the team will be given an automatic finals spot. Teams No.3 and No.4 will figure in a sudden-death match, with the survivor facing the twice-to-beat No. 2.

The winner will then take on the No.1 squad in the finals. In the championship, the topseed needs to win only twice to claim the title while the lower-ranked team must beat the topseed three times to emerge as champion.

The same format will apply in the juniors divison only that high school teams will play in a single round robin during the elimination.