List of MPBL rivalries

Despite having only ran six seasons as of 2024, the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League (MPBL) has already developed rivalries between its member teams.

Due to the league using a single round-robin format in every season thus far, the league’s rivalries mostly revolve around their playoff match-ups, where they play multiple games in a series. Others may involve contention within the division and/or the league overall, or the proximity of the teams. Some rivalries have also extended into other leagues, such as the Pilipinas Super League (PSL) and FilBasket when both teams compete in the same season or tournament.

North Division

• Nueva Ecija–Pampanga rivalry
  • During the early to mid-2020s, the two teams have become consistent contenders in the North Division. With both teams being based in Central Luzon, this added geography to the rivalry. The two teams met in the playoffs twice, both in the division semifinals, with Nueva Ecija winning the 2022 meeting and Pampanga winning the 2024 meeting. ^{[1] [2]}
• Nueva Ecija–San Juan rivalry
  • Since the start of the professional era, both teams have become consistent contenders in the North Division. Although they only met in the MPBL playoffs twice, including a North Division finals match-up in 2022, ^[3] it has also extended into other leagues.
• Pampanga–San Juan rivalry
  • A notable rivalry in the early to mid-2020s, both teams faced off in the playoffs three times in four seasons from 2020 to 2024, culminating in back-to-back battles for the North Division title in the latter two seasons, with Pampanga winning both. ^{[4] [5]}

South Division

• Batangas City–Zamboanga rivalry
  • Both teams met in the playoffs in three consecutive seasons from 2019 to 2022, with all three series going the full three-game length. The culmination of this streak was a South Division finals match-up which Zamboanga won. ^{[6] [7]}

Interdivisional

• Davao Occidental–San Juan rivalry
  • A notable rivalry during the amateur era, Davao Occidental and San Juan are the only two teams to meet in back-to-back national finals (2019 and 2021), with San Juan winning the former and Davao Occidental winning the latter. ^[8]

Defunct

• Bacoor City–Imus rivalry
  • The league's first intra-provincial rivalry, ^[9] Bacoor City and Imus fought for triumph in Cavite. The rivalry itself, however, wasn't as competitive as Bacoor City won all four meetings against Imus, none of which happened in the playoffs. The rivalry ended after the 2023 season following Bacoor City's departure.

References

1. "MPBL: Nueva Ecija, San Juan forge North Finals showdown". Tiebreaker Times. 2022-11-12. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
2. "Pampanga nips Nueva Ecija in OT, meets San Juan in MPBL North finals". Philstar.com. 2024-10-31. Retrieved 2024-10-31.
3. "Nueva Ecija clinches MPBL North division crown". RAPPLER. 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2024-03-05.
4. "Pampanga nips San Juan to seize MPBL North Division title". Philstar.com. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
5. "Pampanga wins North Division title, advances to MPBL Finals". Spin.ph. 2024-11-11. Retrieved 2024-11-12.
6. "Zamboanga completes huge comeback to seal MPBL Finals date vs. Nueva Ecija". Dugout Philippines. December 2, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
7. "Squeaker sends Zamboanga to national finals". Philstar.com. 2022-11-28. Retrieved 2024-11-01.
8. Lozada, Bong (21 March 2021). "'Payback' as Davao Occidental wins MPBL national title, tops San Juan in OT". Inquirer.net. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
9. Lim, Allan (May 22, 2018). "MPBL team number 26: Bacoor City Strikers". Hoops. Archived from the original on June 1, 2018. Retrieved May 31, 2018.