Where Champions Meet

All roads in UAAP football this season have led here.

For the first time since their title runs, UAAP’s last two champions meet on the biggest stage. Season 86 winners UP Fighting Maroons take on defending champions FEU Tamaraws in the Season 88 UAAP football finals. No introductions needed. Both teams know this stage.

For UP, the return to the final is anchored on standards, not memories. Flor Tacardon, a key figure in their Season 86 title run, sees only a small gap between that championship side and the current group. 

The difference, he explains, is that the previous team set the bar, and this version of UP is making themselves better so they can beat the standards set by the team. 

“We don’t remove our foot sa pedal in order to achieve that standard and even go beyond it,” he added.

That mindset is sharpened by the opponent across the pitch. 

FEU’s presence in yet another final is no accident, something Flor Tacardon openly acknowledges. “Kudos to the FEU team, they’ve been in the Finals for four straight years,” he says, pointing to the shared reality that comes with being champions. 

With that target on their backs, every opponent arrives ready, eager to prove something — a pressure both sides have learned to live with. For Tacardon, that experience has shaped UP’s approach, as the team learned to “treat every game as if it is the championship game.”

FEU arrived in this final with experience. Star midfielder Theo Libarnes points to a shift in mentality as the defining difference from last season. After fighting for redemption in Season 87, this year demanded humility. 

As defending champions, the Tamaraws understood that every opponent would prepare harder, so they chose to “work quietly, trusting each other, and staying together,” leaning on belief rather than noise as the pressure built.

Despite his national-team background, the UAAP final still carries weight for Theo Libarnes. 

“Every time I step on the field, I remember the sacrifices, the pain, the hard work, and most of all the faith in God that carried me through everything,” said Libarnes. 

Stationed in midfield, his presence gives structure and control to any side he plays for, turning defensive stops into quick, dangerous transitions.

Both FEU and UP are comfortable with the ball. They build from the back, value control, and rely on structure through midfield. With both sides stacked in the center of the pitch, the final shapes up as a tight contest decided by who manages possession better and who breaks lines more efficiently.

Up front, Selwyn Mamon remains the sharp edge of FEU’s attack, even if he won’t be on the pitch when the final is played. A suspension rules him out of the championship match, but the edge remains. Losses to the Maroons in the elimination round still linger, making this matchup different, and the hunger he describes comes from wanting to make up for those results. 

“We will give our everything inside the pitch and hope to make more history,”  Mamon told ALL-STAR.

The pressure of defending a title is real, but it comes with clarity. Having been here before, FEU knows what the final demands and understands what it takes to perform when the weight is heaviest.

With national youth players, veterans, and rising talents on both sides, this Season 88 final shows the level collegiate football has reached.

Just ninety minutes that will decide whose standard stands tallest.

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