2026 MPBL playoffs
| 2026 SportsPlus MPBL Playoffs presented by Xtreme | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Country | Philippines |
| Dates | September 25, 2026 – December 2026 |
| Teams | 20 |
| Defending champions | Abra Weavers |
The 2026 MPBL playoffs is the upcoming postseason tournament of the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League's 2026 season, the league's eighth overall, and second under play-in tournament format. The postseason tournament began in September, after the conclusion of the regular season.
Overview
[edit]Updates to playoff appearances
[edit]- The Abra Weavers entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season and also clinch the best record in the league for the second consecutive season.
- The Quezon Huskers entered the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season and also clinch the best record in the South Division for the third consecutive season.[1]
- The San Juan Knights and Zamboanga Sikat entered the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.[2]
- The Batangas City Tanduay Rum Masters entered the playoffs for the eighth consecutive season, currently the longest playoff streak in the MPBL.
- The GenSan Warriors entered the playoffs for the seventh consecutive season.
- The Caloocan Batang Kankaloo and Pasay Voyagers entered the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.[2]
- The Rizal Golden Coolers and Biñan Tatak Gel entered the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
- The Ilagan Isabela Cowboys and Mindoro Tamaraws entered the playoffs for the second consecutive season.[3]
- The Meycauayan Marilao Gems entered the playoffs for the first time.[4]
- The Cebu Greats entered the playoffs for the first time since 2019 playoffs.
- The Bataan Risers and Quezon City Black Bulls entered the playoffs for the first time since 2022 playoffs.
Notable events
[edit]- This marked the first playoffs since the introduction of the Play-In Tournament that none of the teams seeded #8 of both divisions made the playoffs. Also, this is the first playoffs that a 9th-seeded team made the playoffs.
Format
[edit]The top six teams from each division advance to the playoffs, while The seventh and eighth-ranked teams will play for the seventh seed in the playoffs. The losing team will face the winner of the game between the ninth and tenth-ranked teams for the eighth seed and the final playoff spot. Due to this change, only the top six teams will directly advance to the playoffs. Seeding is based on wins, with tiebreaker rules applied should multiple teams have the same record. The single-elimination bracket consists of four rounds with no reseeding. The first two rounds being a best-of-three series; the division finals being a best-of-five series; and the national finals being a best-of-seven series for the first time.
During the first two rounds, two games within the same division are played in a gameday, with homecourt advantage alternating between the higher-seeded teams of each series. A traditional homecourt format is then used for the last two rounds, with the division finals using a 2–2–1 format and the national finals using a 2–2–1–1–1 format. The designated home team may not be able to play within its home locality. Should it occur, the gameday may take place elsewhere.
Division standings
[edit]|
North Division
Source: Standings p – Clinched play-in berth, but failed to reach playoffs; x – Clinched playoff berth; z – Clinched best record in league Notes: |
South Division
Source: Standings p – Clinched play-in berth, but failed to reach playoffs; x – Clinched playoff berth; y – Clinched best record in division Notes:
|
Play-in tournament
[edit]North Division
[edit]| Play-in games | No. 8 seed game | Final seeds | |||||||||||
| 7 | Bataan | 83 | 7 | Bataan | No. 7 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Pasig City | 75 | 9 | Quezon City | No. 8 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Pasig City | 81 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Quezon City | 95 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Quezon City | 76 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Valenzuela | 71 | |||||||||||
September 25 5:00 p.m. |
| Quezon City Black Bulls | 76–71 | Valenzuela City Darkhorse |
| Scoring by quarter: 28–14, 16–20, 13–21, 19–16 | ||
| Pts: Kobe Monje 23 Rebs: MJ Joson, Joeben Loria 9 Asts: Ryan Costelo 9 |
Pts: Jay Collado, CJ Alattica 15 Rebs: Jay Collado, Geremy Robinson Jr. 11 Asts: Geremy Robinson Jr. 6 | |
Camaya Coast Events Play Center, Mariveles, Bataan Referees: Edmar Avis, Richard Carpio, Edrick Chico |
September 25 7:00 p.m. |
| Pasig City | 75–83 | Bataan Risers |
| Scoring by quarter: 23–17, 21–19, 8–24, 23–23 | ||
| Pts: Jacob Galicia 21 Rebs: Jacob Galicia 12 Asts: Warlo Batac 5 |
Pts: Miggy Corteza 18 Rebs: Robbi Darang 9 Asts: Tutoy Ramirez 5 | |
| Bataan wins the 7th seed. | ||
Camaya Coast Events Play Center, Mariveles, Bataan Referees: Allan Manzano, Rafael Del Mar, Eduardo Villarosa |
September 30 5:00 p.m. |
| Quezon City Black Bulls | 95–81 | Pasig City |
| Scoring by quarter: 29–13, 18–10, 30–31, 18–27 | ||
| Pts: Ryan Costelo 22 Rebs: Jessie Sumoda, MJ Joson 9 Asts: Val Chauca, MJ Joson 9 |
Pts: Warlo Batac 20 Rebs: Jacob Galicia 11 Asts: Warlo Batac 7 | |
| Quezon City wins the 8th seed. | ||
One Arena, Cainta, Rizal Referees: Mollie De Luna, Severino Pingol, Alvin Sosongco |
South Division
[edit]| Play-in games | No. 8 seed game | Final seeds | |||||||||||
| 7 | Mindoro | 77 | 7 | Mindoro | No. 7 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Basilan | 72 | 9 | Zamboanga | No. 8 seed | ||||||||
| 8 | Basilan | 59 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Zamboanga | 83 | |||||||||||
| 9 | Zamboanga | 86 | |||||||||||
| 10 | Imus | 61 | |||||||||||
September 28 5:00 p.m. |
| Zamboanga Sikat | 86–61 | Imus Bandera |
| Scoring by quarter: 27–20, 29–11, 11–14, 19–16 | ||
| Pts: Brandon Wilson 12 Rebs: Joseph Gabayni 8 Asts: Rafael Are 12 |
Pts: Dylan Darbin 17 Rebs: Justine Padua 8 Asts: Ian Pardo 5 | |
Calapan City Coliseum, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro Referees: Maynard Centeno, Ronn Ivan Baluyot, Danilo Rivera |
September 28 7:00 p.m. |
| Basilan Steel | 72–77 | Mindoro Tamaraws |
| Scoring by quarter: 10–10, 22–32, 17–15, 25–18 | ||
| Pts: Byron Villarias 17 Rebs: Byron Villarias 7 Asts: Gab Cometa 6 |
Pts: JJ Caspe 23 Rebs: JJ Caspe 11 Asts: Brian Heruela 6 | |
| Mindoro wins the 7th seed. | ||
Calapan City Coliseum, Calapan, Oriental Mindoro Referees: Ian Borbe, Rowen Inductivo, Edgar Orpilla |
September 30 7:00 p.m. |
| Zamboanga Sikat | 83–59 | Basilan Steel |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–13, 16–11, 25–17, 26–18 | ||
| Pts: Brandon Wilson 21 Rebs: Brandon Wilson 14 Asts: Forthsky Padrigao 7 |
Pts: Byron Villarias 12 Rebs: Byron Villarias 5 Asts: Gab Cometa 5 | |
| Zamboanga wins the 8th seed. | ||
One Arena, Cainta, Rizal Referees: Jay Castroverde, Edmar Avis, Mark Quilinguen |
Bracket
[edit]Teams in bold advanced to the next round. Teams in italics have homecourt advantage for the series. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its division, while the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round.
| Division quarterfinals (best-of-3) | Division semifinals (best-of-3) | Division finals (best-of-5) | National finals (best-of-7) | ||||||||||||||||
| N1 | Abra | ||||||||||||||||||
| N8 | Quezon City | ||||||||||||||||||
| N4 | Meycauayan Marilao | ||||||||||||||||||
| N5 | Pasay | ||||||||||||||||||
| North Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| N2 | San Juan | ||||||||||||||||||
| N7 | Bataan | ||||||||||||||||||
| N3 | Caloocan | ||||||||||||||||||
| N6 | Ilagan Isabela | ||||||||||||||||||
| S1 | Quezon | ||||||||||||||||||
| S8 | Zamboanga | ||||||||||||||||||
| S4 | Batangas City | ||||||||||||||||||
| S5 | Cebu | ||||||||||||||||||
| South Division | |||||||||||||||||||
| S2 | Biñan | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| S7 | Mindoro | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| S3 | General Santos | 0 | |||||||||||||||||
| S6 | Rizal | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
Division quarterfinals
[edit]- NOTE: All times are Philippine Standard Time (UTC+8:00).
North Division quarterfinals
[edit](1) Abra Weavers vs. (8) Quezon City Black Bulls
[edit]October 9 7:00 p.m. |
| Quezon City Black Bulls | vs. | Abra Weavers |
University of Bangued Gymnasium, Bangued, Abra |
October 15 5:00 p.m. |
| Abra Weavers | vs. | Quezon City Black Bulls |
Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium, Malolos, Bulacan |
| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
(2) San Juan Knights vs. (7) Bataan Risers
[edit]| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between San Juan and Bataan.
(3) Caloocan Batang Kankaloo vs. (6) Ilagan Isabela Cowboys
[edit]| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between Caloocan and Ilagan Isabela.
(4) Meycauayan Marilao Gems vs. (5) Pasay Voyagers
[edit]October 9 5:00 p.m. |
| Meycauayan Marilao Gems | vs. | Pasay Voyagers |
University of Bangued Gymnasium, Bangued, Abra |
October 15 7:00 p.m. |
| Pasay Voyagers | vs. | Meycauayan Marilao Gems |
Bulacan Capitol Gymnasium, Malolos, Bulacan |
| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between Meycauayan Marilao and Pasay.
South Division quarterfinals
[edit](1) Quezon Huskers vs. (8) Zamboanga Sikat
[edit]| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the second playoff meeting between Quezon and Zamboanga.
| Zamboanga 1–0 in all-time playoff series |
|---|
(2) Biñan Tatak Gel vs. (7) Mindoro Tamaraws
[edit]October 2 7:00 p.m. |
| Mindoro Tamaraws | 70–78 | Biñan Tatak Gel |
| Scoring by quarter: 16–16, 13–18, 18–20, 23–24 | ||
| Pts: JJ Caspe 16 Rebs: JJ Caspe 9 Asts: three players 3 |
Pts: Nic Cabañero 23 Rebs: Nic Cabañero, Michael Mabulac 9 Asts: Pamboy Raymundo 7 | |
| Biñan leads series, 1–0 | ||
| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between Biñan and Mindoro.
(3) GenSan Warriors vs. (6) Rizal Golden Coolers
[edit]October 2 5:00 p.m. |
| GenSan Warriors | 73–78 | Rizal Golden Coolers |
| Scoring by quarter: 21–16, 11–20, 23–20, 18–22 | ||
| Pts: Hesed Gabo 16 Rebs: Marwin Dionisio, Anton Eusebio 10 Asts: three players 6 |
Pts: Jolo Mendoza 17 Rebs: Laurenz Victoria 8 Asts: Laurenz Victoria 5 | |
| Rizal leads series, 1–0 | ||
| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between General Santos and Rizal.
(4) Batangas City Athletics vs. (5) Cebu Greats
[edit]| Head-to-head matchup | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
This is the first playoff meeting between Batangas City and Cebu.
References
[edit]- ↑ "Quezon blasts Zambo; Caloocan, San Juan win". Daily Tribune. September 17, 2026. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "San Juan, Pasay win, gain momentum heading into playoffs". Manila Bulletin. September 13, 2026. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Ilagan Isabela tackles Valenzuela; Rizal, Quezon City picked over foes". The Manila Times. September 7, 2026. Retrieved September 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Gems sparkle, shock Warriors". Daily Tribune. August 23, 2026. Retrieved August 23, 2026.
