West Negros College could go head-to-head again with bitter rival St. Francis of Assisi College as both teams qualified for the Philippine Collegiate Basketball Champions League that tips off Nov. 10 in Manila .

The Mustangs, who are coming off a third place finish in the Philippine University Games, and Doves --- the Universities and Colleges Athletic Association champs --- figured in a brawl-marred Unigames quarterfinal showdown at the Natalio Velez Gym in Silay City in Oct. 26.

WNC won, 59-55, as game officials abandoned the match with 18 seconds left when St. Francis players cleared the bench and got involved in the melee on the court. Four WNC players involved in the brawl were also sanctioned.

Notwithstanding the rivalry with the Doves, the Mustangs will have their hands full in the tournament that draws 16 of the country's top collegiate squads led by reigning NCAA champion San Beda College and UAAP titlist De La Salle University.

“The emergence of college and university leagues makes it difficult to determine which is the nation's best. As such, each league sends out its top squads in a postseason affair in a battle of champions,” Virgil Villavicencio, head of FilOil-Flying V Sports, the main supporter of the PCCL, said in a press release.

The Mustangs, who qualified as the champion of the Negros Occidental Private Schools Education and Athletic Association Meet, lost to University of Cebu in the 2005 Champions League Visayas-Mindanao eliminations.

Following that defeat, WNC, then bannered by now UAAP players Sunny Abaring and John Alisbo of FEU and Siverino Baclao of Ateneo, went on a roll, topping the University Games and grabbing the title in the National Schools Basketball Championships in March 2006.

Spearheading the Mustangs this year are skipper Vengie Vergara, Virgilio Dapar, Jason Melarin and 5-6 playmaker Alfie Villariza, who had his breakout tournament in the Unigames, where he burned Far Eastern University for 30 points in a semifinal defeat.

NCAA runner-up Letran and semifinalists Jose Rizal U and Mapua are also in the knock-out tournament, while losing finalist University of the East and final-four entrants Ateneo and University of Sto . Tomas are representing the UAAP.

The other qualifiers are Manuel L. Quezon U (Colleges and Universities Sports Association), STI (National Athletic Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities), and Arellano U (NCR Athletic Association).

Also qualifying are provincial teams University of Visayas Green Lancers , CESAFI champion and Sacred Heart Colleges Stallions, representing the Tacloban City collegiate league. Four teams from Mindanao are still battling for the last champions league berth.

The seeding of the 16 teams will be decided by a sportswriters' poll a day before the start of the tournament.

Scholarships will be doled out to the members of the champion school, aside from the P500,000 cash prize. The runner-up gets P250,000, while third place receives P100,000.

The tournament will be played at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila and The Arena in San Juan .

The PCCL is patterned after the US NCAA Division One playoffs, the press release added. It will use the knockout format which means losers are automatically eliminated. *CPT

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