} NCAA Season 96 is the 2020–21 athletic year of the

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

in the Philippines. The season host is the

Colegio de San Juan de Letran The Colegio de San Juan de Letran, (transl: College of San Juan de Letran) also referred to by its acronym CSJL, is a private Catholic coeducational basic and higher education institution owned and run by the friars of the Order of Preachers i ...

, coincidentally also celebrating its 400th anniversary.

Background

Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila The COVID-19 pandemic in Metro Manila is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus reached Metro Manila on January 30, 2020, when the first case o ...

, the preceding season,

NCAA Season 95 NCAA Season 95 is the 2019–20 collegiate athletic year of the National Collegiate Athletic Association of the Philippines. It is hosted by Arellano University. No overall championship title was awarded for this season due to the COVID-19 pandemi ...

, was terminated. This meant tournaments that were ongoing or have not been started were all canceled. No championships were decided on canceled tournaments, and no general champions were named. The Management Committee has recommended on starting the athletic year in November, instead of the usual July schedule, with President Rodrigo Duterte moving the start of the academic year to September. This is also the first season where foreigners are banned from playing. After

UAAP Season 83 UAAP Season 83 was the planned 2020–21 athletic year of the University Athletic Association of the Philippines (UAAP). This season was to be hosted by the De La Salle University. Eight member universities of the UAAP would compete in the league ...

was cancelled, the NCAA insisted on going through with its season. On May 14, 2021, it was reported that Martin Javier and Sophia Senoron was to host the season. The opening ceremony was held virtually on June 13, 2021. Originally set for May, it was postponed to June 13 following the surge of COVID-19 cases in the country as well as the placement of the NCR+ under enhanced community quarantine. No championships involving contact sports, including the basketball and volleyball, would be held. Holding games under the bubble format was considered for basketball and volleyball but such plans did not push through.

Basketball

The season also had basketball tournaments but it was a skills showdown featuring Martin Antonio teaching the skills. It featured San Beda's Radge Tongco, San Sebastian's Ian Valdez, EAC's Jethro Mendoza, Benilde's Kendrix Belgica, Lyceum's Kim Cinco, Arellano's Leonard Anquillo, Perpetual's Gerald Dizon, Letran's Mark Cruz and JRU's Justin Padua to show their skills. Its skills were shooting stars and dribble and shoot. References Legend: (C) = Champion (SFL) = Semifinals Loser (SFW) = Semifinals Winner (FL) = Finals Loser (H) = Host

Chess

Seniors' tournament

Results

Bracket

Taekwondo

Men's tournament

Women's tournament

Juniors' tournament

Media

Due to the dissolution of

ABS-CBN Sports ABS-CBN Sports was a sports division of the Philippine media conglomerate ABS-CBN, which aired some of the notable sporting events in the Philippines. ABS-CBN Sports began in 1998 as the main broadcaster for the network-backed basketball leagu ...

and the denial of the new franchise of

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Philippine commercial broadcast network that serves as the flagship property of ABS-CBN Corporation, a company unde ...

by the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

, the NCAA had to find a new broadcast partner since its media partner's denial of franchise. On November 19, 2020, NCAA signed a 5-year deal with

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

that will cover seasons 96 to 101.