Basketball Champions League play-in pairings set / News - Basketnews.com

The BCL regular season is over, with 8 teams qualifying directly for the TOP16 and another 16 sides fighting for the remaining spots in the play-ins that will tip off in early January 2023.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The Play-In matchups that will determine which teams clinch the final eight berths in the Basketball Champions League Round of 16 were confirmed on Wednesday night, upon the completion of Regular Season action.

Spain has dominated the competition, as all four teams (Unicaja Malaga, Surne Bilbao, Lenovo Tenerife, BAXI Manresa) have clinched first place in their respective groups. The achievement is particularly important for Manresa, last year's finalists, and Bilbao, as both teams are struggling in the ACB.

On the other hand, Italy ended up with no representation in the TOP16. Sassari and Reggio Emilia didn't manage to qualify from their respective groups, losing the ticket to Greek teams. The club from Sardegna saw PAOK beat Dijon on the road and capture 3rd place, while the squad stationed in Emilia Romagna lost to Telekom Baskets Bonn and gave up on their last chance.

Conversely, all Greek teams managed to survive at the last minute, thanks to season-rescuing wins. AEK Athens came back from -25 to beat Karsiyaka and finish 2nd, PAOK bested Dijon to counterbalance Sassari's win over Malaga, while Vassilis Spanoulis' Peristeri needed a tough win over Bnei Herzliya to grab the last remaining ticket in their group behind Tenerife and Rytas Vilnius.

Each of the 16 teams that finished in either second or third place in their respective Regular Season groups will compete in a best-of-three Play-In series. The second-placed teams have the homecourt advantage in each series:

UCAM Murcia (2nd in Group A) vs. Pinar Karsiyaka (3rd in Group B) AEK (2nd in Group B) vs. Tofas Bursa (3rd in Group A) Hapoel Atsmon Holon (2nd in Group C) vs Igokea (3rd in Group D) Bahcesehir College (2nd in Group D) vs. Filou Oostende (3rd in Group C) MHP RIESEN (2nd in Group E) vs. Limoges CSP (3rd in Group F) S.L. Benfica (2nd in Group F) vs. Darussafaka (3rd in Group E) JDA Bourgogne Dijon (2nd in Group G) vs. Peristeri (3rd in Group H) Rytas Vilnius (2nd in Group H) vs. PAOK mateco (3rd in Group G)

Game 1 of each Play-in series will take place on either Tuesday, January 3 or Wednesday, January 4, 2023, with the second games taking place on January 10-11. Any series that is tied at 1-1 after the first two games will conclude with a tiebreaker on January 17-18. The exact dates and times will be confirmed at a later stage.

The first eight tickets to the Round of the 16 have already found their rightful owners, since the teams that won their respective Regular Season group earned a direct spot:

SIG Strasbourg (Group A winner) Telekom Baskets Bonn (Group B winner) Galatasaray Nef (Group C winner) Surne Bilbao (Group D winner) Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem (Group E winner) BAXI Manresa (Group F winner) Unicaja (Group G winner) Lenovo Tenerife (Group H winner)

Once these teams are joined by the winners of the Play-In games, the 16 teams will be split into four groups of four teams each. The composition of the four Round of 16 groups is pre-determined by the draw, as follows:

GROUP I

SIG Strasbourg Hapoel Bank Yahav Jerusalem Hapoel Atsmon Holon OR Igokea m:tel JDA Bourgogne Dijon OR Peristeri

GROUP J

Telekom Baskets Bonn BAXI Manresa Bahcesehir College OR Filou Oostende Rytas Vilnius OR PAOK mateco

GROUP K

Galatasaray Nef Unicaja AEK OR Tofas Bursa MHP RIESEN OR Limoges CSP

GROUP L

Surne Bilbao Lenovo Tenerife UCAM Murcia OR Pinar Karsiyaka S.L. Benfica OR Darussafaka

The Round of 16 is set to tip off on January 24 and will be played in a round-robin format in home and aways games (as was the case with the Regular Season format). The exact time and date of each game will be confirmed after the 16-team field is complete.

The two teams that finish in the top two spots in each group will qualify for the Quarter-Finals.

The Quarterfinals are scheduled to be held between 4 and 19 April. The Final Four will be held from 12 to 14 May.

Like what we are doing? Support us by becoming BN+ member.