After ten gameweeks, with each team playing one another twice, the BUCS Basketball Premier Divisions have reached their conclusion. Both the men’s and women’s Premier Divisions are divided regionally, into north and south leagues. This means there are four divisions’ worth of top flight BUCS Basketball to dissect from the 2021/22 season. This season certainly did not disappoint, with close title fights, coupled with tense relegation battles. With all the games played, and final standings determined, let Freshered review another high quality season of BUCS Basketball. From discussing who finished on top, to the upcoming relegation playoffs, this article will aim to plug the BUCS Basketball gap in your lives, given there is no more league action on court.
Women’s Premier Division North
Title fights don’t get much closer than this season’s women’s Premier Division north. Two teams, Durham and Loughborough, finished the season with identical records, picking up an impressive seven wins from ten games. Level on 21 points, it was instead points scored that decided the victors. With a points difference of 616 to boast about, it was Durham who earned first placed. This means Loughborough finished the season in second, ending only 30 points off the top spot. It could be argued that Durham‘s free-scoring 153-24 victory against Manchester Met was the difference between a first and second place finish. It was results like this which exemplified Manchester Met‘s season, finishing rock bottom, with ten defeats from ten. Ending 15 points from safety, they now face a relegation play-off, with the most likely opponents looking to be local rivals, Manchester.
Men’s Premier Division South
Another league, and another instance of teams who could not be separated after ten games. However, in this instance, there were three teams join on points. Solent, East London and Bournemouth all ended the season with seven wins, and three losses, resulting in a total of 21 points. Once again, it came down to the points difference to see where the title was going to end up. Despite East London scoring more points over the season, it was the stronger defence of Solent, conceding over 90 points less, that saw the title head to the south coast. At the opposite end of the table, it will be Brunel to face the relegation playoff. In an unfortunate series of events, the three points from their sole win of the season were cancelled out due to the concession of a walkover. Likely opponents for the winner-takes-all fixture seem to be Westminster.
Women’s Premier Division South
In contrary to the previous two division, the women’s Premier Division south saw one team dominate all season, leading to a predictable first place finish. Essex won all nine games they played, finishing a whole six points clear of second-placed Cardiff Met. The Welsh side will point to a one point loss, 87-86, against the top side in late January as the moment when their title challenge ended. The other end of the table saw two teams finish with identical records, and thus the same number of points. Bournemouth and East London both ended on six points, with the league determining Bournemouth‘s superior number of points scored enough to condemn East London to the playoff. At the moment, it seems the London side will be facing Nottingham Trent on the court, with the winners competing in the Premier Division south next season.
Men’s Premier Division North
After a three way fight for the title, it was Newcastle who came out on top, ending the season with just one loss. 27 points from their ten games was enough to see the title head to Tyneside, three points ahead of Durham in second. Durham themselves enjoyed a succesful season, losing just twice, and condemining future champions Newcastle to the only defeat of the season. In the relegation fight, it was a season to forget for Worcester. They went the whole season without earning a point, finishing rock bottom. The relegation playoff now awaits them, where it seems most likely they will face Nottingham Trent.
Read next: BUCS Badminton Individual Championships 2022 preview