By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Since the introduction of the Basketball Champions League in the 2016-17 season, spreading action to more countries, compared to other club continental leagues, was among the main objectives, beyond presenting a competitive platform for young prospects to display their talents and undervalued popular teams to compete at a higher level.
Similar to the latter successful projects, the aforementioned trend continues into the ninth edition of the BCL.
More countries are represented in this season’s Round of 16 versus the two previous years to the delight of loyal basketball locals constantly seeking more reasons to counter the beautiful sport in projections against more popular attractions in their respective markets.
Diversity in the Basketball Champions League
In the inaugural 2016-17 installment of the Champions League, teams from seven different countries reached the Round of 16, including France, Greece, Italy, and Turkiye enjoying a triple representation. Germany featured two sides. Lithuania and Spain had one each.
The total went up to eight in the 2017-18 season with Czechia and Poland joining the action, while missing out was Italy, compared to the 2016-17 season. In 2018-19, it went up to ten countries, in 2019-20 to 11, and in 2020-21 to 12, before settling at 11 again in 2021-22. A decline followed with seven and six countries represented among the last 16 contenders of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 editions, respectively.
Following the Play-Ins and the completion of the playing field for the Round of 16 of the 2024-25 season, four teams from Spain, three from Turkiye, two from Greece and Italy, and one from Czechia, France, Germany, Hungary, and Lithuania neared a double-digit total at nine and shaped yet another impressive and fair spread across the Old Continent.
Spain and Turkiye lead
Over the nine years of BCL history, Spain and Turkiye proudly share the lead in the list of countries with the most team berths in the Round of 16. Following the 26 entries by those two countries, France went up to 19 and Greece sits fourth with 17. Also, Germany and Italy improved to 13 and 11.
These markets all carry rich basketball traditions but the Round of 16 featuring clubs from other countries, such as Czechia and Hungary, especially through Champions League stables in the form of ERA Nymburk and Falco Vulcano Szombathely, makes the case once more about how solid opportunities in the BCL can create traction, increasing essential following and interaction to additional regions of Europe.
List of countries represented in the Round of 16
| Country | Berths |
| 1. Spain | 26 |
| 2. Turkiye | 26 |
| 3. France | 19 |
| 4. Greece | 17 |
| 5. Germany | 13 |
| 6. Italy | 11 |
| 7. Israel | 8 |
| 8. Lithuania | 7 |
| 9. Czechia | 4 |
| 10. Belgium | 3 |
| -. Russia | 3 |
| 12. Hungary | 2 |
| 13. Bosnia-Herzegovina | 1 |
| -. Latvia | 1 |
| -. Poland | 1 |
| -. Romania | 1 |
| -. Ukraine | 1 |
All said and done on the Round of 16 multiplicity, the remaining contenders are back into action next week with the launch of a fresh set of six-game double-legged round-robin schedules after the same format in the Regular Season.
The 16 teams are separated into four equal groups. The top two of each group will advance to the Quarterfinals, one step away from the championship-crowning Final Four.
Round of 16 (28/1-26/3)
Group I: FIT/One Wurzburg Baskets, AEK Betsson, Promitheas Vikos Cola, and Bertram Derthona Tortona.
Group J: Unicaja, Rytas, Galatasaray, and Manisa.
Group K: La Laguna Tenerife, BAXI Manresa, Aliaga Petkimspor, and UnaHotels Reggio Emilia.
Group L: ERA Nymburk, UCAM Murcia, Nanterre 92, and Falco Vulcano Szombathely.
Quarterfinals (8-23/4)
A draw will reveal the pairings in a best-of-three series with the top seeds of each group in the Round of 16 having homecourt advantage.
Final Four (9-11/5)
The four remaining teams will compete for the championship in single-elimination contests across the Semifinals and the Final of the Final Four.
Photo Credit: FIBA