Varsity teams from these universities compete annually in the league's 20 sports categories to vie for the overall championship title, namely, 3x3 basketball, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, beach volleyball, cheerdance, chess, esports, fencing, football, formation dance, judo, softball, street dance, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo kyorugi & poomsae, tennis, and volleyball.

[3] In 1930, the University of the Philippines sponsored an experimental meet of the "Big 3" of the league (NU, UP, UST) on basketball, football, baseball, volleyball, swimming, athletics, boxing, and tennis.

The following year (1931), the NCAA Board of Directors divided the meet into three divisions to put competition on a fairer basis and to stimulate athletics among a greater number.

[1] In 1941, the outbreak of World War II hindered the staging of the 1941–42 UAAP with UST failing to complete its term.

UAAP competition was not held from 1942 to 1946 due to the Japanese occupation of the country which resulted in the closure of educational institutions.

Volleyball and cheerdance are also equally considered marquee events in the UAAP due to growing respective fanbases and media coverage in the country.

[37][38][39] Beginning Season 78, the league has shifted its sports schedule start from July to September because of the change in the academic calendars of most of its member universities.

[44][45][46][47] While both schools featured in the UAAP championship games for other events like men's football, the now-dubbed "Battle of Katipunan" garnered nationwide attention for the first time in UAAP history when third-seeded UP Fighting Maroons, after ending a 21-year long drought of Final Four appearance, overcame second-seeded Adamson Soaring Falcons' twice-to-beat advantage to advance to the finals for the first time since their 1986 championship to face defending champions Ateneo Blue Eagles in men's basketball in 2018.

[51][52] The Fighting Maroons ended the Blue Eagles' all-time UAAP men's basketball record 39-game win streak,[53][54] and won the title via do-or-die game in Season 84 in 2022,[55][56] before defeating them in the Final Four the following year to end Ateneo's six consecutive seasons of UAAP Finals appearances and podium finishes from 2016 to 2022.

[57][58][59] The rivalry between Ateneo de Manila University and De La Salle University, widely regarded as the Philippines' foremost collegiate rivalry for decades,[41] has resulted in sold-out games (especially in men's basketball and women's volleyball, the latter of which both schools hold the current all-time record for the longest joint UAAP Finals appearance from 2012 to 2017) that attract several public figures in attendance, including politicians, movie stars, and foreign diplomats.

[61] However, the rivalry dates back to the time when both schools were playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association from 1924 until Ateneo transferred to the UAAP in 1978.

[65] Although matches between these universities have not reached a rivalry status in sporting events outside of cheerdance, the battle between their respective teams may be referred to as "Separation of Church and State".

[70][71][72][73] Both were known for their numerous basketball championship matches in the 1990s with UST winning four straight titles from 1993 to 1996, the last three of which were at the expense of the Green Archers at the UAAP Finals.

In 1997, La Salle eliminated UST in the semifinals to deny the Growling Tigers of a fifth consecutive championship title.

In 1999, La Salle defeated the Growling Tigers to win the basketball crown and achieved their own 4-peat championship streak from 1998 to 2001.

[41] It became a celebrated rivalry in women's volleyball, as the Lady Spikers and the Tigresses met three times in the championship of the Shakey's V-League tournament.

[41][83] The rivalry between La Salle and FEU has produced several momentous scenes and drama in UAAP Basketball history.

During that season, UP and Adamson were the only remaining schools that had yet to compete in the men's basketball championship round in the UAAP in the 21st century.

After losing twice in the elimination rounds, UP defeated Adamson in two games, including the overtime in the do-or-die match, to pose their first appearance in the UAAP Finals in any of the league's marquee events in the 21st century.

Their rivalry, also referred to as the "Battle of the Birds",[92] began in 2010 when they met in the finals of the Philippine Collegiate Championship League, a year before Adamson denied Ateneo a sweep of the elimination rounds of the UAAP Season 74 men's basketball tournament.

In 2023, however, Adamson pulled off an upset by defeating the defending champions, Ateneo, during their matchup in the first round of the eliminations,[94][95] before facing off against each other in the fourth seed playoff.

[96][97] Ateneo eventually prevailed in the do-or-die playoff to extend their UAAP men's basketball semifinals appearance streak to its ninth season.

[98][99] In 2024, Adamson eliminated eighth-seeded Ateneo during the latter's weakest tournament performance since clinching the first ever season sweep in the Final Four era of UAAP men's basketball in 2019 to force their third consecutive do-or-die playoff for the fourth seed against University of the East, which it eventually won for its recent UAAP men's basketball semifinals appearance.

Two years later in 1991, Louis Kierulf agreed to a deal with the UAAP to put their entire basketball championship on television through Silverstar Communications.

In search of a new media partner, the association entered a deal with Cignal TV to broadcast games through One Sports.