Orlando Pirates – now sailing in calm waters under Jose Riveiro – will have the honour of hosting the season's first official match while chasing a historical achievement.
Pirates have a date with SuperSport United on Saturday (18h00) at Orlando Stadium in what will be the first game of the new season.
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It was Bucs who also closed off the 2023/34 campaign by lifting the Nedbank Cup on June 1.
The MTN8 is a competition of interest for Pirates as they were the first winners back in 1972 when it was played with oil and gas company BP as sponsors.
Fast-forward to 2024, the Soweto giants will now be targeting becoming the first club to win this competition three years in a row.
Not even Kaizer Chiefs has ever lifted the Top 8 trophy three years in a row despite all the success they have enjoyed, which mostly came in the pre-PSL era years.
Chiefs won it in consecutive years thrice (1976 '77), (1981 '82), and (1991 '92) but couldn't get past the third hurdle through winning 11 of their 15 titles before 1996.
The Buccaneers are on to their fourth ride of doing it two years in a row (1972 '73), (1996 2000), (2010 '11), and (2023 '24).
There was no Top 8 played in 1997, '98 and '99, which meant after lifting the trophy in 1996, they were still the holders four years later when it returned.
No other club has won the Top 8 in consecutive years besides Chiefs and Pirates.
Pirates will this year have the chance to become the first club to do it three years in a row doing it under one coach in Riveiro.
To achieve this feat, they will have to go through four games – Saturday's quarterfinal, then a two-legged semi-final, before the final.
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The defending champions' overall haul in this competition stands at 12 and is only second-best to Chiefs.
However, Bucs have ruled since MTN took over as sponsors in 2008.