📝 OWCC Open has calm start, while Varsity continues to heat up

Some years, the start of the Overwatch Collegiate Swiss stage brings some early fireworks, while other years, it is a tame beginning that sets up a wild finish. This year, in the Overwatch Collegiate Championships (OWCC) Open bracket, it was the first, as there were very few games among the top teams. Through the first four weeks of the OWCC Varsity regular season, however, we’ve already seen a fair share of upsets.

As always, I will be referencing the Overwatch Collegiate Ranking Association’s latest ranking, published on February 16, 2026, and the team categories outlined in the ultimate guide to OWC teams.

OWCC Open Round 1 Recap:

Notable results:

• #9 University of Utah 2-0 #14 University of Texas, Dallas
• #2 Northwood University 2-1 #13 Texas A&M University
  • Northwood played without Rokit, Kronik and PainKiller
• #8 Cumberland University 2-0 University of California, San Diego
• University of Kentucky Blue 2-0 California State University, Dominguez Hills

Main takeaways:

The most important game of the first round of the Swiss was easily Utah vs. UT Dallas, as both teams have had very different starts to the season.

Utah was undefeated in the Power Esports Conference at 5-0 going into the game, with an impressive 3-2 win over #12 Boise State to start the semester. But other than that game and a 3-1 test against Syracuse University, the Utes haven’t had much of a challenge yet.

UTD, on the other hand, has already played several OWCRA Top 20 teams in OWCC Varsity, which will be discussed in more detail in just a little bit. The Comets, for the most part, have shown they belong in the Top 15, but were still waiting for their Top 10 of the year.

However, Utah took care of business with a 2-0 win. The Utes remained undefeated across all competitions this semester at 7-0.

Looking ahead:

Round 2 of the OWCC Open Swiss stage will kick off this Thursday and has slightly more interesting games for some of the top teams.

Notable games (Default time: 2/28 @ 8 PM EST):

• #3 St. Clair College vs. #9 Utah
• #4 Fisher College vs. Alvernia University
• #17 Georgia Institute of Technology vs. #18 Cleveland State University
• #19 Warner College vs. Texas Tech University
• Arcadia University vs. Winthrop University - Academy roster
• University of California Los Angeles vs. California State University Long Beach
• Ball State University vs. University of Cincinnati

The standout matches are for those fighting in the bubble scene, or are just on the outside of the Top 20 looking in.

Georgia Tech has been struggling this semester to keep up from where they left off last fall, and this will be a true test of where they stand. Cleveland State is hungry to prove themselves with this refreshed roster. With a win, CSU would have a fantastic cause to catapult up the rankings this weekend.

Arcadia is also looking to make another push into the official rankings, after teetering near the first five out for what feels like an eternity. They have been doing well in other leagues, and this could be a chance to bolster their resume against other bubble teams. Winthrop Academy are an incredibly unique roster and are often difficult to prepare for, which may lead to an upset on Thursday.

St. Clair vs. Utah shouldn’t be overlooked either, as both teams are yet to drop a series this semester. SCC will enter the game as the favorite, and rightfully so, as the Saints reached the OWCRA Top 3 last week for the first time in program history. The Utes have already shown they can fend off the other dark horse rosters, but beating one of the best teams in the tournament would be an incredible feat.

OWCC Varsity Weeks 1-4 Recap:

Quick note: the OWCRA rankings listed below are the current rankings, not the rankings that these teams had when they played the early matches.

Notable results:

• Week 1:
  • #1 Winthrop University 3-0 #10 Bellevue University
  • #6 North Carolina State University 3-1 Ball State
    • Not the normal roster for NCSU
  • #7 Cumberland University 3-2 #14 UT Dallas
  • #15 Briar Cliff University 3-1 Texas A&M University, San Antonio (TAMUSA)
  • Grand View University 3-1 Minnesota State University - Mankato
• Week 2:
  • #6 NC State 3-0 #8 Cumberland
  • #15 Briar Cliff 3-1 #10 Bellevue
    • Rajeem DNP for BU
  • Ball State 3-0 TAMUSA
  • MN State Mankato 3- 2 Texas Tech
• Week 3:
  • #6 NC State 3-0 #14 UT Dallas
  • #8 Cumberland 3-2 TAMUSA
  • #10 Bellevue 3-1 Ball State
• Week 4:
  • #1 Winthrop 3-0 #15 Briar Cliff
  • #3 St. Clair 3-0 #6 NC State
  • #8 Cumberland 3-0 #10 Bellevue
  • #14 UT Dallas 3-0 TAMUSA

Current “Superconference” standings:

1. NC State (3-1)
2. Cumberland (3-1)
3. Winthrop (2-0)
4. Briar Cliff (2-1)
5. St. Clair (1-0)
6. UT Dallas (1-2)
7. Ball State (1-2)
8. Bellevue (1-3)
9. TAMUSA (0-4)

Main takeaways:

Winthrop and St. Clair remain the teams to beat in Varsity, even though they’ve barely played so far, and are poised to earn two of the eight spots in the OWCC LAN in Orlando later this spring. They were scheduled to play in Week 3, but the game was moved to February 27 due to conflicts with the OWCS Pre-Season Bootcamp.

NC State and Cumberland sit atop the standings for now after strong starts to the semester. NCSU’s week two sweep over the Phoenix may have a massive impact come seeding for the OWCC Varsity playoffs, as both will look to earn one of the top four seeds for the 32-team bracket stage that will include the other OWCC Varsity divisions.

Briar Cliff has easily been the surprise of the Varsity season so far with their upset over Bellevue and dominant win over a then-ranked TAMUSA. The Chargers have started the semester in full stride with this new roster and are a threat to push further up the standings if they can take down either NC State or Cumberland.

Bellevue, on the other hand have not adapted well to the five new heroes in the Season 1 patch. The Bruins are known to have electric energy and fantastic chemistry, but for one reason or another, that intensity has fallen, and they’ve found themselves deep into the standings halfway through the regular season. Bellevue will need to clean it up if they want to avoid a rough Round of 16 playoff game for LAN qualification.

As noted before in the OWCC Open section, the Comets have come close to beating some of the teams ahead of them, but haven’t quite gotten there yet. The pieces are there for UTD to run the table late in the semester as they have in seasons past, but fans of the Comets will hope that turn happens sooner rather than later.

Ball State made its way into the superconference after sweeping their way through the special ESC conference last semester, earning a top-eight finish in the OWCH Varsity playoffs. But after being upset in the ESC LAN final, the Cardinals had some questions this semester. So far, Ball State defeated TAMUSA and kept it close with Bellevue, but it remains unclear if they have any magic left for an upset of their own.

And that leaves TAMUSA. They were one of the biggest stories of the fall semester, catapulting into the OWCRA Top 20 and finishing in the OWCH Varsity top eight after upsetting UTD. But the Jaguars have not found that same spark so far in 2026 and are the sole winless team remaining. The path ahead appears rough, with their second half of games all against teams currently in the OWCRA Top 10.

Looking ahead:

Week 3 delayed game (2/27 @ 8 PM EST):

• #1 Winthrop vs. #3 St. Clair

Week 5 Superconference schedule (3/2 @ 8:30 PM EST):

• #1 Winthrop vs. Ball State
• #3 St. Clair vs. #15 Briar Cliff
• #6 NC State vs. TAMUSA
• #10 Bellevue vs. #14 UTD

Other notable OWCC Varsity games:

• #18 Cleveland State vs. #20 Oakland University

The two major games are Bellevue vs. UTD and a rare, notable non-superconference bout between CSU and Oakland.

Bellevue need to win this game to avoid falling out of the top six in the superconference standings, which would put them in the same seeding group as the leaders from the other conferences. For UT Dallas, this could finally be their top-10 win and would give them a fantastic position in the standings to start the back-half of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the only two OWCRA-ranked teams not in the superconference will battle to earn the current top spot in the Union 10 Conference. Neither Cleveland State nor Oakland has played a ranked team yet this semester across all competitions, but a win here would be a major mark in the right direction for their resumes.