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đź“ť OWCC Varsity playoffs kick off with LAN qualification on the line

by Jesse "Twinsalty" Brawders

Even though the Overwatch Collegiate Championships Open playoffs nearly wrapped up last weekend, the OWWC Varsity season is still going strong.

After a competitive end to the regular season, the OWCC Varsity calendar has shifted to the playoff phase with the Top 27 teams across all conferences.

Every team from the superconference automatically qualified for the playoffs, with the top six teams earning their seeding from where they ended in the regular season. While a mix of teams from the other conferences qualified through their regular-season and internal playoff performances.

Seeds 7-27 are decided by the average placement from the NACE seeding committee.

Qualified teams in order of seeding:

  1. Winthrop (8-0; Superconference)
  2. St. Clair (7-1; Superconference)
  3. NC State (5-3; Superconference)
  4. Cumberland (5-3; Superconference)
  5. Bellevue (3-5; Superconference)
  6. UT Dallas (3-5; Superconference)
  7. Cleveland State (8-0; Union 10 Conference; 1st in U10 tourney)
  8. Briar Cliff (3-5; Superconference)
  9. Ball State (2-6; Superconference)
  10. TAMUSA (0-8; Superconference)
  11. Grand View (7-0; West-Central Conference)
  12. Saint Xavier (6-0; Rust Belt Conference; 1st in Rust Belt tourney)
  13. Oakland (7-1; Union 10 Conference; 2nd in U10 tourney)
  14. Akron (7-1; East 2 Conference)
  15. Converse (7-1; East 2 Conference)
  16. BGSU (6-1; East 1 Conference)
  17. Shawnee State (6-1; East 1 Conference)
  18. MN State Mankato (6-1; West-Central Conference)
  19. Buffalo (6-1; East 1 Conference)
  20. LTU (4-2; Rust Belt Conference; 2nd in Rust Belt tourney)
  21. Kent State (6-2; East 2 Conference)
  22. Texas Tech (5-2; West-Central Conference)
  23. South Florida (3-5; Union 10 Conference; 3rd in U10 tourney)
  24. Delaware (6-2; East 2 Conference)
  25. Messiah (5-1; Rust Belt Conference; 3rd in Rust Belt tourney)
  26. Lindenwood (4-3; West-Central Conference)
  27. James Madison (East 1 Conference)

Notable Round of 32 results:

  • MN State Mankato 3-0 Converse
    • Converse without regular roster due to illness
  • Shawnee State 3-1 BGSU
  • Kent State 3-0 Saint Xavier
  • Texas Tech 3-0 Grand View
  • TAMUSA 3-1 South Florida

First reaction:

The only true upset of the Round of 32 was Texas Tech’s shocking sweep over Grand View on Monday night.

Grand View had just swept Texas Tech earlier in the month with the same rosters and entered as the favorite. But the Red Raiders’ Hazard comps were too much for GVU to handle this time around, sending Texas Tech to the Round of 16.

The other match of note was Converse’s early exit to Minnesota State Mankato. Converse have struggled throughout the semester to field their full roster due to conflicting schedules. And sadly for them, that trend continued as several players were sick for this match following a LAN over the weekend.

I have to give credit to Mankato still, it's a major step in the right direction after they were the victim of an early upset during the fall playoffs to Wichita State. But it does make you wonder how this match could’ve played differently if Converse had been able to field its normal starting five.

Round of 16 matches:

  • Winthrop vs. Shawnee State
  • St. Clair vs. MN State Mankato
  • NC State vs. Akron
  • Cumberland vs. Oakland
  • Bellevue vs. Kent State
  • UT Dallas vs. Texas Tech
  • Cleveland State vs. TAMUSA
  • Briar Cliff vs. Ball State/Delaware winner (scheduled for 3/29)

Looking further ahead, the road to Orlando is a bit blurry for some teams hoping to end the season on LAN.

The superconference teams that earned the top five seeds have a pretty clear shot at making the NACE LAN in Orlando next month. The only potential chance of an upset is if Oakland has the game of their life against Cumberland, whose OWCC Varsity roster is slightly different than their normal due to in-person play requirements for Varsity.

UT Dallas should feel decent about their position, considering they squeaked into the top six over Briar Cliff due to map difference. The Comets will face off against Texas Tech, who is hot off their upset over Grand View in the Round of 32.

Cleveland State was the highest-seeded team outside of the superconference, earning a potential match against a struggling TAMUSA for its spot in Orlando.

And at last, the most mouth-watering potential matchup is Briar Cliff taking on Ball State in a battle of superconference foes. Briar Cliff have shone in pushing some of the top teams to the distance this semester, but were stunned in a 0-3 loss to Ball State late in the regular season.

The Chargers were without support Ismael “WedTube” Montero for this match, however, due to the Overwatch World Cup Conference Cup for Costa Rica.

Briar Cliff will still feel good about how they can answer the Cardinals this time around, but Ball State could play spoiler and earn its spot in the top eight.

The final Round of 32 match between Ball State and Delaware is scheduled for Sunday, March 29, at 5 p.m. EDT. The Round of 16 will begin on Monday, March 30, at 8:30 p.m. EDT. There is no official stream for the first two rounds of the playoffs, but most schools will stream their team’s POVs.