📝 Several upsets set up highly-anticipated OWCC Open Superweekend

The first iteration of the Overwatch Collegiate Championship - Open “Superweekend” and the final six Swiss rounds kick off Saturday afternoon.

But before it begins, here’s a recap of the past week and a half across OWCC Open and OWCC Varsity.

The team rankings will be based on the latest Overwatch Collegiate Ranking Association rankings, published on March 4, covering results through February 28.

owtv graphic for OWCC Open and Varsity superweekend

OWCC Open Round 2 Recap:

Notable results:

#4 St. Clair College 2-0 #8 University of Utah
#16 Cleveland State University 2-0 #20 Georgia Institute of Technology
Texas Tech University 2-1 Warner University
Arcadia University 2-0 Winthrop University - Academy

Main takeaways:

It was a relatively tame set of games in round two as the field of contenders began to consolidate. However, a couple of games still affected the Top 20 and bubble teams.

The shock of the week was the Texas Tech Red Raiders taking down Warner in a close match.

Texas Tech were the runners-up in the OWCH Varsity Plus division in the fall and have continued to improve over the past few months. But a win over Warner gives them a potential great tiebreaker for the standings, and a fantastic confidence boost heading into a busy weekend.

Warner has yet to show the consistency they need to make the next step up. They also forfeited their round 3 game vs the Savannah College of Art & Design, and will enter the superweekend at 1-2. Warner will need to finish at least 5-1 to even have a chance at making the cutoff for the knockout stage.

Cleveland State also swept a struggling Georgia Tech, adding another notch on their belt with the new roster. CSU will remain near the OWCRA top 15 for now, but could be a massive wildcard this weekend.

OWCC Open Round 3 Recap:

Notable results:

#3 Fisher College 2-0 #19 Oakland University
#6 Fisher Navy 2-1 University of Virginia - Blue
#7 Cumberland 2-0 Texas A&M University San Antonio (TAMUSA)
Ball State University 2-0 #8 Utah
#10 North Carolina State University 2-0 Kentucky State University
Ohio State University 2-0 California State University Long Beach

Main takeaways:

In arguably one of the most unexpected upsets of the semester so far, Ball State swept Utah to remain perfect through the first three rounds.

Ball State have had an awkward season so far, only beating TAMUSA in OWCC Varsity, but also taking maps off of several ranked teams. This win against a fantastic Utah roster opens up a new wave of potential for the Cardinals, who are all of a sudden back in the hunt for a spot in the knockout bracket.

Fisher was able to put away an unproven Oakland squad who were eyeing their first win against a top 20 opponent this semester. The Fisher Falcons have a great chance to not only lock in a top 5 seed in the playoffs this weekend, but may get an opportunity to prove themselves against either Northwood or Winthrop.

Current OWCC standings:

Notable 3-0 teams:

#1 Winthrop
#2 Northwood
#3 Fisher
#4 St. Clair
#5 BSCVA
#6 Fisher Navy
#7 Cumberland
#10 NC State
#12 Bellevue
#15 Briar Cliff
#16 Cleveland State
#18 Arcadia
Ohio State
Syracuse
Grand View
UNLV
Converse
Texas Tech

Notable 2-1 teams:

#13 Texas A&M
#14 UT Dallas
#19 Oakland
#20 Georgia Tech
Alvernia
SCAD
Ball State
TAMUSA
UCLA
Kent State
Winthrop Academy
CSULB
CSUDH

Notable 1-2 teams:

#8 Utah
Warner

Looking ahead:

The first-ever OWCC Open Superweekend is this weekend, with the final six rounds of the Swiss stage played over two days.

A new set of matchups will be populated after each round, with every game becoming more important than the last. By the end of the day Sunday, the top 32 teams will be finalized for the OWCC Open playoffs that begin on March 13.

According to my calculations, all teams that finish at 9-0, 8-1 and 7-2 should qualify for the knockout stage. Roughly a dozen teams that finish at 6-3 will also qualify to round out the top 32, but that will more than likely come down to tiebreakers.

OWCC Open Superweekend schedule:

Saturday, March 7
- Round 4 @ 1 PM EST
- Round 5 @ 3 PM EST
- Round 6 @ 5 PM EST
Sunday, March 8
- Round 7 @ 1 PM EST
- Round 8 @ 3 PM EST
- Round 9 @ 5 PM EST

There is no official stream for the OWCC Open Swiss stage, but there will be streams from some of the school’s official Twitch accounts and scattered player POV streams.

Notable games from OWCC Open Round 4:

#2 Northwood vs Grand View
#3 Fisher vs Syracuse
#4 St. Clair vs Converse
#6 Fisher Navy vs #7 Cumberland
#10 NC State vs #15 Briar Cliff
#18 Arcadia vs Ohio State
UNLV vs Northeastern

The game that immediately stands out is Fisher Navy versus Cumberland, as it will be the first major test for both teams in the OWCC Open.

Fisher Navy has continued to build expectations and is undefeated so far this spring across all competitions. While Cumberland has only lost once to #10 NC State in OWCC Varsity, but that was without star hitscan Kabe due to him not being eligible for Varsity as he is an online student.

NC State versus Briar Cliff could also create some fireworks, with both teams going in opposite directions as of late.

NCSU has struggled slightly over the past two weeks due to not having their full roster in recent games, but this could be the perfect opportunity to get back on track. Meanwhile, Briar Cliff have been one of the hottest teams across collegiate this semester, recently winning the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) Midwest Regional over #10 Bellevue and #19 Oakland.

Lastly, the newest team in the OWCRA rankings will be tested by a ranking-hopeful as #18 Arcadia takes on Ohio State. Arcadia soared into the rankings after they swept NC State last week in the National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC). But Ohio State will look to make a charge of their own into the OWCRA top 20, after beating Syracuse and a decent result vs #8 Utah in the Power Esports Conference.

OWCC Varsity Week 5 Recap:

Notable Week 5 results:

#4 St. Clair 3-0 #15 Briar Cliff
#10 NC State 3-2 TAMUSA
#12 Bellevue 3-0 #14 UT Dallas
#16 Cleveland State 3-0 #19 Oakland

Current “Superconference” standings:

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

Main takeaways:

The two most anticipated games of Week 5 ended up being sweeps, but NC State’s win against TAMUSA was the one making headlines.

NCSU did play with flex sub Mario "SPLICE" Rodriguez Padron in for DPS-standout Matthew "Lobby" Stevens, but it was a pleasant result for TAMUSA, who have struggled to adapt to the changing meta. The Jaguars of San Antonio are destined to finish in last place in the superconference without an upset, but this close result could help boost morale heading into the final stretch before the OWCC Varsity playoffs.

One team that was able to expel its recent demons was the Bellevue Bruins in their sweep over UT Dallas. Bellevue have struggled this semester to keep up with the new heroes, but took a giant step forward in this game. Bellevue now have a key tiebreaker over UTD, which may keep them in a guaranteed top-six seeding instead of falling into seeding group B, where they'd join the bottom three from the superconference and the top teams from the divisions.

Speaking of the other division, Cleveland State ran away with its bout against the only other OWCRA-ranked team playing outside of the OWCC Varsity Superconference. The Vikings were able to back their in-game banter and put away Oakland relatively easily. While the final few rounds won’t give them much trouble, CSU will more than likely need to take down a superconference team to make the top 8 and the OWC LAN in April.

Looking ahead:

Week 5 delayed game (3/9 @ 8 PM EST):

#1 Winthrop vs. Ball State

Week 6 Superconference schedule (3/9 @ 8:30 PM EST):

#1 Winthrop vs. #7 Cumberland
#3 St. Clair vs. TAMUSA
#10 NC State vs #12 Bellevue
#15 Briar Cliff vs Ball State

Just one day after the OWCC Open Superweekend wraps, teams in OWCC Varsity will have their latest game in the round robin stage.

The standout match is easily NC State against Bellevue. NC State would practically lock in a top-three seed with a win over the Bruins, solidifying their chances at an easier playoff game to qualify for the OWC LAN in late April.

Meanwhile, for Bellevue, they need any game possible to shoot up the rankings after a rough first half of the round robin. Bellevue swept UT Dallas this week, but will they be able to take down another mid-ranked team to reach 3-3 with just two more games to go?