Playoff Hopefuls

University of North Carolina, Charlotte at Dreamhack Atlanta. PC: UNCC Esports

Rank 8. University of Utah

Score: 14.36 | Region: West

“The University of Utah’s Overwatch team has an exciting prospect this year. With the announcement of their Varsity scholarship program, a great amount of skill and energy has gathered around the development of this year’s team. Joe ‘Snap’ Johnson is the head coach for the Utes, and he is very hopeful for the prospective roster that will be finalized this weekend. With the successes of last year in mind, he plans to focus on building a strong foundation that will lead to a legacy of excellence.” — Jordan “Mohadib”, Utah Team Manager

Rank 9. Michigan State University

Score: 19.90| Region: North

With the long summer off-season coming to a close, it doesn’t look good for the best North team from the Spring Tespa Training Grounds. Every school goes through roster overhauls, with players leaving to focus on academics or graduating. Michigan State is no different after losing two star players, agpoison and Ocuri. The difference between Michigan State and every other college above them is that there doesn’t seem to be any heir apparent for their roster losses. All eyes are on team captain, Rosey, to see if Michigan State can recruit students that can match the skill of last year’s roster.

Rank 10. North Carolina State University

Score: 20.70 | Region: South | 3rd Summer Series

The Pachi Pack have always been around the top teams, but have not been noticed. They were able to qualify for Training Grounds Arena, but were swiftly relegated when they were unfortunately paired against eventual winner UC Berkeley. Combined with a just-ok performance in the very first qualifiers of Overwatch Contenders, NCSU were mostly a non-factor last school year. However, with a super-strong performance in the Tespa Summer Series, where they made some big upsets against power ranked MSU and UCONN and ended the tournament 3rd overall, NCSU has found a new attitude, setting the hopeful tone for a season of victories this Fall.

Rank 11. University of California, Riverside

Score: 23.00 | Region: West

“Highlander Gaming at UCR’s Overwatch team has previously ranked 5th in Tespa’s Training Grounds in Spring 2017 and consistently ranked in the top during the first Tespa Summer Series matches. After a rocky start in this year’s Summer Series, HLG has fielded a new, promising shot caller, Kyle “Superior” Garcia. He will compliment the strengths of the team, especially current star DPS player, Troy “Ryot” Reed. With a stronger roster than ever before, HLG hopes to make a big comeback in this upcoming school year’s Tespa Overwatch series.” — Sabrina “Sabbyrina”, Highlander Gaming President

Rank 12. University of Washington

Score: 24.50| Region: West

UW has had a turbulent season. Coming into the TCS 2016 season, they were an early choice for best team in the West when lead by now CLG tank, iShiny. With an early Round of 16 playoffs loss and subsequent departure of iShiny, it looked like the fallen favorites would not recover after failing to qualify into the Training Grounds Arena twice. However, something clicked afterwards in week three, where they went on to qualify and earn themselves a Top 8 and two Top 6 finishes in the final Arenas. Now following a decent performance in the Summer Series, it will be interesting to see if Wizediablo and crew can carry their success forward in a stacked West region.

Rank 13. University of North Carolina, Charlotte

Score: 24.75| Region: South

“With the conclusion of the fall season, the UNC Charlotte overwatch team featured a huge roster shuffle, with the addition of Zlich, Dakota, CrimsonBeard, Spoon, Bread, and myself. With our strong placements in the summer series at 8th and a decent showing at Dreamhack Atlanta, we believe momentum is on our side going into this season’s TCS. After beating our rivals NCSU and having strong showings vs UCSD and UCI at the end of the Summer Series, we believe we are the dark horse going into the fall. With the main objective being top 4, we strive to improve enough to make LAN and upset the current top teams.” — TWISTan, DPS for UNC Charlotte

Rank 14. University of Delaware

Score: 25.5| Region: East

“After a lackluster showing in the playoffs of the last Tespa Collegiate Series, [having been] eliminated in the first round after a 3rd place seeding in regular season play, the Delaware squad has been on an upward trend. Adding a strong DPS player for the Training Grounds in Chewy and a stellar support in Stickman helped boost this team to 6th in the Tespa Summer Series. Now in the fall, upcoming star DPS player Boredy in addition to the long standing core of Cobalt, Munchyjr, QuayCzar and [myself as] manager have high hopes for the teams Fall season results. This dedicated and driven squad is aiming to turn heads, both in the east region and on the national stage.” — DapperCoat, UD Team Manager

Rank 15. Clemson University

Score: 31.83 | Region: South

A growing esports powerhouse, Clemson has been on the rise in the collegiate world and we are all starting to notice. Player-turned-manager Robert “BoBBy” has been hard at work trying to sell esports not only to the administration at Clemson, but the student body as well. With 100s of new students trying out for the team and a recent victory at Dreamhack Atlanta’s Collegiate Grudge Matches, don’t be surprised if the Clemson Tigers emulate their top-tier football team and contend for the South region title.