Get those college jerseys out again

eSports have become one of the breakout markets of the 21st century to the point that universities and even the Olympics committees are looking to expand their teams and horizons to include video games on their roster now or in the near future.

ESPN announced plans that will likely cement that relationship further with a new college championship series focused solely on some of the biggest eSports games in the business including fighting game representation.

The ESPN Collegiate Esports Championship will be the culmination event of league play from hundreds of different universities and colleges around North America for Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, Hearthstone, Overwatch, Heroes of the Storm and Starcraft 2 scheduled to take place in Houston, Texas from May 10–12.

Street Fighter 5 players and their colleges will have the opportunity to compete at five different qualifier events through Collegiate Star League beginning at UC Berkeley and Ohio State University on March 17 to determine the top eight competitors / schools to be represented at the championship.

Scholarships will be awarded as the grand prize for the winning teams / universities of each of the five current titles since it is tied to college sports programs.

"For more than 30 years, Street Fighter has been the king of fighting games," said Street Fighter producer Yoshinori Ono via press release. "We're delighted that our collaboration with CSL and ESPN will allow us to expand Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition to the collegiate market, with incredible live gaming events unlike anything else currently offered."

Street Fighter players attending college looking to take part in the CEC championship qualifiers will need to consult their representative university eSports team and register through Collegiate Star League's website.

The live championship will take place at the George R Brown Convention Center combined with Comicpalooza where attendee tickets will be priced for the weekend starting at $15 and going up to $200.

This move will likely bring more attention to the realm of college eSports and their growing market of teams and clubs still largely in their infancy plus hopefully the championship series itself will also expand to more fighting games in the future with titles like Tekken 7 or Super Smash Bros.

You can check out the full list of Street Fighter 5 CSL qualifier locations and dates below along with how many teams are going to advance to the championship weekend at the end of the school year.

Street Fighter 5 CSL qualifiers • March 17: UC Berkeley • March 17: Ohio State University • April 14: Rutgers Scarlet Classic • April 20: UConn (Husky Gaming) • April 27 and 28: CSL Grand Finals, Atlantic City Collegiate Esports Championship finals lineup • Hearthstone – 4 teams • Heroes of the Storm – 2 teams • Overwatch – 8 teams • StarCraft 2 – 4 teams • Street Fighter 5 – 8 players

Sent in by Xykes.