The Big Esports Conference, which is composed of the members of the traditional Big Ten Conference membership, announced the release of their 2023-24 schedule of competition today.
The Conference will officially begin competition this-coming Monday, October 9 with Overwatch 2 action. In addition to Overwatch 2, the Big Esports Conference is also sponsoring Rocket League, Super Smash Bros., and Valorant.
Each of the conference's 16 members will have one team competing across each of the four titles throughout the 2023-24 academic year.
To see the complete schedule which runs from October through the end of February, please click here.
"It's thrilling to have this schedule released, and to see some of these great rivalries now have a date with esports destiny," said Kevin Palmer, Assistant Director of Esports & Intramural Sports at the University of Michigan.
"The fans, alumni, and current students now have a chance to see their teams play on the digital field, and claim inaugural bragging rights over their rivals with a victory, or wait till next year to seek revenge for a loss. Regardless of the outcomes, I'm ecstatic to see everything fall into place, and this opportunity to be ready to go!"
The schedule features each of the 16 schools playing one another once during the regular season for a 15-game regular season. Each team will play their same conference opponent across each of the four titles throughout the week.
Each of the esports programs from the conference’s current 14 members will be competing in the Big Esports Conference, as will the University of California, Los Angeles and the University of Southern California as they will be officially joining the Big Ten prior to the start of the 2024-25 academic year.
The newly-formed entity will culminate with a championship tournament across each of the four sponsored titles this spring with each of the conference's 64 teams qualifying to compete.
For more information and to follow along with the conference, please visit their official competition website which can be found here or at https://bec.leagueos.gg/
ABOUT THE BIG ESPORTS CONFERENCE
The Big Esports Conference was founded as a collaborative effort amongst current Big Ten institutions, and is built on the principles of creating an environment where students can lead and grow as professionals. The Big Esports Conference is also the first officially organized power 5 school conference for esports, that has all members from the traditional conference participating.
The conference looks to follow many traditions and features that fans are familiar with in traditional sports, such as providing a centralized streaming location for fans to find live and past matches. These streams will be on the Big Esports Conference YouTube Channel, and the streams will be run entirely by students from each participating institution.
To stay up to date, with the latest Big Esports Conference news, be sure to follow them on their Twitter @BigEsportsConf
Those interested in sponsorships, or being a part of the inaugural season, may reach out to bigesportsconference@gmail.com, to inquire.
ABOUT THE NECC
The NECC fosters innovative competition experiences, provides quality broadcasting services, and works to support an inclusive community within collegiate esports. The NECC was started as a way to provide the collegiate gaming community with the respect it warranted and deserved. The conference prides itself on responding to the needs of its schools, directors, coaches, and most importantly - its players.
With more than 400 colleges and universities currently competing, the NECC strives to be a positive home for the collegiate gaming community.
