The National Esports Collegiate Conference (NECC) released specific details about its upcoming Nationals, which will crown champions in each of the NECC's core titles. The information released today included updates regarding the last chance qualifier tournaments, as well as prizing and dates and times for matches.
For more information, please see below.
Introduction and Updates
Hello everyone! NECC Staff have been working hard to bring Nationals to the point that it is currently at. We have announced a couple pieces of this document in waves, but here is the full document.
NECC Nationals this year has a couple new key features. Specifically the addition of an LCQ format, and removal of Nationals points. More information on the specifics of how this will work this year will be provided in the following pages.
Finally, the NECC is incredibly aware of how late information of this magnitude is coming out. Next year's National format has a deadline of June 30th, 2024 so that teams know how to qualify for any competition long before they sign up for the season.
Nationals Qualification and Team Volumes
Unlike previous years with the NECC there are no longer points to qualify for nationals. In order to qualify this year your team will need to accomplish one of the following:
This format will not impact CS2, College Halo, College COD, Big Esports Conference, or the Missouri Valley Conference.
Valorant
Legends: 8 teams
Champions: 16 teams
Challengers: 16 teams
Emergents: 16 teams
Navigators: 16 teams
Rainbow Six
Legends: 8 teams
Champions: 8 teams
Challengers: 8 teams
Emergents: 4 teams
Navigators: 4 teams
SSBU Crews
Total: 24 teams
League of Legends
Legends: 4 teams
Champions: 8 teams
Challengers: 16 teams
Emergents: 16 teams
Navigators: 16 teams
Overwatch
Legends: 4 teams
Champions: 16 teams
Challengers: 16 teams
Emergents: 16 teams
Navigators: 16 teams
Rocket League
Legends: 4 teams
Champions: 16 teams
Challengers: 16 teams
Emergents: 16 teams
Navigators: 16 teams
Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ)
The LCQ is new to the NECC this year. Voted in by the NECC membership, this will help us fill brackets out to their sizes. Bids through the LCQ will vary based on team acceptance of their nationals and the volume of teams deemed for divisional change through reseeding.
In the event any tiebreakers for additional placements are added (5th place matches+) teams will be notified of bracket changes in their respective announcements.
The Dates, Format and Schedule for each game impacted can be found below:
Valorant LCQ
The LCQ will be a single-elimination tournament with a maximum of 16 teams. All matches are Best of 1. At the current moment spots available from LCQ are as follows:
Champions: 2 spots
Challengers: 3 spots
Emergents: 4 spots
Navigators 6 spots
Valorant Dates And Times
Round of 16 - Friday, April 12th 7PM ET
Round of 8 - Friday April 12th, 8PM ET
Round of 4 / Losers of Round of 8 - Friday April 12th, 9PM ET
Finals / 3rd Place / 5th Place* / 7th Place* - Saturday April 13th, 6PM ET
* If needed
Rainbow Six LCQ
The LCQ will be a single-elimination tournament with a maximum of 4 teams. All matches are Best of 1.
Rainbow Six Dates And Times
Round of 4 - Friday April 12th, 7PM ET
Finals and 3rd Place - Saturday April 13th, 6PM ET
SSBU Crews LCQ
The LCQ will be a double-elimination tournament with a maximum of 24 teams. All matches are Best of 3.
SSBU Crews Dates And Times
Uppers Round 1 - Friday April 12th, 6PM ET
Uppers Round 2/Lowers Round 1 - Friday April 12th, 7PM ET
Uppers Round 3/Lowers Round 2 - Friday April 12th, 8PM ET
Uppers Round 4/Lowers Round 3 - Saturday April 13th, 5PM ET
Lowers Round 4 - Saturday April 13th, 6PM ET
Uppers Round 5/Lowers Round 5 - Saturday April 13th, 7PM ET
Lowers Round 6 - Saturday April 13th, 8PM ET
Losers Finals - Sunday April 14th, 7PM ET
Grand Finals - Sunday April 14th, 8PM ET
League of Legends LCQ
The LCQ will be a single-elimination tournament with a maximum 16 teams. All matches are Best of 1. The first round will be played on Friday April 12th. The second round will be played on Saturday April 13th and the last two rounds will be played on Sunday April 14th. Teams from day two may need to play a tiebreaker round on Sunday as well.
League of Legends Dates And Times
Round of 16 - Friday, April 12th 7PM ET
Round of 8 - Saturday April 13th, 7PM ET
Round of 4 - Sunday April 14th, 7PM ET
Finals and 3rd Place - Sunday April 14th, 8PM ET
Overwatch LCQ
The LCQ will be a single-elimination tournament with a maximum of 16 teams. All matches are First to 2. The first 3 rounds will be played on Sunday April 14th. The final round will be played on Monday April 15th. Teams from day one may need to play a tiebreaker round on Monday as well.
Overwatch Dates And Times
Round of 16 - Sunday April 14th 6PM ET
Round of 8 - Sunday April 14th, 7PM ET
Round of 4 - Sunday April 14th, 8PM ET
Finals and 3rd Place - Monday April 15th, 7PM ET
Rocket League LCQ
The LCQ will be a single-elimination tournament with a maximum of 16 teams. All matches are Best of 5. The first 3 rounds will be played on Sunday April 14th. The final round will be played on Monday April 15th. Teams from day one may need to play a tiebreaker round on Monday as well.
Rocket League Dates And Times
Round of 16 - Sunday April 14th 6PM ET
Round of 8 - Sunday April 14th, 7PM ET
Round of 4 - Sunday April 14th, 8PM ET
Finals and 3rd Place - Monday April 15th, 7PM ET
Nationals Reseeding
Also voted into this year's format is Nationals Reseeding. This is to take into consideration teams that were improperly placed in the fall semester as a result of the change from Google Sheets to LeagueOS. The process for this is as follows:
NECC Staff will first review all teams eligible for nationals and determine if they need to be flagged for reseeding as a result of their current division, where they qualified and if their game had high volatility in fall placements.
The Competition Committee will review all NECC staff submissions about reseeding in game specific sub committees. Each sub committee will consist of 3 members and an NECC staff. In the event there is any bias towards a team the NECC staff will vote on behalf of the subcommittee member.
The Full Competition committee will review all documentation about the teams at this point and ask the sub committees any specific questions, in the event of a revote the full committee will vote on it here.
The Advisory Committee will do a quick review of all documentation, challenging any specific teams that should be reviewed. Once all teams are approved, reseeded teams will play in the LCQ for their new division.
Nationals Dates and Format
Valorant
Champions, Challengers, Emergents, and Navigators
Nationals will have 16 spots total in each of the NECC Divisions. First place teams will auto-qualify, for all additional spots see Valorant LCQ. These teams will play in single elimination brackets.
Valorant Nationals Schedule
Round of 16 - Monday April 15th
Round of 8 - Monday April 22nd
Round of 4 - Sunday April 28th
Finals - Monday April 29th
Rainbow Six
Legends
The top four teams from each semester will auto-qualify to NECC Nationals. Teams will play in a single elimination 8 team bracket.
Champions and Challengers
Nationals will be an 8 team single elim bracket. First and second place teams from each semester will auto-qualify to nationals, for additional spots see Rainbow Six LCQ.
Emergents and Navigators
Nationals will be a 4 team single elim bracket. Each champion from the fall and spring semester will automatically qualify, for additional spots see Rainbow Six LCQ.
Rainbow Six Nationals Schedule
Legends, Champions, Challengers
Round of 8 - Tuesday April 16th
Round of 4 - Tuesday April 23rd
Finals - Tuesday April 30th
Emergents, Navigators
Round of 4 - Tuesday April 16th
Finals - Tuesday April 23rd
SSBU Crews
Nationals will be a 24 team double elim bracket. All conference champions from the fall and spring semester will auto-qualify for Nationals. All additional spots are available through SSBU Crews LCQ.
SSBU Crews Dates And Times
Uppers Round 1 - Tuesday April 16th, 6PM ET
Uppers Round 2/Lowers Round 1 - Tuesday April 16th, 7PM ET
Uppers Round 3/Lowers Round 2 - Tuesday April 16th, 8PM ET
Uppers Round 4/Lowers Round 3 - Tuesday April 23rd, 5PM ET
Lowers Round 4 - Tuesday April 23rd, 6PM ET
Uppers Round 5/Lowers Round 5 - Tuesday April 23rd 7PM ET
Lowers Round 6 - Tuesday April 23rd, 8PM ET
Losers Finals - Tuesday April 30th, 7PM ET
Grand Finals - Tuesday April 30th, 8PM ET
League of Legends
Champions
Nationals will be an 8 team single elim bracket. All conference champions will automatically qualify, any additional spots are available through League of Legends LCQ.
Challengers, Emergents, and Navigators
Nationals will be a 16 team single elim bracket. All conference champions will automatically qualify, any additional spots are available through League of Legends LCQ.
League of Legends National Schedule
Champions Division
Round of 8 - Wednesday April 17th
Round of 4 - Wednesday April 24th
Finals - Wednesday May 1st
Challengers, Emergents and Navigators
Round of 16 - Wednesday April 17th
Round of 8 - Wednesday April 24th
Round of 4 - Tuesday April 30th
Finals - Wednesday May 1st
Overwatch
Champions, Challengers, Emergents, and Navigators
Nationals will be a 16 team single elim bracket. All conference champions will automatically qualify, any additional spots are available through the Overwatch LCQ.
Overwatch Nationals Schedule
Round of 16 - Thursday April 18th
Round of 8 - Thursday April 25th
Round of 4 - Wednesday May 1st
Finals - Thursday May 2nd
Rocket League
Champions, Challengers, Emergents, and Navigators
Nationals will be a 16 team single elim bracket. All conference champions will automatically qualify, any additional spots are available through the Rocket League LCQ.
Rocket League Nationals Schedule
Round of 16 - Friday April 19th
Round of 8 - Friday April 26th
Round of 4 - Thursday May 2nd
Finals - Friday May 3rd
Legends Division
Rainbow Six Legends division is not included in the following
Valorant
Due to the increased number of teams, there will be an LCQ for Legends Nationals. The top 2 teams from each conference in each semester will be seeded into two GSL groups. Teams will play in best of 1 matches and the top 2 from each group will qualify for the Nationals LAN event (4 teams total). The LAN will be at the Esports Stadium in Arlington. The 4 teams will play a single elim bracket of best of 3 matches (an alternate format may be voted upon if scheduling allows for it). Finals will be a best of 5 and the winner will be our Valorant National Champion.
Legends LAN Qualifier Dates And Times
Round 1 - Friday, April 12th 7PM ET
Round 2 - Friday April 12th, 8PM ET
Round 3 - Friday April 12th, 9PM ET
League of Legends
Top 2 teams from the fall and spring semesters automatically qualify for the Legends division LAN. The LAN will be at the Esports Stadium in Arlington. The 4 teams will play a round robin group of best of 3 matches and the top 2 teams will make it to the finals. Finals will be a best of 5 and the winner will be our League of Legends National Champion.
Overwatch
Top 2 teams from the fall and spring semesters automatically qualify for the Legends division LAN. The LAN will be at the Esports Stadium in Arlington. The 4 teams will play a round robin group of first to 3 matches and the top 2 teams will make it to the finals. Finals will be a first to 5 and the winner will be our Overwatch 2 National Champion.
Rocket League
Top 2 teams from the fall and spring semesters automatically qualify for the Legends division LAN. The LAN will be at the Esports Stadium in Arlington. The 4 teams will play a round robin group of best of 5 matches and the top 2 teams will make it to the finals. Finals will be a best of 7 and the winner will be our Rocket League National Champion.
Prizing
Prizing is currently in a total format, divisional splits are currently to be determined.
Valorant: 7K
Rainbow Six: 2K
Smash Bros: 2K
Counter Strike 2: 1K
League of Legends: 6K
Overwatch 2: 6K
Rocket League: 6K
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.
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