Overwatch: Northeastern University win Boston Uprising’s Collegiate Cup Championship
| Tags: Overwatch
| Author Malik Shelp
Northeastern University won the Boston Uprising's Fall Overwatch Collegiate Cup Championship.
Teams from all over Massachusetts competed for $5,000 for their school’s esports program. After two weeks of intense matches, Northeastern University took the win and money home.
In case you missed the streams, we've got you covered with a recap of all the Collegiate Cup action: https://t.co/EiOWckfO6f pic.twitter.com/gQJBDQ0xmI
— Boston Uprising (@BostonUprising) November 25, 2019
The competition began on November 16th, where 11 collegiate Overwatch teams fought for one of four spots available in the quarterfinals. Becker College, University of Massachusetts Amherst B, Northeastern University C and Champlain College came out on top, advancing to the quarterfinals on November 23rd. The other four teams joining them were Boston University, Emerson College, Northeastern University A and University of Massachusetts Amherst A, all chosen because of their semifinals placement in the spring.
In the quarterfinals, Northeastern University A, Boston University, Becker, and Champlain won their best-of-three matches and move on to the semifinals. In the first match of the semifinals, Boston University defeated Becker 3-0, and Northeastern University A beat Champlain College 3-0 solidifying the final day of matches.
The third-place match was between Champlain College and Becker University – and Champlain stayed dominant for a majority of the maps. The series ended 3-1 with Champlain University taking home third place. The final round was a rematch from the Spring Boston Uprising Collegiate Cup with Northeastern University going up against Boston University in a best-of-five. Northeastern University had no problems handling Boston University and outplayed them at every turn.
Northeastern has been a dominating force in this Collegiate Cup series, but its significance goes beyond the money. It's no secret that Blizzard and the Overwatch League tend to lack when it comes to supporting their tier-two and tier-three scenes. With the recent introduction of the Overwatch Contenders Gauntlet, support for the lower scene has been increasing. Now, with the Boston Uprising hosting this championship series for a year straight, shows that there is a serious investment in the esport.
Last year, XL2 Academy announced that they would start focusing on recruiting talent from the New York and North America talent pools. This might not always be feasible for a successful team, but the efforts to promote Overwatch at all levels is welcome. Overwatch League will be taking an international approach to their 2020 season which means that by 2021, we could see a more global approach to tier-two Overwatch.
Malik specializes in esports photography, videography, video editing, and graphic design. He has also written Overwatch and Dota articles for over 2 years for DBLTAP and other esports outlets. You can learn more about Malik on our About page.