INTRODUCING THE NEXT CHAPTER OF OVERWATCH COLLEGIATECollegiate Overwatch is officially back! Thank you for everyone’s patience while we worked on making the next chapter of COL the best it can be. We’re excited to share that the revamped Overwatch Collegiate program launches this fall in partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) and registration opens today! With two semester long seasons of competition, the launch of a new Varsity division, a live LAN finals event in the spring, and over $140,000 in scholarship prizing on the line, this year was built for making big plays, bold moments and life-long memories.
Whether you’re a group of friends looking to make a run for the top or a campus hero repping your varsity team, now is your chance to get involved. Excited to learn more? Here’s a quick look at what we’ll cover on what’s coming in the 2025-2026 school year.
Program Overview
2025 - 2026 Calendar
Fall Season Homecoming
National Open | Prizing, Format, Schedule, and Registration
NACE Varsity Premier | Prizing, Format, Schedule and Registration
NACE Varsity Plus
Participation Rewards
Where to Watch / How to get Involved
Social Platforms
Broadcast Platforms
As Collegiate Esport programs have matured over the years, so have unique individual player, team and school esport program goals. No one format, eligibility requirements or schedule is best suited to address these differences, so this year we’re collaborating with NACE to offer diverse competition options that give players, teams and schools a choice on how they engage with Overwatch Collegiate Competition.
The 2025 - 2026 year will have 2 types of competition, Open and Varsity.
Open is available to all eligible institutions in the US and Canada. Schools are encouraged to field multiple teams, making it the perfect choice for friends, clubs and programs with more than 1 roster.
Varsity is available to NACE Member Institutions. This competition has stricter eligibility requirements including a limit of 1 team per school, dedicated on-campus esports facilities, campus official oversight, and in-person play that encourage institutional investment into building sustainable esports programs promoting the development of students into emerging professionals.
NACE Varsity play kicks off the Fall Homecoming Season in September and standard National Open play starts a few weeks later in October. At the end of the regular season, the top teams from each division will play through their respective Fall Season Homecoming bracket, competing on broadcast for their share of the total $42,000 USD scholarship prize pool.
Eligible schools can register for both Open and Varsity competitionEligible teams are encouraged to sign up and participate in both Open and Varsity competition. We’ve tailored the schedule to allow ambitious schools to participate without conflict.
Spring Championship details coming later this year
After the Fall Homecoming Season concludes, registration will open for the Spring Championship. With a LAN event finals and $100,000 USD in scholarship prizing, this is not something you’ll want to miss, so be on the lookout for more details shared later this year.
Let’s take a look at what’s in store for the Fall Homecoming season formats and schedule.
National Open
The Homecoming National Open competition has 2 tournament stages: Swiss and Playoffs. Teams will have the opportunity to compete their way through the Swiss stage over 5 weeks of regular season play. The top 16 teams from the Swiss stage will advance to the Homecoming Open Playoffs, where they will be pitted against one another in a high-stakes single elimination bracket seeded by their Swiss performance.
The Homecoming National Open starts October 2, and you can register right now by clicking the links below.
Homecoming National Open Details
Registration
Starts Tuesday August 5, 2025 and ends Monday September 22, 2025
Sign up here to register for the Homecoming National Open
To participate in the tournament, all players must create an account with LeagueSpot with their verified student email address.
If your school’s student email address domain is not yet verified on LeagueSpot, please fill out this form.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place from October 2 - 30, 2025
Stage 2 takes place from November 8 - 16, 2025
Format
Two-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Open Swiss, 10 rounds of Swiss Play over 5 weeks
Weekly default match day: Thursday
Stage 2: Playoffs, 16 team, Single-Elimination bracket over 2 weeks
Prizing
$28,000 USD Scholarship
Varsity Premier
The Homecoming Varsity Premier competition has 2 tournament stages: Groups and Playoffs. Teams will have the opportunity to compete their way through assigned Regional Groups or Self-Select Conferences over 7 weeks of regular season Round Robin play. The top 32 teams from the Groups stage will advance to the Homecoming Varsity Premier Playoffs, where they will be pitted against one another in a high-stakes single elimination bracket seeded by the NACE Seeding Committee based on Groups performance.
Homecoming Varsity Premier starts September 8, and you can register right now by clicking the links below.
Homecoming Varsity Premier Details
Registration
Starts Tuesday August 5, 2025 and ends Tuesday September 2, 2025
Sign up here to register for Homecoming Varsity Premier
To participate in the tournament, the school must be a NACE member and all players must create an account with LeagueSpot with their verified student email address.
If your school’s student email address domain is not yet verified on LeagueSpot, please fill out this form.
Interested in joining NACE & competing in NACE Overwatch Varsity? Have a staff member from your school fill out the following contact form.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place from September 8 - October 20, 2025
Stage 2 takes place from November 3 - 16, 2025
Format
Two-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Regional Groups, Up to 7 rounds of Round Robin play over 7 weeks
Weekly default match day: Monday
Stage 2: Playoffs, 32 team, Single-Elimination bracket over 3 weeks
Prizing
$14,000 USD Scholarship
Homecoming Varsity Plus
Because Homecoming Varsity Premier is limited to 1 team per school, NACE Member School teams can also elect to participate in Homecoming Varsity Plus. Varsity Plus features ranked based skill division conferences which makes it the perfect choice for developing rosters and talent.
Homecoming Varsity Plus Details
Registration
Starts Tuesday August 5, 2025 and ends Monday September 8, 2025
Sign up here to register for Homecoming Varsity Plus
To participate in the tournament, the school must be a NACE member and all players must create an account with LeagueSpot with their verified student email address.
If your school’s student email address domain is not yet verified on LeagueSpot, please fill out this form.
Interested in joining NACE & competing in NACE Overwatch Varsity Plus? Have a staff member from your school fill out the following contact form.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place from September 15 - October 30, 2025
Stage 2 takes place from November 3 - November 17, 2025
Format
Two-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Regional Ranked Division Groups, Up to 7 rounds of Round Robin play over 7 weeks
Weekly default match day: Monday
Stage 2: Playoffs, 6 team, Single-Elimination Conference bracket over 3 weeks
All eligible good-standing participants that play in Open, Varsity Premier or Plus will receive special Overwatch Collegiate participation rewards in celebration of their season play. Rewards include some incentives from previous seasons, along with new items available for the first time. Don’t want to miss out? Build your team and sign up today!
To stay updated on all things Overwatch Collegiate, follow us on social media:
Watch all the epic matches by staying tuned to our channels::
Have additional questions? Join the NACE and Overwatch Collegiate Discord.
Thank you to everyone who brings their energy, talent and support to Overwatch Esports this year, your dedication fuels everything we do and it’s been incredible to see our community grow stronger with every match, stream and C9.
As we look ahead to the 2025 - 2026 collegiate season we’re committed to building a space where players, fans and friends can connect, compete and thrive. Stay tuned for more updates on what’s next– and don’t forget to follow us on social media to stay in the loop.
Thank you for reading and see you in September!
