Overwatch Collegiate is back again after an exciting 2025 - 2026 season, where Winthrop University was crowned Varsity and Open Champions at the first Overwatch Collegiate LAN since 2019! We’re excited to run it back this year in partnership with the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE), and registration is LIVE for the fall season! With two semester-long seasons of competition for Open, a new year-long Varsity season, a live LAN finals event again in the spring, and $135,000 in scholarship prizing on the line, it’s time for big plays, big moments, and watching big dreams come true. Excited to learn more? Here’s a breakdown of everything we’ll cover for the upcoming year.
Program Overview
2026-2027 Calendar
Fall Season Homecoming
National Open | Prizing, Format, Schedule, and Registration
NACE Varsity | Prizing, Format, Schedule and Registration
NACE Academy
Participation Rewards
Where to Watch/How to Get Involved
Discord Update
Social Platforms
Broadcast Platforms
2026 - 2027 OverviewAs Collegiate Esport programs have matured over the years, so have unique individual player, team and school esports program goals. No one format, eligibility requirements or schedule is best suited to address these differences. This year, we collaborate again with NACE to offer diverse competition options to give players, teams, and schools varied opportunities to engage with Overwatch Collegiate Competition.
The 2026 - 2027 year will once again have 2 primary forms of competition - Open and Varsity.
Open is available to all eligible institutions in the United States and Canada. Schools are encouraged to field multiple teams, making it the perfect choice for friends, clubs and programs with multiple rosters.
Varsity (and Academy) are available to NACE Member Institutions. This competition has stricter eligibility requirements including a dedicated on-campus esports facility, campus official oversight, and in-person play that support a traditional sport-like experience for student competitors.
Open play kicks off the Fall Homecoming Season in September, followed by the Fall Academy Season and the Varsity Season in October.
At the end of each season, the top teams from each division will play through their respective bracket, competing on broadcast for their share of the scholarship prize pool.
Eligible 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.
After the Fall Homecoming Season concludes, registration will open for the Spring Championship. With a LAN event finals and $105,000 in scholarship prizing, this is not something you’ll want to miss, so be on the lookout for more details to be shared later this year. Ready to build a team? Keep reading to learn more about the upcoming Fall Homecoming National Open.
The Fall Homecoming National Open competition has 2 tournament stages: Swiss and Playoffs. During the Swiss stage, teams will play 1 match each week against a team of similar record for 8 weeks. At the conclusion of the Swiss Stage, the top 32 teams 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 Fall Homecoming National Open starts September 24th, and you can register right now by clicking the links below.
Registration
Registration is open and ends September 16th
Sign up here to register for the Fall Homecoming National Open
To participate in the tournament, all players must create an account on the registration page with their verified student email address.
If you’re having trouble registering, please open a ticket in the NACE Discord.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place September 24th - November 12th
Stage 2 takes place November 14th - November 22nd
Format
Two-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Open Swiss, 8 rounds of Swiss Play over 8 weeks
Weekly default match day: Thursday
Stage 2: Playoffs, 32 team, Single-Elimination bracket over 2 weeks
Prizing
$30,000 USD scholarship
VarsityOWC Varsity is moving to a single, year-long season. The new Varsity competition format now has 3 tournament stages: Regular Season, Conference Playoffs, and Nationals. Teams will have the opportunity to compete their way through assigned Regional or Self-Select Conferences over 13 weeks of regular season play. Regular Season play includes conference and out of conference games.
After completion of the Regular Season, teams will battle through a Conference Playoff bracket with a chance to earn an auto-bid for the NACE Championship bracket. The remaining spots in the NACE Championship bracket will be determined by at-large bids driven by the final NACE rankings. Teams that miss out on the Championship bracket will qualify for an online-only nationals experience.
Varsity starts October 12th, and NACE member institutions may register by clicking the links below.
Varsity DetailsRegistration
Starts August 3rd and ends September 28th
Sign up here to register for Varsity
To participate in the tournament, the school must be a NACE member and all players must contact their esports program head to gain access to a Varsity-eligible platform account.
Interested in joining NACE and competing in NACE Overwatch Varsity? Have a staff member from your school fill out the following contact form.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place from October 12th - February 19th
Stage 2 takes place from February 22nd - March 19th
Stage 3 takes place in late March and April
Format
Three-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Regular season, includes round robin conference play and swiss out of conference play over 13 weeks.
Weekly default match day: Monday
Stage 2: Conference playoffs, single-elimination bracket between in-conference teams. Winners secure auto-bids to the championship bracket.
Stage 3: Nationals, single-elimination brackets seeded by the NACE final rankings. Championship bracket teams qualify for the 2027 OWC LAN by reaching Top 8.
Prizing
$45,000 USD Scholarship
Homecoming Academy DetailsRegistration
Starts August 3rd and ends September 10th
Sign up here to register for Homecoming Academy
To participate in the tournament, the school must be a NACE member and all players must contact their esports program head to gain access to an Academy-eligible platform account.
Interested in joining NACE and competing in NACE Overwatch Academy? Have a staff member from your school fill out the following contact form.
Competition
Stage 1 takes place from September 14th - October 9th
Stage 2 takes place from October 12th - November 13th
Stage 3 takes place from November 16th - December 11th
Format
Three-Stage tournament
Stage 1: Swiss Placements, includes 4 swiss matches over 4 weeks.
Weekly default match day: Monday
Stage 2: Conference season, 5 weeks of round robin play within the conference you were placed in.
Stage 3: Divisional playoffs, single-elimination bracket.
All eligible participants in good standing that play in Open, Varsity, or Academy will receive special Overwatch Collegiate participation rewards in celebration of their competitive collegiate season. Rewards include Esports Loot Boxes, some incentives from previous seasons, along with new items available for the first time. Make sure you don’t miss out - build your team and sign up today!
Discord Support is Moving!The Overwatch Collegiate Discord server is winding down, and the new Overwatch Collegiate Hub is now LIVE in the NACE Discord server. To stay up to date on all key information and for all support inquiries, join the NACE Discord server and select “Overwatch Collegiate” to gain access to the new OWC hub.
How to Get InvolvedTo 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 Discord!
Thank YouThank you to everyone who brings their energy, talent, passion, and support to Overwatch Esports this year. Your dedication fuels everything we do. With every map, every C9, and every Loot box, our community grows. It’s been so incredible to watch everyone’s stories.
As we look ahead to the 2026 - 2027 collegiate season, we’re committed to building a space where players, fans, family, and friends can connect, compete, and thrive. Stay tuned for more updates on what’s next, including more details on the Spring Championship Open season- and don’t forget to follow us on social media to stay in the loop.
