University of Akron, Northeastern University win ESC Championships, Earn Bids to CECC May Madness 2025
Stamford, CT – April 16, 2025 – The University of Akron and Northeastern University earned a total of three bids to play in the Collegiate Esports Commissioner’s Cup (CECC) May Madness by winning their respective game titles in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) / Esports Collegiate (ESC) Championships.
CECC May Madness, established in 2022, gives 84 teams in four different game titles (Overwatch 2, Rocket League, Valorant, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate) and 12 players in Street Fighter 6, a chance to face other schools from across North America and one team or player in each game are crowned as national champions.
The MAC Championship, known as the ESC Championship, entered its fifth year of competition and its third year of being a conference to earn bids to CECC. Three game titles in the ESC were played between the two academic semesters, with Rocket League and Valorant played in the fall semester of last year and Overwatch 2 played in the spring semester of this year. All three games have their champions earn bids to CECC May Madness 2025.
The ESC Fall 2024 Championship at Cedar Point Sports Center in Sandusky, Ohio, happened between Nov. 22-24 and featured Valorant and Rocket League in double-elimination brackets.
In Rocket League, No. 2 seed University of Akron would start by winning two straight series and seven straight games before meeting Ball State University, the defending CECC May Madness champions, in the winner’s finals. University of Akron would defeat Ball State 4-3 and would meet them again in the grand finals and won the championship series 3-2 to earn the team’s third-straight bid to CECC May Madness.
In Valorant, University of Akron would follow a similar script to Rocket League, but this time as the No. 1 seed. The team would win five straight maps in two series, met Ball State in the winner’s finals where they won the series 3-1, and would repeat the scoreline in a rematch in the grand finals to earn the team’s first ever bid to CECC May Madness.
“Akron is excited to return to CECC this year,” said Nathan Meeker, Director of Esports at the University of Akron. “Qualifying out of the MAC this year was difficult as the other schools in the conference have really increased their aptitude across the board. Representing the MAC and Akron at Texas will give us a great opportunity to showcase that Akron is, and always has been, a powerhouse in collegiate esports.”
The Overwatch 2 championship for the spring semester took place at Miami University between Apr. 4-6 in a double-elimination bracket. Northeastern came in as the No. 2 seed and would win their first two best-of-five series in sweeps. In the winner’s finals against the defending champions in Ball State, they would lose 3-1 to move down to the loser’s finals. After defeating host Miami 3-2, they would get another shot against Ball State and won the grand finals series 4-3, giving the program its first bid to CECC May Madness in history.
The two schools have earned their bids to CECC May Madness 2025, set to take place May 2-4 at Esports Stadium Arlington in Texas, renowned as the largest in-person scholastic esports event in North America. The 2024 event attracted over 4 million views and 4,100 attendees, and the upcoming 2025 event marks the fifth year of CECC's celebration of collegiate esports excellence.
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Article Written by:
Keegan Ohta
