[14] Northeastern (41-11, 11-1 ESC) at the 2021 Activision Blizzard Overwatch Collegiate National Championship
Date & Time	Round of 32:  vs. [19] Long Beach State  |  Saturday, April 10  |  2 p.m.
Tournament Info	Bracket
Watch Live	Twitch (NortheasternEsports), select matches
Social Media	Twitter:  @GoNUesports Instagram:  @gonuesports Use #HowlinHuskies

BOSTON – Coming off its runner-up finish during its inaugural Esports Collegiate (ESC) season, the Northeastern Overwatch team is eager to run the table this weekend at the 2021 Activision Blizzard Overwatch Collegiate National Championship. As the No. 14 seed, the Huskies will open the 32-team, single-elimination bracket against Long Beach State on Saturday, April 10, at 2 p.m.
 
MATCH STREAMING
Select Northeastern esports matches are available via stream on the Huskies' Twitch channel, NortheasternEsports.
 
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
1. Tournament Overview:  Hosted by Activision Blizzard, the Overwatch Collegiate National Championship operates to its billing, serving as the title's premier tournament for crowning the collegiate national champion. With close to 300 programs competing, the 2021 event began with 10 rounds of Swiss-style regular season play (Feb. 20 – March 20) that set the leaderboard from which the teams with the 32 best records would advance to the grand finals. On March 27, teams with identical records competed in runoff, seeding-mixer tournaments to further balance the single-elimination national championship bracket.
 
2. Trophy Chasing:  Northeastern (41-11, 11-1 ESC) has dominated during the 2020-21 season, having posted a 21-5 record since the turn of the calendar year. The Huskies shot out to a 6-0 record during national championship Swiss play before experiencing two hard-fought defeats to ranked opponents, coming up short on March 13 to both No. 6 UC Irvine (2-0) and No. 10 North Texas (2-1). However, Northeastern responded to adversity by winning each of its final two Swiss matches, finishing as one of 14 programs that tied for 10th place with an 8-2 record. During the March 27 seeding mixer for 8-2 teams, the Huskies split a pair of matches against Long Beach State (W, 2-0) and No. 9 Boise State (L, 2-0) to earn the No. 14 seed in Saturday's national draw.

3. Season Success:  Undoubtedly a title contender, Northeastern has proved itself routinely during the 2020-21 season. The Huskies' fall 2020 season was highlighted by a round of 16 appearance in the Tespa Overwatch Collegiate Varsity Series in addition to scoring a ranked victory against No. 8 North Texas on Nov. 15. On the regional scene, Northeastern championed the 15-team field at the Boston University Collegiate Cup with its pristine record, winning 11 of the 11 maps in which it competed. This spring, the Huskies sported an 11-1 record during the inaugural Esports Collegiate season, finishing second in the year-end standings. As the ESC tournament's No. 2 seed, NU swept third-seeded (No. 7) Akron during the best-of-three semifinals before finishing runner-up to top-seeded (No. 6) Miami (Ohio) during the championship round.

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