The Blinn College Buccaneers will begin group stage play in the National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) Varsity Premier Playoffs on Saturday, April 26. The 17th-ranked Blinn esports Overwatch team recently finished as the runner-up in the NJCAA Esports (NJCAAe) Overwatch National Tournament, held Wednesday. Overwatch, a team-based first-person shooter, features players selecting heroes with unique abilities to complete objectives across various map modes. Teams strategically choose maps to play to their strengths or exploit opponent weaknesses.
In the NJCAAe title match, seventh-ranked Bryant & Stratton College defeated the Buccaneers 3-1 in a best-of-five series. Representing Blinn were players Haluk Tanriseven, Matthew Hutchings, Donnivan Straight, and Dhruv Pandrangi.
Each round featured a different game mode and win condition:
- Control: Teams fight to control a single point. A best-of-three format decides the winner, with the first team to reach 100% control winning each round.
- Escort: The attacking team pushes a payload to its destination while the defenders attempt to stop them.
- Hybrid: Teams must first capture a point before escorting a payload.
- Push: Teams battle to control a robot and push it into enemy territory, with the farthest push winning.
- Clash: Teams compete to capture consecutive points, with victory going to the first to reach a set number of points.
The Bobcats handed Blinn its fifth loss in an NJCAAe Overwatch championship match, leaving the Buccaneers still searching for their first title. Blinn opened strong, earning a 2-1 win in the opening Control map. Bryant & Stratton responded with a narrow 4-3 win in Hybrid mode, took the lead with a 3-2 victory in Escort, and closed out the series with a 1-0 win in Push.
“Heading into Push, we knew we had to clean things up, but unfortunately, it was one of our weakest showings of the night,” Blinn coach Murto said. “Despite having a good strategy prepared, we played sloppily, taking bad fights, rotating poorly, and mismanaging cooldowns. While the loss stings, I’m incredibly proud of the team’s performance. This has been one of our more difficult semesters in recent years, and we still managed to put up our best showing ever against Bryant & Stratton on the biggest stage. The growth, effort, and resilience from everyone on the roster have been incredible.”
Although their NJCAAe season has concluded, the Buccaneers’ Overwatch team still has two major tournaments ahead. They will face St. Clair College at 8 a.m. Saturday in Orlando, Fla., to open group play in the eight-team, double-elimination NACE Varsity Premier Playoffs. Additionally, by reaching the NJCAAe national title match, Blinn qualified for the Collegiate Esports Commissioners Cup, scheduled for May 2-4 in Dallas. Blinn College, which has been competing in intercollegiate athletics since 1903, has won 53 national championships since 1987.
